Singer Sabrina Carpenter breaks UK chart record

Sabrina Carpenter, the US singer behind two of this summer's biggest songs, has broken a UK chart record, according to the Official Charts Company.

The Pennsylvania-born star has become the first female artist to hold both the number one and number two positions on the singles chart for three consecutive weeks.

Please Please Please remained in the top spot on this week's chart, while her previous single Espresso held on at number two.

The Beatles achieved the same feat in the 1960s, scoring the chart double on two separate occasions.

More recently, Justin Bieber scored four weeks in the top two slots in 2015, while Ed Sheeran notched up five weeks on two occasions in 2017.

Despite being in second place, Espresso actually recorded slightly more streams (7.1m) in the last week than Please Please Please (7m).

Both songs will feature on Carpenter’s forthcoming album Short ‘n Sweet, set to be released in August.

The only other female artists to have held the number one and two spots simultaneously are Madonna (in 1985) and Ariana Grande (2019). But Carpenter is the first to do so for three consecutive weeks.

The video for Please Please Please, starring Carpenter's boyfriend, actor Barry Keoghan, has so far attracted more than 44 million views on YouTube, while Espresso has almost twice as many.

Also on this week's singles chart, Missouri singer Chappell Roan scored her first top five hit, after her single Good Luck, Babe! rose to number four.

Meanwhile, Taylor Swift secured an eighth non-consecutive week at the top of the album chart with The Tortured Poets Department.

The Official Charts Company confirmed it was the best-selling album of the year so far, having accumulated more than 542,000 chart units (combining sales and streams) since its release in April.

The singer's hugely successful Eras tour continues its European leg in Amsterdam this weekend, and is set to return to London for five more dates in August.

This week's highest new entry came from US rock band Imagine Dragons, whose latest album Loom entered at number five, becoming their sixth top 10.

Other artists enjoyed a huge boost in sales thanks to their sets at last weekend's Glastonbury Festival.

Dua Lipa's latest album Radical Optimism leapt from number 27 to number three following her Friday evening headline set, while two of her earlier albums re-entered the top 10.

Sunday headliner SZA also increased her sales, with 2023 release SOS jumping 11 places to number 19.

And Shania Twain, who played the Sunday afternoon Legends Slot, saw her greatest hits album return to the top 40 for the first time in since 2005.

The album, which includes hits That Don't Impress Me Much, You're Still The One and Man! I Feel Like a Woman! surged 62 places to number 29.

Elsewhere, Coldplay's headline set on Saturday helped propel their new track feelslikeimfallinginlove to a new peak of number 16 on the singles chart.