Justin Bieber Performs On NBC's 'Today' (Photo : Getty Images/Noam Galai)
All the promo work and TV interviews - including saying sorry to Ronda Rousey's sister - apparently paid off for Canadian singer Justin Bieber who broke records this week.
He broke a new Official Chart record for singles with 5.35 million streams of "Sorry" his second UK Number 1 release after "What Do You Mean?" which was in the same top spot for five weeks in the past two months. He just toppled Adele's "Hello" which stayed on top for three weeks.
Two of his other songs from the newly released album "Purpose" also was in the top 5. These are "Love Yourself" at number 3 and "What Do You Mean?" at number 5. The last time a male artist had three songs on top 5 was in January 1981 after the shooting and death of John Lennon when "Imagine" placed number 1, "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" was number 3 and "(Just Like) Starting Over" was number 5.
"Purpose" also broke Spotify's global record for most streams on the first week of an album's release with 205 million streams, according to Nielsen Music. He beat One Direction whose "Made in the A.M." album, launched also on Nov. 13, got 106 million streams globally, reports USA Today.
"Sorry" is also number 1 in Spotify's Global Top 50 chart and in the New Single category. Justin has 15 songs in the Top 50, while 1D has nine, but the highest ranked song of the British boy band, "Drag Me Down" was at number 9. "Sorry" also got more than 150 million hits on YouTube.
The two albums likewise smashed the previous record made by The Weeknd's "Beauty Behind the Madness" with 90 million streams on its first week of release in late August.
To promote their albums, 1D appeared on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," "Good Morning America" and "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" Justin promoted his album on "Today" and "Ellen."
The titles of their songs appears to have influenced how their tracks fared on the charts. As Justin made efforts to amend his behavior - although he still has occasional lapses such as poking fun at Ronda's loss - the one-year hiatus of 1D could drag down a bit their popularity.
