Justin Bieber Breaks Elvis Presley’s Record For Youngest Artist With Most #1 Singles

Justin Bieber just broke a record held by Elvis Presley for the past 59 years. 

Justin Bieber is now the youngest solo artist to release seven consecutive Billboard number one albums. Presley held that record since the 1961 release of Blue Hawaii. Bieber’s seventh studio album, Changes, sold 231,000 copies last week to reach number one.

Presley’s Blue Hawaii was released when he was 26-years-old. Bieber is 25. 

However, if groups were taken into account, all four members of The Beatles were younger than Bieber when Rubber Soul hit the charts in 1966. The band’s oldest number, Ringo Starr, was 25 and the youngest, George Harrison, was only 22. 

There’s some controversy regarding Bieber’s achievement. For one, Bieber had a head-start from his competition. He released his first No.1 at age 16, whereas Elvis was 21 and George Harrison was 20. 

Additionally, in mid-January Bieber asked his fans in a since-deleted post on Instagram to put his single “Yummy” on repeat on Spotify and to purchase the album multiple times through a link on his website. Some might qualify this as an unfair marketing tactic.

Billboard’s chart formula has greatly altered since Elvis’ reign as “The King of Rock and Roll.” In 1961, fans of Elvis Presley had to go out and purchase a physical album. In 2020, fans of Justin Bieber can just open up their laptop or smart phone and stream his album instantly and for free. 

Bieber wrote in a post on his Twitter account that he was “grateful” for the record that he broke.