Taylor Swift breaks The Beatles' chart record

Taylor Swift has broken The Beatles' long-held chart record for having the fastest run of three number one albums.

Swift's re-recorded LP Fearless (Taylor's Version) topped the UK chart on Friday, following the success of her recent efforts Folklore and Evermore.

The US singer scored her hat-trick in a total of just 259 days, beating the Fab Four's 54-year-old record of three chart-topping albums in 364 days.

John, Paul, George and Ringo's run was for Help!, Rubber Soul and Revolver.

It's been quite a record-breaking 2021 for Swift so far, after she became the first female artist to win album of the year three times at the Grammys.

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She now has seven number one albums on this side of the Atlantic, but this latest one will carry special significance, as the re-recording of her old material has been part of an attempt to reclaim control of her music, following a high-profile dispute with her former record label and music mogul Scooter Braun.

'My life's work'

Swift confirmed in November that Braun had sold the rights to her first six albums, in a deal thought to be worth more than $300m (£227m).

The singer-songwriter was incensed that he would profit from her records, characterising the sale as an act of aggression that "stripped me of my life's work".

Fearless, the first of the re-recorded records, which contains hits like Fifteen and Love Story, was last week described by BBC music reporter Mark Savage as "a perfect replica" of the 2008 original.

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Elsewhere on Friday, Swift's compatriot Lil Nas X held on to top spot in the singles chart for a third week, with his track Montero (Call Me By Your Name).