Taylor Swift beats Whitney Houston to claim a new US chart record with 'folklore'

Pop star Taylor Swift has broken a Billboard chart record, which was previously held by late music sensation Whitney Houston.

Swift's latest LP, 'folklore', has returned to the top of the US chart, and has now surpassed the music icon's record for the most cumulative weeks at number one for a female artist.

The 'Shake It Off' hitmaker has now spent 47 weeks at the top of the chart, surpassing Whitney's 46 weeks. While,  Adele is in third place with 34 weeks on top.

The Beatles are the overall record holders of male and female artists, as the 'Let it Be' hitmakers spent 132 weeks at number one.

Sir Elton John, The Rolling Stones, Mariah Carey, Michael Jackson and more follow closely behind.

The 30-year-old pop superstar  had already become the first artist ever to debut at number one on both the Billboard 200 and Hot 100 charts in the same week.

The surprise LP, which she dropped in July, hit the summit of the Billboard 200 album chart, and the lead single, 'cardigan', went on to reach the top of the Billboard Hot 100.

The album had already smashed several records, including achieving 80.6 million Spotify streams in one day - the most ever for a female artist.