The Beatles have made make UK Official Chart history today with Now And Then. The music icon's last song reached number 1 and overtaken the longest gap between first and last hit set by Kate Bush last year (44 years).
After 54 years The Fab Four - Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, John Lennon and George Harrison have returned to number one, setting a new record.
Now And Then uses WingNut Films' MAL audio technology to bring the group together for one final time.
Here are some facts and figures from The Offical Chart Company:
The Beatles' Now And Then in numbers this week: all the chart facts
Sales
Number 1 with 78,200 combined UK chart units across sales and streaming.
Fastest-selling single of the year to date,– 48,600 physical and download sales based on the track’s first 7 days.
Biggest one-week physical sales in almost a decade (38k) - biggest since The X Factor 2014 winner Ben Haenow’s Something I Need (47k).
Fastest-selling vinyl single of the century so far – 19.4k copies on vinyl.
Streams
Now And Then is the most-streamed Beatles track in one week ever – 5.03m streams against previous record set by Here Comes the Sun (1.05m in 7 days in 2021).
Now And Then is The Beatles’ most-watched music video in one week ever –2.15m streams v Here Comes The Sun’s 171.7k in 7 days in 2019.
Official Chart feats
The Beatles are now the act with the longest gap ever between Number 1 singles (54 years) – they last reached Number 1 with The Ballad of John and Yoko in 1969. They overtake Kate Bush’s 44 years between Wuthering Heights (1978) and Running Up That Hill (2022).
The Beatles now boast the longest time span between an artist’s first and last Number 1 single. The Beatles’ first Number 1 single was From Me to You in May 1963, 60 years and 6 months ago. They overtake Elvis Presley, with 47 years and 6 months between All Shook Up (1957) and a reissue of It’s Now or Never (2005).
Now the British act with the most Number 1 singles ever. They extend their lead to 18 UK Number 1 singles, with only Elvis securing more. See the full list of artists with the most Number 1 singles here.
They are the oldest band ever to score a UK Number 1 single (and second and third oldest chart-topping artists ever after Sir Captain Tom Moore, aged 99). The average age of surviving members Paul and Ringo is 82, McCartney being 81 and Starr being 83.