CHART ROYALTY: By notching a sixth week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" passes Lulu's five-week 1967 leader "To Sir With Love" and trails only Olivia Newton-John's "Physical" for most frames tallied at the summit among songs by British-born solo women.
(It's a fitting honor for a song that borrows from British vernacular. Adele, born in Tottenham, North London, describes "Deep" as an "adaptation of a kind of slang, slur phrase in the U.K. called 'roll deep,' which means to ... always have someone that has your back, and you're never on your own").
Here is a look at the songs by British-born solo female artists to spend the most time atop the Hot 100:
Weeks at No. 1, Title, Artist, Year
10 weeks, "Physical," Olivia Newton-John, 1981
6 weeks, "Rolling in the Deep," Adele, 2011
5 weeks, "To Sir With Love," Lulu, 1967
4 weeks, "Bleeding Love," Leona Lewis, 2008
4 weeks, "Don't Go Breaking My Heart," Kiki Dee (duet with Elton John), 1976
Adele likewise continues her domination on the Billboard 200.
As parent album "21" returns for a 10th week atop the album survey, Adele extends her lead for longest reign atop the list among sets by British-born solo women.
How does the chart-topping longevity of "21" rank among Billboard 200 No. 1s by all-British acts? Here is a recap of the longest-leading such collections dating to the chart's launch as a weekly survey March 24, 1956:
Weeks at No. 1, Title, Artist, Year
15 weeks, "The Wall," Pink Floyd, 1980
15 weeks, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," the Beatles, 1967
14 weeks, "A Hard Day's Night," the Beatles (soundtrack), 1964
12 weeks, "Faith," George Michael, 1988
11 weeks, "Abbey Road," the Beatles, 1969
11 weeks, "Meet the Beatles," the Beatles, 1964
10 weeks, "21," Adele, 2011
10 weeks, "Frampton Comes Alive!," Peter Frampton, 1976
10 weeks, "Elton John - Greatest Hits," Elton John, 1974
"21" (which, with 2.2 million sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan, is the top-selling album in the U.S. this year) includes an ode to a fellow British act.
Adele's cover of the Cure's "Lovesong," a No. 2 Hot 100 hit for the band in 1989, breaks into the top 20 (22-19) on Billboard's Jazz Songs chart.
LEPPARD SPOTS: Def Leppard likewise represents the U.K. well, as "Mirrorball: Live & More," the rock band's first live album in a career spanning more than 30 years, bows on the Billboard 200 at No. 16.
Released on Mailboat Records, home to (former Billboard Nashville bureau chief) Jimmy Buffett, the set also marks Def Leppard's first independent effort. The album begins on the Independent Albums chart at No. 5.
A Def Leppard album hasn't missed the Billboard 200's top 20 since the group's second release, "High 'n' Dry," peaked at No. 38 in 1981. (The band's debut, "On Through the Night," reached No. 51 in 1980). Beginning with "Pyromania," which spent two weeks at No. 2 in 1983, Def Leppard has sent 12 consecutive albums into the top 20.
The band has scored two No. 1s: "Hysteria" (six weeks, 1988) and follow-up "Adrenalize" (five weeks, 1992).
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