The Beatles' Abbey Road returns to #1 on UK albums chart after nearly 50 years, setting Guinness World Record

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Apple Corps Ltd./Capitol/UMeThe Beatles have made U.K. chart history this week, as the band’s 1969 album Abbey Road has returned to #1 on the Official Albums Chart — 49 years and 252 days after it last topped the tally.

The feat has been officially recognized by Guinness World Records as the album with the longest time period between appearances at #1 in the U.K.

The Fab Four actually broke its own record, which was set in 2017 by Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. That album had a gap of 49 years and 125 days between topping the chart.

Abbey Road‘s latest ascension to the top of the U.K. chart comes, of course, thanks to the 50th anniversary reissues of the album that were released last Friday.

Abbey Road was originally released in September 1969, and reached #1 for the first time in the U.K. on October 4 of that year. It went on to spend 17 nonconsecutive weeks atop the tally, a run that ended on January 31, 1970.

Not surprisingly, Abbey Road also landed at #1 on the U.K.’s Official Vinyl Albums Chart.

“It’s hard to believe that Abbey Road still holds up after all these years,” says Paul McCartney in celebration of the chart milestone. “But then again, it’s a bloody cool album.”

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