Teenage star Gareth Gates last night became the youngest British male solo star to notch up a Number One hit, dislodging Pop Idol rival Will Young from the top.
The 17-year-old, from Bradford, took Unchained Melody to the chart's prime slot. It is the only song to have made it to Number One for four artists.
Gareth had been the favourite to win ITV1's talent hunt Pop Idol but was beaten to the title by a narrow margin in a live TV phone poll by Will.
Last night, Gareth performed at Birmingham's NEC, along with the rest of the Pop Idol finalists, as part of a nationwide tour. He told the audience of 12,000 screaming fans: "It's always been my dream to have a Number One hit."
Will presented him with a special award from Guinness World Records - which compiles the book of British Hit Singles - to mark his big moment.
He told Gareth: "There's absolutely no one who I'd rather pass the chart position on to."
Gareth is understood to have sold in the region of 900,000 copies of his single, compared to Will's first week sales of 1.1 million, which made his release the fastest selling debut record of all time.
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