This week's Official UK Singles Chart

This week's Official UK Albums Chart

19 + 21 normally equals 40, but this week it actually amounts to an historic chart double for Adele as the biggest selling artist of the moment holds down the Numbers 1 and 2 places on the album chart simultaneously. Although it sounds extraordinary, such a feat is actually far from unknown, having been pulled off by nine other different acts since the inception of the album chart in the late 1950s. The total was swelled somewhat thanks to the fad in the early 90s for big name acts to release two albums simultaneously - hence both Guns N' Roses and Bruce Springsteen had a stranglehold on the Top 2 in 1991 and 1992 respectively. Most of the time however such a chart sweep is down to the kind of circumstances we see today - an act selling large numbers of not only their current product but also a previous release which has gained a second wind thanks to the success of the latest one. Such was the case in 1999 when The Corrs held down 1 and 2 together with Talk On Corners and Forgiven Not Forgotten, just as it is 12 years later when Adele manages her own chart sweep - one that is all the more historic for the fact that she is the first solo female ever to pull off the trick.

Miss Atkins maintains a similar stranglehold on the singles chart as Someone Like You pretty much duplicates its sale from last week to retain the Number One position whilst Rolling In The Deep similarly holds firm at Number 4. Indeed four of the Top 5 and six of the Top 10 singles retain their positions this week, making this one of the calmest looking singles charts for several weeks. The only new arrival to the Top 3 is Rihanna who climbs three places to Number 3 with S&M to land the 14th Top 3 hit of her career. Of its 13 predecessors, just one single Disturbia stalled at Number 3 without progressing further.

The only new entry inside the Top 10 lands at Number 6, Good Girl giving Alexis Jordan her second Top 10 hit single in a row as the follow-up to Happiness which reached Number 3 in November last year. Her self-titled debut album hits the shops this week.

Also new to the Top 10 this week is Pink's F***ing Perfect which finally breaks the glass ceiling three weeks after it first peaked at Number 11. The single has spent the past fortnight languishing at Number 13 but this week finally makes a 3 place climb to become her first Top 10 hit single since Sober crept to Number 9 just over two years ago. It is her 14th such hit since she opened her chart account with There You Go in June 2000.

Few singles inside the Top 20 catch the eye this week, aside from the rather curious return to form of Cee Lo Green's Forget You which rises 19-14 this week to land its highest chart placing since the start of January. The former Number One single shot back into the Top 20 last week thanks to his Brits performance of the track but it seems to have gained further new ground this week thanks to an opportune cover version by the Glee Cast. Their rendition of the track is one of two Top 40 entries they land themselves this week, the track arriving at Number 31. That is still nine places below their biggest hit of the week, a medley of Singing In The Rain/Umbrella which lands at Number 22 to become their highest charting single since May last year. Both tracks feature a notable guest star in the shape of actress Gwyneth Paltrow who made the first of two cameo appearances in the show in the episode aired last week. This is by no means her first foray into the world of pop music, the actress having performed on the soundtrack of the 2000 film Duets and landed herself two Australian hit singles as a result. The Glee Cast singles do however mark her UK chart debut. In the weekend that the latest Oscars ceremony took place it seems appropriate to note that Paltrow is the fourth winner for Best Actress to also make the singles chart, following in the footsteps of Kate Winslet, Cher and Liza Minnelli. 1964 winner Julie Andrews also made records but has never had a hit single, restricting herself instead to a handful of album chart appearances.

Finally for this week the only other Top 40 new arrival is that of Claire Maguire at Number 23 with The Last Dance. The 23 year old from Birmingham is the latest hot tip for stardom and she makes her Top 40 debut with this, her second single release. Her first Ain't Nobody had a low key releases at the back end of last year when it failed to make the Top 75.

OK, it is not quite finally for it would be wrong to sign off this week without wishing a happy birthday to Tinie Tempah's Pass Out which is one year old this week and which spends its 52nd week on release at Number 41. The track would be one of only a handful of singles to have managed a continuous year on the Top 75, but for the week of December 11th when it dipped to Number 78 and so spoiled what would otherwise be a perfect record. Of all the Top 75 singles at the moment, Pass Out is far and away the most consistent seller. Plan B's She Said is just four weeks away from its first birthday at Number 48, but it dropped out of the bestsellers lists just before Christmas and has only had 40 weeks on the Top 75 in total.