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ABC News
ABC News
National
music and pop culture reporter Mawunyo Gbogbo

Canadian rapper Drake smashes 55-year-old record previously held by The Beatles

Drake has broken The Beatles' record which stood for 55 years. (supplied via Universal Music Australia)

Canadian rapper Drake has surpassed a long-held record held by The Beatles.

For 55 years, The Beatles had the most top five hits on Billboard's Hot 100 chart, with 29.

Now, Drake is the artist with the most top five hits in Hot 100 history, having had 30 songs reach that milestone.

Drake features on DJ Khaled's Staying Alive, also featuring Lil Baby, which debuted at number five on this week's chart.

It's the latest in a long list of Drake releases to create Billboard chart history.

It means Drake has also extended his records for the most top 10s, top 20s, top 40s and overall Hot 100 entries in the chart's 64-year history.

The work of Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney, John Lennon and George Harrison was recently documented in The Beatles: Get Back. (Supplied: Apple Corps Ltd)

The rapper celebrated his achievement on social media, with Billboard also posting a video announcement.

The Hot 100 has included streaming data for the past decade, which means an entire album's tracklist can chart after its debut.

It used to be that only songs that were released commercially for individual purchase were eligible to chart.

Drake has broken record after record after record

The Grammy award-winning artist has numerous Billboard accolades, including the most Hot 100 hits at 277.

Drake has also had a record seven songs peak at number one on the Hot 100.

He also has 44 songs that have debuted in the top 10 of the Hot 100, meaning he has the most top 10 Hot 100 debuts of any artist.

Drake was born Aubrey Drake Graham in Toronto in 1986.

He first rose to stardom as an actor in the TV teenage drama series Degrassi: The Next Generation.

His musical breakthrough came in 2009 when he released the mixtape So Far Gone, which included the hit single Best I Ever Had.

He has taken on other substantial projects in entertainment, becoming an executive producer of TV series Euphoria, starring Emmy award-winner Zendaya, in 2019.

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