LONDON (Reuters) - Sixteen-year-old singer-songwriter Lorde has become the youngest artist to enter Britain's singles charts at number one since 1998, the Official Charts Company said on Sunday.
New Zealand-born Lorde's debut single "Royals" beat former TV talent show winner James Arthur to the top of the charts, pushing last week's number one "Counting Stars" by OneRepublic into third place.
Only 15-year-old British pop artist Billie has entered the chart top spot at a younger age, when in 1998 she scored a number one with "Because we want to".
American Katy Perry racked up her second album chart number one with "Prism", selling 12,000 more copies than Briton James Blunt's new album "Moon Landing". Last week's number one, "Tribute" by John Newman, fell to third place.
Italian opera singer Andrea Bocelli's new album "Love in Portofino" entered the charts at number five.
(Reporting by William James; Editing by Alison Williams)