Robbie Williams breaks The Beatles’ record

Robbie Williams has surpassed The Beatles for most UK No. 1 albums after his latest release, Britpop, topped the January 23 Official Albums Chart, marking the 16th chart-topper of the 51-year-old singer’s solo career. The former Take That member broke the tie of fifteen No. 1s with the Fab Four, who had held the record since 1967 when Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band topped the chart and surpassed Elvis Presley’s previous mark of seven No. 1s . Williams openly pursued this milestone by switching the release date to avoid chart competition, telling a London audience in October: “We’re all pretending [the scheduling change] is not about Taylor Swift, but it f–king is, you can’t compete with that. How many times in your life do you get to have the most No. 1 albums the U.K. has f–king ever had?” Williams’ first solo No. 1 came in 1997 with Life Thru a Lens, and only one of his albums – 2008’s Reality Killed the Radio Star – failed to reach the top spot. (Billboard)