After springing a surprise ‘visual album’ upon an unsuspecting world early last Friday, pop superstar Beyonce has continued to blow us away, most recently with the announcement that her new record has sold over 1 million copies in the worldwide iTunes store.

Almost a week since its release, Beyonce’s latest effort has become the fastest-selling album to ever hit iTunes, moving 828,773 copies over the course of its first weekend and still only available digitally in the lead-up to Christmas.

Considering that physical copies of the album haven’t even hit the retail shelves yet, it’s a sure bet sales will continue to skyrocket with the RIAA all but having certified the record with platinum status.

Beyonce’s fifth solo record, which also debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 album chart last Wednesday, contains 14 new songs and 17 videos filmed in large part during the singer’s recent Mrs Carter World Tour, also featuring collaborations with rapper husband Jay-Z and infant daughter Blue Ivy. The record contains additional guest appearances from fellow mega-stars Pharrell Williams, Timbaland, Drake, Justin Timberlake, Miguel, Sia, Frank Ocean, The-Dream and loads more.

Since last Friday, the album has outperformed some of the biggest and most-anticipated new full-length releases of 2013, managing to sell more copies than albums from Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and Britney Spears. At present moment, however, Beyonce’s self-titled album is yet to beat Justin Timberlake’s first part of The 20/20 Experience, which has proven to be incredibly successful for the singer, topping 2.3 million sales in the US and continuing to hold the fort as the year’s biggest selling album. 

Catch Mrs Carter when she takes on the UK on the following dates – and click here to book your tickets:

Thursday, February 20 – SSE Hydro Arena, Glasgow
Friday, February 21 – SSE Hydro Arena, Glasgow
Sunday, February 23 – LG Arena, Birmingham
Monday, February 24 – LG Arena, Birmingham
Tuesday, February 25 – Phones 4U Arena, Manchester
Wednesday, February 26 – Phones 4U Arena, Manchester
Friday, February 28 – The O2 Arena, London
Saturday, March 1 – The O2 Arena, London
Sunday, March 2 – The O2 Arena, London
Tuesday, March 4 – The O2 Arena, London
Saturday, March 8 – The O2, Dublin
Sunday, March 9 – The O2, Dublin
Tuesday, March 11 – The O2, Dublin

Image credit: Getty