It’s yet more history for the Fab Four (Picture: Getty)
Yes, it’s 2023. No, there’s no need to pinch yourself. It’s true: The Beatles are back at number one on the Official Charts.
The legendary and hugely influential band, originally formed in 1960 before splitting in 1970, released their last ever song, Now and Then, just over a week ago – and it’s raced to the top of the charts.
Since its release, it’s been one heck of an historic week for fans of the band, who have been able to hear new Beatles material for the first time in almost three decades.
And now, after shifting almost 80,000 chart units in its first week, it’s jumped 41 places to the top spot, giving them their first number one since 1969.
Now and Then, originally written by John Lennon in 1977, was reworked by Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Ringo Starr by using AI to clean up the old recording.
The song was first revisited in the 1990s, which meant late Beatle George Harrison, who died in 2001, also got to work on the song before its release.
Sir Paul was ‘blown away’ when he heard the news (Picture: Getty)
Upon hearing the amazing news, Sir Paul was joyous: ‘It’s mind boggling. It’s blown my socks off. It’s also a very emotional moment for me. I love it.’
In the process, The Beatles have knocked Taylor Swift off the summit and beaten competition from the likes of BTS member Jung Kook’s first solo single.
But not only that – they’ve also smashed several of the biggest UK chart records going, overtaking the likes of Kate Bush and Elvis Presley in the process.
Elvis Presley used to hold the record for the longest gap between his first and last number ones (Picture: Getty)
First of all, Now and Then is the fastest-selling single of 2023 so far, with almost 50,000 physical and download purchases (as opposed to just streams) pushing it to number one.
Now and Then has also claimed the biggest week of physical format sales in almost a decade, and is the fastest-selling vinyl single of the entire 21st century.
The Beatles now also hold the record for the longest gap between two UK number one singles in the entire history of the chart.
The song was gradually written over the course of 46 years (Picture: YouTube)
Their last chart-topper, The Ballad of John and Yoko, reached the summit in June 1969, which was more than 54 years ago.
The record was held by Kate Bush, whose hit Running Up That Hill reached number one in 2022 after its use in Netflix series Stranger Things – 44 years after Wuthering Heights in 1978.
As if that wasn’t enough, The Beatles now also hold the record for the longest span of time between an act’s first and last UK number one singles.
John Lennon wrote the first demo of the song in 1977 (Picture: Getty)
Sixty years ago, the band landed their first chart topper with From Me to You. The record used to stand at 47 years, held by the legendary Elvis Presley.
And when it comes to holding the record of having the most unique number ones in UK chart history, The Beatles have now gone joint-top with The King.
While Elvis has 21 UK number ones in total, three of them were re-releases of previous chart-topping songs – this means he’s had 18 different UK chart toppers, the same number as The Beatles.
As for Sir Ringo and Sir Paul, 83 and 81 respectively, they’re now the oldest band in history to secure their place at the top of Mount Pop.
They’re also the second and third oldest chart-toppers of all time, behind Captain Tom Moore, who was 99 years old when his version of You’ll Never Walk Alone with Michael Ball and the NHS Voices of Care Choir reached the summit in 2020.
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They’ve done it!