From Queen to Oasis we reveal Britain's top ten best-selling albums of all time - how many have you
QUEEN’S Greatest Hits album has become, er, the greatest ever.
The 1981 “best of” album is the top-selling album in British history, topping seven million sales, according to the Official Charts Company.
Guitarist Brian May, 75, said: “We’re here to bring you the joyous news that Queen’s Greatest Hits album has sold seven million copies, which nobody has ever done before.”
While drummer Roger Taylor, 72, added: “The British public and their infinitely great taste have made this the biggest-selling album in history.
“Thank you very much, we’re humbled and honoured.”
The band, fronted by Freddie Mercury until his death aged 45 in 1991, had already broken records with the album when it became the first to sell more than six million copies in 2014.
As one of the first “best of” albums in history, it is now estimated to be owned by one in four UK households.
In addition to sales, it has also been streamed 1.26BILLION times in the UK.
And it has seen Queen — who now have former American Idol contestant Adam Lambert, 40, as their singer — last month become the first British act to spend 1,000 weeks in the Official Album Charts.
The compilation was the first of two “best of” albums. The second is number ten in the bestseller list.
From Abba to Jacko, we bring you the top ten best-selling UK albums.
1. Queen (7 million)
2. ABBA (6 million)
ABBA – Gold: Greatest Hits, Sept 1992: Been a No1 in nine countries.
Remastered in 2008 for the film version of Mamma Mia!
3. The Beatles (5.3 million)
The Beatles – Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band 1967: Topped the charts for 23 weeks.
Cover has gone down in history.
4. Adele (5.29 million)
Adele– 21, 2011: With this album, at the 2012 Grammys the singer became the first artist to win six awards.
5. Oasis (4.9 million)
Oasis – (What’s The Story) Morning Glory, 1995: Three months in the chart on release and the UK’s best-selling 90s album.
6. Michael Jackson (4.47 million)
Michael Jackson – Thriller, 1982: Huge music video for the title track has helped it make £3.4billion in sales.
7. Pink Floyd (4.47 million)
Pink Floyd – The Dark Side Of The Moon, 1973: Cracked the US where it was No1.
Never higher than No2 here.
8. Dire Straits (4.35 million)
Dire Straits – Brothers In Arms, 1985: One of the first albums to sell more on CD than vinyl.
Spent more than six years in UK charts.
9. Michael Jackson (4.1 million)
Michael Jackson – BAD, 1987: Sold 350,000 copies here plus 2.25million in the USA in its first week.
No1 in 15 countries.
10. Queen (3.99 million)
Queen– Greatest Hits II, 1991: This second compilation album was released a month before Freddie Mercury’s death.
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