Greatest Showman is longest-reigning number one soundtrack in 50 years

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Hugh Jackman with the cast of The Greatest ShowmanImage source, 20th Century Fox
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Hugh Jackman (centre) with the cast of The Greatest Showman

The Greatest Showman has become the longest running number one soundtrack since the 1960s.

Its 19th non-consecutive week at number one has now surpassed the 18 weeks the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack spent in pole position in 1978.

That makes it the UK's most successful soundtrack album since The Sound of Music, which spent 70 weeks at number one between 1965 and 1968.

The Greatest Showman is already the best-selling album of 2018 so far.

Taken from Hugh Jackman's film about circus entrepreneur PT Barnum, the album contains such Top 40 hits as Rewrite the Stars and the Oscar-nominated This is Me.

The Greatest Showman's continued success came at the expense of new albums from Brits Critics' Choice winner Jorja Smith and the Beach Boys.

Smith's debut record Lost & Found enters this week's album chart at three, one place ahead of the Beach Boys' collaboration with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. George Ezra's Staying at Tamara's is in the second slot, with Ed Sheeran's Divide at five, according to the Official Charts Company.

Image source, PA
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Glynne said it was "insane" to hold a record for most number ones

In the singles chart, Jess Glynne won a close battle with Clean Bandit to see her latest single I'll Be There claim the top spot.

The flame-haired singer's seventh UK chart-topper extends her record for the most number one singles achieved by a British female artist.

"I'm speechless!" Jess told OfficialCharts.com. "All I can say is thank you to everyone who has supported the song."

Solo, by Clean Bandit and featuring Demi Lovato, ends up in second place, after finishing just 898 sales and streams behind Glynne's record. Anne-Marie's 2002 is at three, with Shotgun by George Ezra at four and Ariana Grande's No Tears Left to Cry at five.

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