Taylor Swift is the first female singer to succeed herself at the top of the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Taylor Swift’s latest track, Blank Space, rose 12 places to bump her previous number one hit, Shake It Off, from the top after a four-week run.
She is the 10th act to score the feat overall, following acts such as the Beatles, Usher and the Black Eyed Peas.
Taylor Swift’s album, 1989, also scored a third consecutive week at number one on the album chart.
The record has so far sold two million copies and is the second best-selling album of 2014, after Disney’s Frozen soundtrack, which has sold 3.25 million copies.
Billboard announced on November 19 it would be updating its album chart from a purely sales-based ranking to one measuring broader music consumption.
The new chart – which will take effect from December 3 – will include on-demand streaming and digital track sales.
Billboard said the changes would help to “provide a better sense of an album’s popularity”.
Under the new method, 10 digital track sales or 1,500 song streams from an album will be the equivalent of one album sale.
Figures from subscription services such as Spotify, Beats Music and Google Play will be included in the data.
Billboard said artists likely to benefit from the change include Ariana Grande, Hozier and Maroon 5, whose streaming and digital sales have outperformed their physical album sales in recent weeks.
[youtube pW0Shyoto54 650]
Chrissy Amphlett of Australian band the Divinyls, known for their hit I Touch Myself, has died at the age of 53.
Husband and former Divinyls drummer Charley Drayton said Chrissy Amphlett died after battling breast cancer and multiple sclerosis.
Russell Crowe, who starred alongside Chrissy Amphlett in a 1988 production of Blood Brothers in which she played his mother, has led tributes.
The Oscar-winning Australian said he will remember The Oscar-winning Australian “loving life and reciting verse”.
Russell Crowe said: “Dear Chrissie, the last time I saw you was in the Botanic Gardens… That’s how I’ll remember you, your boy, R.”
Chrissy Amphlett founded the Divinyls in 1980 in Sydney and they went on to record five studio albums between 1982 and 1996, when they split.
Chrissy Amphlett died after battling breast cancer and multiple sclerosis
I Touch Myself was released in 1991 and was a No 1 hit in their native Australia. It climbed the charts in Britain to No 10 and No 4 in the US Billboard Hot 100.
The song was featured in the 1992 film Prelude to a Kiss and 1997’s Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. Pop singer Pink covered the song in 2009 on her Funhouse Tour.
“Chrissy’s light burns so very brightly,” said Charley Drayton.
“Hers was a life of passion and creativity; she always lived it to the fullest”.
The statement on the Australian Recording Industry Association’s (ARIA) website added: “With her force of character and vocal strength she paved the way for strong, sexy, outspoken women.”
Chrissy Amphlett announced she had multiple sclerosis (MS) in 2007 and made public her battle with breast cancer in 2010.
The singer wrote on her Facebook page last March: “Unfortunately the last 18 months have been a real challenge for me, having breast cancer and MS and all the new places that will take you.
“My illnesses have really exhausted this little body of mine that I have thrown from one end of a stage to another and performed thousands of shows.”
“Chrissy expressed hope that her worldwide hit I Touch Myself would be utilized to remind all women to perform annual breast examinations,” said Charley Drayton.
[youtube wv-34w8kGPM]
