SHOCKING result at number 10.

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The Official Singles Charts' biggest selling artists of all time revealed!

04/06/2012

By Lauren Kreisler

The Official Charts Company today unveils the Diamond Dozen – the 12 artists who have sold more than 10m singles in the history of the UK ‘s Official Singles Chart.

This definitive list of chart royalty is published to coincide with the Diamond Jubilee of both Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the UK’s Official Singles Chart - both celebrating 60 glorious years of heritage in 2012 – the list forms part of a BBC Radio 2 show running from 2pm till 5pm on Bank Holiday Monday (June 4).

In November 1952, five months after Queen Elizabeth II took the throne, the first ever Official Singles Chart was published in the New Musical Express. To mark this joint Jubilee, the Official Charts Company has compiled the definitive list of the biggest singles artists of all time, to be counted down by BBC Radio 2's Tony Blackburn in a special Jubilee Bank Holiday Monday show.

The list reveals The Beatles at the top, having sold the most chart singles over the past 60 years in the UK, followed by Elvis Presley and Sir Cliff Richard – all three have sold more than 20m singles in the UK. The Top 5 is completed by Madonna (on 17.6m) and Michael Jackson (15.3m).

Martin Talbot, managing director of the Official Charts Company, adds, “The Diamond Dozen, from the Beatles to Kylie, with Rihanna, Madonna, Elvis and Bowie in between, is truly the cream of music makers over the past six decades years. Over the past 60 years, the Official Singles Chart has provided the musical soundtrack to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth’s reign – and these artists have been her entertainers.”

The full Diamond Dozen are as follows:
01 THE BEATLES 21.9m
02 ELVIS PRESLEY 21.6m
03 CLIFF RICHARD 21.5m
04 MADONNA 17.6m
05 MICHAEL JACKSON 15.3m
06 ELTON JOHN 14.8m
07 QUEEN 12.6m
08 ABBA 11.2m
09 DAVID BOWIE 10.6m
10 RIHANNA 10.4m
11 PAUL McCARTNEY 10.2m
12 KYLIE MINOGUE 10.1m

© 2012 The Official Charts Company. All rights reserved.

BBC Radio 2 unveils full Official Singles Artists Top 60

The Diamond Dozen (outlined above) is the pinnacle of a full list of the Official Singles Artists Top 60 Of All Time, compiled by the Official Charts Company, which will be the subject of a Radio 2 show airing between 2pm and 5pm today, hosted by Tony Blackburn. The show will count down the full list, from Number 60 to Number 1, highlighting the biggest selling single by each artist.

The full Official Singles Artists Top 60 features plenty of stories. With singles sales currently at an all-time high (with 178m sold in 2011), current day stars perform surprisingly well. French DJ David Guetta comes in at 49, ahead of Coldplay and Duran Duran, while Eminem at 18 out-sells the likes of Tom Jones, Mariah Carey and U2.

Other stories include boy band Take That at 15 defeating girl power, with Spice Girls at 20. In turn, Britney Spears just pips Lady Gaga, at 26 and 28 respectively.

In turn, two artists feature twice in the list; Paul McCartney is at number 1 with The Beatles and at 11 as a solo artist, while George Michael is at 21 as a solo artist and 43 with Wham!.

Tony Blackburn, who will be hosting the Bank Holiday Monday show, says, “This chart offers a fascinating look at the past 60 years in music and shows the impact that modern stars like Rihanna and Katy Perry have had. The list is really varied and will provide something for everyone. There are definitely a few surprises in store - Coldplay being at 60 for one! It is sure to be an interesting listen and will be a great way to spend the Bank Holiday afternoon.”

The full Official Singles Artists Top 60 Of All Timeis as follows:
1 THE BEATLES
2 ELVIS PRESLEY
3 CLIFF RICHARD
4 MADONNA
5 MICHAEL JACKSON
6 ELTON JOHN
7 QUEEN
8 ABBA
9 DAVID BOWIE
10 RIHANNA
11 PAUL McCARTNEY
12 KYLIE MINOGUE
13 ROLLING STONES
14 ROD STEWART
15 TAKE THAT
16 STEVIE WONDER
17 OASIS
18 EMINEM
19 WHITNEY HOUSTON
20 SPICE GIRLS
21 GEORGE MICHAEL
22 ROBBIE WILLIAMS
23 THE BEE GEES
24 U2
25 SHAKIN' STEVENS
26 BRITNEY SPEARS
27 STATUS QUO
28 LADY GAGA
29 BOYZONE
30 BLONDIE
31 SLADE
32 THE BLACK EYED PEAS
33 BONEY M
34 WESTLIFE
35 CELINE DION
36 BEYONCE
37 UB40
38 OLIVIA NEWTON JOHN
39 MARIAH CAREY
40 TOM JONES
41 MADNESS
42 THE POLICE
43 WHAM!
44 PHIL COLLINS
45 DIANA ROSS
46 THE JAM
47 BRYAN ADAMS
48 PET SHOP BOYS
49 DAVID GUETTA
50 ADAM ANT
51 DURAN DURAN
52 FRANK SINATRA
53 FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD
54 PRINCE
55 KATY PERRY
56 WET WET WET
57 EVERLY BROTHERS
58 SHADOWS
59 PINK
60 COLDPLAY

© 2012 The Official Charts Company. All rights reserved.

http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/the-official-singles-charts-biggest-selling-artists-of-all-time-revealed-1431/

yuck Madonna , Rihanna , Abba and Kylie Minogue

what are you people thinking

shocking indeed

but i like her better than hagdonna

[Edited 6/4/12 14:48pm]

sorry, but that list MUST be inaccurate

I mean: no Def Leppard?? (and I'm not even a fan of the band)

but c'mon, those guys sold a juggernaut of copies during the 80s, singles included

also, Oasis number 17, but Blur is nowhere to be found??

it's also hard to swallow that Led Zeppelin aren't included either...

