Canadian songwriter Leonard Cohen's track Hallelujah has made music history by becoming both Number One and Number Two in the British charts – the first time that such a feat has ever been accomplished by an artist at Christmas.
The top spot was claimed by winner of reality TV show The X Factor Alexandra Burke, whose cover broke the record for the fastest-selling single by a female artist. Meanwhile a campaign by fans of deceased US artist Jeff Buckley to get his version to the top of the charts resulted in the track getting to second place.
And in another twist, Leonard's original version of the song - which he released as part of an album in 1984 and has never been placed in the top 40 - entered the charts at number 36.
It's all good news for the 73-year-old performer, who admitted he decided to tour again in 2008 due to money issues. In the Nineties he spent some time in seclusion as a Buddhist monk only to find on his return that millions of dollars from his retirement fund and publishing rights to his songs had been misappropriated, leaving him with practically nothing.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
