The Official Charts Company have compiled the ultimate list of top selling albums in the UK. The top 40 list was put together for the BBC.
‘Queen’s Greatest Hits‘ tops the list with 5.8 million albums shifted. The 1981 compilation features hits such as ‘Another One Bites The Dust‘ and ‘Bohemian Rhapsody‘ . The Beatles‘ ‘Sgt Pepper‘ and ABBA’s compilation album ‘Gold‘ came in second and third place, with sales of 5 million and 4.9 million respectively.
The complete rundown of the top 40 Albums was presented by BBC Radio 2 DJ Tony Blackburn.
Commenting on the chart, Blackburn said: “This chart is a real mixed bag. I think listeners will be quite surprised. There are artists in there you would expect to see in a countdown of this nature but not necessarily at the positions that they are.”
Adele’s ‘21‘ comes in at sixth position with 14 of the chart’s best-selling discs originating from the 2000’s and popular bands such as Kings of Leon , Keane, Coldplay, Travis as well as veterans Madonna and Fleetwood Mac making the cut. The only bands that landed two entries in the top 4O were Michael Jackson, The Beatles, Coldplay and Queen.
US artists placed 9 albums while the UK are responsible for 23 in the list.
Top 40 biggest selling albums of all-time in full:
01 GREATEST HITS (1981) – QUEEN
02 SGT PEPPER’S LONELY HEART’S CLUB BAND (1967) – THE BEATLES
03 GOLD – GREATEST HITS (1992) – ABBA
04 WHAT’S THE STORY MORNING GLORY (1995) – OASIS
05 THRILLER (1982) – MICHAEL JACKSON
06 21 (2011) – ADELE
07 BROTHERS IN ARMS (1985) – DIRE STRAITS
08 THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON (1973) – PINK FLOYD
09 BAD (1987) – MICHAEL JACKSON
10 GREATEST HITS II (1991) – QUEEN
11 THE IMMACULATE COLLECTION (1990) – MADONNA
12 BACK TO BLACK (2006) – AMY WINEHOUSE
13 STARS (1991) – SIMPLY RED
14 RUMOURS (1977) – FLEETWOOD MAC
15 COME ON OVER (1997) – SHANIA TWAIN
16 BACK TO BEDLAM (2005) – JAMES BLUNT
17 URBAN HYMNS (1997) – THE VERVE
18 BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER (1970) – SIMON & GARFUNKEL
19 NO ANGEL (2001) – DIDO
20 SPIRIT (2007) – LEONA LEWIS
21 LEGEND (1984) – BOB MARLEY & THE WAILERS
22 BAT OUT OF HELL (1977) – MEAT LOAF
23 DIRTY DANCING (1987) – ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK
24 1 (2000) – THE BEATLES
25 TALK ON CORNERS (1997) – THE CORRS
26 WHITE LADDER(1998) – DAVID GRAY
27 SPICE (1996) – SPICE GIRLS
28 CRAZY LOVE (2009) – MICHAEL BUBLÉ
29 LIFE FOR RENT (2003) – DIDO
30 BEAUTIFUL WORLD (2006) – TAKE THAT
31 THE FAME (2008) – LADY GAGA
32 A RUSH OF BLOOD TO THE HEAD (2002) – COLDPLAY
33 HOPES AND FEARS (2004) – KEANE
34 THE JOSHUA TREE (1987) – U2
35 BUT SERIOUSLY (1989) – PHIL COLLINS
36 SCISSOR SISTERS (2004) – SCISSOR SISTERS
37 ONLY BY THE NIGHT (2008) – THE KINGS OF LEON
38 THE WAR OF THE WORLD (1978) – JEFF WAYNE
39 THE MAN WHO (1999) – TRAVIS
40 X&Y (2005) – COLDPLAY
