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Singer Susan Boyle has notched up a notable double after her latest album - already number one in the UK - reached the top spot in the US as well.

According to her record label, the Scottish star is only the third act to achieve that feat twice within a year.

Only the Monkees, in 1967, and the Beatles, in 1969, have simultaneously topped both charts twice in the same 12 months, Columbia Records said.

Boyle's The Gift sold 318,000 copies in the US on its first week on release.

Her debut album, I Dreamed a Dream, sold 701,000 copies in its first week, going on to top the Billboard chart for six weeks in all.

The Gift went straight to the top of the UK chart at the weekend, knocking Cheryl Cole's second solo album down to two.

Boyle, 49, said the chart double was an "amazing result" and that she had never felt happier.

Simon Cowell, whose Britain's Got Talent TV show made Boyle a star in 2009, said he was "thrilled" by the news.

"She has once again defied the odds," the music mogul added, calling her his "superwoman".

I Dreamed a Dream sold more copies in its first week on sale in the UK than any other debut album.

It went on to sell more than 10 million copies worldwide.