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The highest-selling single in the 21st century is "[[Happy (Pharrell Williams song)|Happy]]" by [[Pharrell Williams]] which overtook "[[Evergreen (Westlife song)#Will Young version|Evergreen]]" by [[Will Young]] in 2015.<ref name="top 40 of the millenium">{{cite web|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/the-official-top-40-biggest-selling-singles-of-the-millennium-so-far-revealed__9816/|title=The Official Top 40 Biggest Selling Singles of the Millennium so far revealed|last=Copsey|first=Rob|date=11 June 2015|publisher=[[Official Charts Company]]|accessdate=11 June 2015}}</ref>
The highest-selling single in the 21st century is "[[Happy (Pharrell Williams song)|Happy]]" by [[Pharrell Williams]] which overtook "[[Evergreen (Westlife song)#Will Young version|Evergreen]]" by [[Will Young]] in 2015.<ref name="top 40 of the millenium">{{cite web|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/the-official-top-40-biggest-selling-singles-of-the-millennium-so-far-revealed__9816/|title=The Official Top 40 Biggest Selling Singles of the Millennium so far revealed|last=Copsey|first=Rob|date=11 June 2015|publisher=[[Official Charts Company]]|accessdate=11 June 2015}}</ref>


==Best-selling singles==
==Best-selling singles based on paid-for purchases==
Until 2014 only a paid download or a purchase of a physical single counted as a sale. Based on this definition these are the 40 best-selling singles in the Uk.
⚫
{{See also|List of million-selling singles in the United Kingdom|List of most downloaded songs in the United Kingdom|List of most streamed songs in the United Kingdom|List of Platinum singles in the United Kingdom awarded before 2000|List of Platinum singles in the United Kingdom awarded since 2000}}


