Rebel Heart: Madonna on track for 12th number one album in the UK

Pictures of Nelson Mandela and Princess Diana were used to promote it

Madonna performs on stage during the BRIT Awards 2015 (Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)

Madonna is on track to have her 12th number one album in the UK as Rebel Heart takes an early lead in the charts.

It us currently outselling its nearest competitor by three to one after just 24 hours on sale, according to the Official Charts Company, meaning Chasing Yesterday by Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds could be knocked off the top spot.

It would be a nice pick-me-up for Madonna after her fall down a flight of stairs at the Brit Awards during a spectacular wardrobe malfunction.

Madonna falls during her performance at the BRIT music awards at the O2 Arena in Greenwich, London

Fans applauded the 56-year-old’s professionalism as she stood up and, clearly injured, finished the performance.

Madonna has been promoting Rebel Heart with some dubious artwork on Instagram, including a cartoon of her kissing Disney princess Snow White captioned “girl power”.

She also posted pictures of “rebel hearts” including Princess Diana, Marilyn Monroe, Martin Luther King and Elvis Presley, with black cord wound around their faces imitating her album cover.

In response to criticism of the images, Madonna wrote on Facebook that she was not comparing herself to the icons but “admiring and acknowledging there Rebel Hearts (sic)”.

“I'm very flattered and I hope one day to live up to 1 100th of what those people accomplished,” she added.

The Queen of Pop’s previous number one albums include Like A Virgin (1984), Like A Prayer (1989), The Immaculate Collection (1990), Ray Of Light (1998) and MDNA (2012).

Other new entries that could get into the top 10 this weekend include Rebecca Ferguson’s Lady Sings The Blues and Colours by Blue.