…..Queen’s Greatest Hits!
From the Official Charts Company
Topping the all time best sellers list is Queen’s 1981 Greatest Hits, and stands alone as the first and only album to have sold over 6 million copies in the UK (6.1 million sales to date). Queen’s Greatest Hits II also makes it into the Top 10 at Number 10 with almost 4 million albums sold.
“What a great bit of news to wake up to!” Brian May told OfficialCharts.com. The most popular album? Well, I always thought the band showed promise, but this is beyond our boyhood dreams! Thanks folks!”
Roger Taylor added: “Incredible… marvellous… humbling… thank you… I feel good!”
Here’s the runners up….
Just behind Queen’s compilation is another best-of – Abba’s Gold: Greatest Hits, which is the UK’s second-biggest-selling album, shifting 5.2m units since its release in 1992. At No 3 is the Beatles’ Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
The success of a new generation of artists is also reflected in the roundup. Ed Sheeran’s X is at No 49, while Adele’s 25 is among the top 30 bestsellers seven months after release. Meanwhile, her 2011 album 21 is at No 4.
Oasis’ (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? caps off the Top 5, with 4.7m sales.
Despite failing to crack the Top 10, Robbie Williams has the most entries – four – of any individual, including his solo albums I’ve Been Expecting You at No 48 and Swing When You’re Winning at No 56, and two Take That bestsellers: Progress (No 57) and Never Forget – The Ultimate Collection (No 59). Coldplay have three entries – A Rush of Blood to the Head (No 31), X&Y (No 40) and Parachutes (No 45), while Michael Jackson, Dido and Fleetwood Mac each have two entries.
The Top 60 chart is part of the Official Chart Company’s month-long anniversary celebrations. The first ever chart was published in the Record Mirror on 22 July 1956, and featured Frank Sinatra’s Songs for Swingin’ Lovers in the top spot.
“In celebration of 60 years of the UK’s official album chart, it is fantastic that we can crown Queen as the kings of the anniversary Top 60,” said Martin Talbot, chief executive of Official Charts. “With seven albums by British acts in the all-time Top 10, and Adele’s 21 now challenging the Beatles’ Sgt Pepper to be the biggest-selling studio album of all time, it is a great list for homegrown talent. And the fact that Adele’s latest album 25 is riding into the overall Top 30, along with Ed Sheeran’s X, underlines the power of the official albums chart in championing great British talent, young and old.”
What do you think? Is it good that a greatest hits album is the best selling UK album ever? Does it matter? What should have been number 1?
You can find Queen vinyl rarities, reissues, CDs, memorabilia and more at the Queen Collectors Store at eil.com
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