[Edited 6/4/12 14:50pm]

JoeTyler said:

I mean: no Def Leppard?? (and I'm not even a fan of the band)

but c'mon, those guys sold a juggernaut of copies during the 80s, singles included

Did they? That was albums in the US. They were never all that huge in their home country.

[Edited 6/4/12 14:53pm]

JoeTyler said:

it's also hard to swallow that Led Zeppelin aren't included either...

[Edited 6/4/12 14:50pm]

WHY? Led Zeppelin never released singles. Their count would be next to nothing. Their only UK charting single was a re-release of Whole Lotta Love in the 90s.

[Edited 6/4/12 14:56pm]

Ellie said:

JoeTyler said:

it's also hard to swallow that Led Zeppelin aren't included either...

[Edited 6/4/12 14:50pm]

WHY? Led Zeppelin never released singles. Their count would be next to nothing. Their only UK charting single was a re-release of Whole Lotta Love in the 90s.

[Edited 6/4/12 14:56pm]

ok then, didn't know that, I'm a fan of their music but not of the band, lol

Ellie said:

JoeTyler said:

I mean: no Def Leppard?? (and I'm not even a fan of the band)

but c'mon, those guys sold a juggernaut of copies during the 80s, singles included

Did they? That was albums in the US. They were never all that huge in their home country.

[Edited 6/4/12 14:53pm]

still difficult to accept that Madness sold more than Def in the UK...and Photograph, Rock of Ages and Bringin' on the Heartbreak were huge in the UK...

[Edited 6/4/12 14:58pm]

Oh, Madness on the other hand yes, they were huge. I mean they just sang on top of Buckingham Palace about an hour ago for the Jubilee concert.

Madness are cool

The one surprise for me on the list is Bryan Adams. I didn't know he was that popular in the U.K.

Not surprised, you Americans may be surprised about Sir Cliff (Britains oldest closeted gay) being so high up, he only really had a few minor hits in the USA (Devil Woman got to #10 I think in 1976), but he is huge in the UK, and unfotunately here too (Most New Zealand chart action mirrors the UK's).

Abba also had more hits in the UK than USA, same with Boney M did they even hit the US charts at all.

Elvis has always been popular there too, and David Bowie is right uo there too, his post 1976 output did much better in the UK than the USA like Elton John's (Sorry Americans, we British have always tolerated gays much better than you have).

I have noticed Prince has moved down to 54. In my 2003 edition of British hit singles, he was in the 30's at 37, by 2020 he will be out of the top 60.

Good list though.

Ellie said:

JoeTyler said:

I mean: no Def Leppard?? (and I'm not even a fan of the band)

but c'mon, those guys sold a juggernaut of copies during the 80s, singles included

Did they? That was albums in the US. They were never all that huge in their home country.

[Edited 6/4/12 14:53pm]

Agree totally, Hysteria was huge, but their chart output before 1983 and after 1993 is unknown, most to the top acts had hits over a longer period such as Elton John 1971 to the late 2000's, Bowie 1969 to 2003, and the others had like 11 or 12 massive hits in a row (Spice Girls, West life), a few Top 10 entries is not going to Motor one to the top of the list.

The downloads are really affecting things now though. Acts are releasing way more "singles" than ever before, and if you buy a single album track from iTunes then that must count too. It helped The Beatles and Elvis surpass Cliff Richard (he was number one last time the OCC counted in 2004).

Wow Sade and stevie did a lot better than I thought they would.

JoeTyler said:

it's also hard to swallow that Led Zeppelin aren't included either...

[Edited 6/4/12 14:50pm]

They didn't have a lot of hit singles, their main success focused on full albums and tours.

Not surprising about Stevie being #16. That's Motown's most popular artist there after Diana Ross.

aardvark15 said:

Wow Sade did a lot better than I thought she would.

I think you've misread SLADE

lol

JoeTyler said:

aardvark15 said:

Wow Sade did a lot better than I thought she would.

I think you've misread SLADE

lol

I just breezed through. I thought she wasn't that big over there

sextonseven said:

The one surprise for me on the list is Bryan Adams. I didn't know he was that popular in the U.K.

Considering Everything I do (I do it for you) is the longest running number one single in UK history at 16 weeks, it's not so surprising.

Rhianna charted higher than The Stones, Paul McCartney, Rod Stewart and the Bee Gees???

it's simple why rihanna's up there: downloads

ain't that shocking. plus folks over there dig her way more than folks do here.