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And Finally Artist News
Vera Lynn breaks chart record, as greatest hits compilation goes to number one
By Andy Malt | Published on Monday 18 May 2020
Captain Tom (or, really, just a general lack of sales and streams) may have recently denied Vera Lynn a UK number one single, but now – at 103 – she has become the oldest person to ever score a number one album. Her 2017 greatest hits compilation ‘100’ has topped the UK chart, following the recent VE Day celebrations.
The BBC’s programme marking the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe ended with a singalong version of Lynn’s wartime classic ‘We’ll Meet Again’. This, along with a mention from the Queen and other attempts to get the song back into the public consciousness in recent weeks, have pushed the ‘100’ compilation up the album chart.
Earlier during the COVID-19 pandemic, there was an attempt to get a new charity version of ‘We’ll Meet Again’ with Katherine Jenkins to number one in the singles chart. However, it only reached number 72. The same week, then 99 year old Captain Tom Moore became the oldest person to ever have a UK number one single, with his version of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’.
There were no hard feelings though. In an interview with ‘Good Morning Britain’, Moore revealed that Lynn had written him a letter congratulating him on his campaign of fundraising for the NHS. He also apologised to Lynn for going to number one instead of her.
With ‘100’ now at number one, Lynn also breaks her own chart record, set by the same compilation upon its original release in 2017. Then, she became the first person over 100 years old to chart when it went to number three.
