Niall Horan breaks chart records

Niall Horan has made chart history by becoming the first artist to debut at number one on the Social 50 countdown.

The One Direction star became the first existing member of the boy band to release a solo single last week (ends30Sep16), and he's already topping charts thanks to the song, This Town.

The Social 50 chart began in 2010 and is powered by data tracked by music analytics company Next Big Sound, ranking the most popular artists on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Wikipedia, Tumblr and Vine.

Niall has gone one better than former bandmate Zayn Malik, who debuted at three in February (16) and peaked at two on the Social 50 countdown.

But it's not the first time the Irish singer has found himself at the top of the chart - One Direction ruled the Social 50 for eight weeks in 2013.

This Town also became the highest debut on the mainstream Billboard Hot 100 chart on Monday (03Oct16), entering the countdown at 63.