{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" style="text-align:center"
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" style="text-align:center"
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! scope="col"|Released<ref group=lower-alpha name=OCC/>
! scope="col"|Released<ref group=lower-alpha name=OCC/>
! scope="col"|Chart<br/>peak<ref group=lower-alpha name=OCC/>
! scope="col"|Chart<br/>peak<ref group=lower-alpha name=OCC/>
! scope="col"|Sales<br/>(millions){{#tag:ref|The sales are those given by the OCC {{As of|2013|6|27|lc=y}}, except where a more recent OCC figure is available.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/daft-punks-get-lucky-becomes-one-of-the-uks-biggest-selling-singles-of-all-time-2315/|title=Daft Punk's Get Lucky becomes one of the UK's biggest selling singles of all-time!|last=Lane|first=Daniel|publisher=[[Official Charts Company]]|date=27 June 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/naughty-boy-and-sam-smith-reach-1-million-sales-with-la-la-la-3074/|title=Naughty Boy and Sam Smith smash 1 million UK sales with La La La|last=Lane|first=Dan|publisher=[[Official Charts Company]]|date=10 June 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/pharrells-happy-now-the-uks-most-downloaded-track-of-all-time-3108/|title=Pharrell's Happy now the UK's most downloaded track of all time|first=Rob|last=Copsey|date=9 September 2014|publisher=[[Official Charts Company]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/the-official-top-40-biggest-selling-singles-of-2014-so-far-3163/|title=The Official Top 40 Biggest Selling Singles of 2014 so far!|publisher=[[Official Charts Company]]|first=Rob|last=Copsey|date=1 October 2014|accessdate=1 October 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/will-youngs-official-biggest-selling-singles-revealed-im-shocked-by-that-__9444/|title=Will Young's Official biggest selling singles revealed: "I'm shocked by that!"|last=Copsey|first=Rob|date=26 May 2015|publisher=[[Official Charts Company]]|accessdate=2 June 2015}}</ref><ref name="top 40 singles 2014">{{cite web|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/the-official-top-40-biggest-selling-singles-of-2014-3389/|title=The Official Top 40 Biggest Selling Singles of 2014|publisher=[[Official Charts Company]]|date=1 January 2015|first=Rob|last=Copsey}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/the-official-top-40-biggest-selling-singles-of-the-millennium-so-far-revealed__9816/|title=The Official Top 40 Biggest Selling Singles of the Millennium so far revealed|last=Copsey|first=Rob|date=11 June 2015|publisher=[[Official Charts Company]]|accessdate=11 June 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/britney-spears-her-biggest-selling-singles-and-albums-revealed__9774/|title=Britney Spears: her biggest selling singles and albums revealed|last=Myers|first=Justin|date=13 June 2015|publisher=[[Official Charts Company]]|accessdate=13 June 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/james-horner-film-composer-for-titanic-and-braveheart-dies-in-plane-crash__9893/|title=James Horner, film composer for Titanic and Braveheart, dies in plane crash|last=Copsey|first=Rob|date=23 June 2015|publisher=[[Official Charts Company]]|accessdate=23 June 2015}}</ref><ref name="Beatles top 50">{{cite web|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/the-official-top-50-biggest-selling-beatles-singles-revealed__10575/|title=The Official Top 50 biggest selling Beatles singles revealed|date=27 August 2015|first=Rob|last=Copsey|publisher=Official Charts Company}}</ref>|group=lower-alpha}}
! scope="col"|Traditional sales<br/>(millions){{#tag:ref|The sales are those given by the OCC {{As of|2013|6|27|lc=y}}, except where a more recent OCC figure is available.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/daft-punks-get-lucky-becomes-one-of-the-uks-biggest-selling-singles-of-all-time-2315/|title=Daft Punk's Get Lucky becomes one of the UK's biggest selling singles of all-time!|last=Lane|first=Daniel|publisher=[[Official Charts Company]]|date=27 June 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/naughty-boy-and-sam-smith-reach-1-million-sales-with-la-la-la-3074/|title=Naughty Boy and Sam Smith smash 1 million UK sales with La La La|last=Lane|first=Dan|publisher=[[Official Charts Company]]|date=10 June 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/pharrells-happy-now-the-uks-most-downloaded-track-of-all-time-3108/|title=Pharrell's Happy now the UK's most downloaded track of all time|first=Rob|last=Copsey|date=9 September 2014|publisher=[[Official Charts Company]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/the-official-top-40-biggest-selling-singles-of-2014-so-far-3163/|title=The Official Top 40 Biggest Selling Singles of 2014 so far!|publisher=[[Official Charts Company]]|first=Rob|last=Copsey|date=1 October 2014|accessdate=1 October 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/will-youngs-official-biggest-selling-singles-revealed-im-shocked-by-that-__9444/|title=Will Young's Official biggest selling singles revealed: "I'm shocked by that!"|last=Copsey|first=Rob|date=26 May 2015|publisher=[[Official Charts Company]]|accessdate=2 June 2015}}</ref><ref name="top 40 singles 2014">{{cite web|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/the-official-top-40-biggest-selling-singles-of-2014-3389/|title=The Official Top 40 Biggest Selling Singles of 2014|publisher=[[Official Charts Company]]|date=1 January 2015|first=Rob|last=Copsey}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/the-official-top-40-biggest-selling-singles-of-the-millennium-so-far-revealed__9816/|title=The Official Top 40 Biggest Selling Singles of the Millennium so far revealed|last=Copsey|first=Rob|date=11 June 2015|publisher=[[Official Charts Company]]|accessdate=11 June 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/britney-spears-her-biggest-selling-singles-and-albums-revealed__9774/|title=Britney Spears: her biggest selling singles and albums revealed|last=Myers|first=Justin|date=13 June 2015|publisher=[[Official Charts Company]]|accessdate=13 June 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/james-horner-film-composer-for-titanic-and-braveheart-dies-in-plane-crash__9893/|title=James Horner, film composer for Titanic and Braveheart, dies in plane crash|last=Copsey|first=Rob|date=23 June 2015|publisher=[[Official Charts Company]]|accessdate=23 June 2015}}</ref><ref name="Beatles top 50">{{cite web|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/the-official-top-50-biggest-selling-beatles-singles-revealed__10575/|title=The Official Top 50 biggest selling Beatles singles revealed|date=27 August 2015|first=Rob|last=Copsey|publisher=Official Charts Company}}</ref>|group=lower-alpha}}
|-
|-
!scope="row"|1
!scope="row"|1
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{{Reflist|group=lower-alpha}}
{{Reflist|group=lower-alpha}}

==Best-selling songs based on combined sales==
From 2014 streaming has counted towards sales (sometimes called "combined sales" or "chart sales") at the rate of 100 streams equal to one download or physical purchase. Based on this, the top five is as follows.


{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! scope="col"|{{Abbr|No.|Number}}
! scope="col"|Single
! scope="col"|Artist
! scope="col"|Released<ref group=lower-alpha name=OCC/>
! scope="col"|Combined sales<br/>(millions)
|-
!scope="row"|1
|"[[Candle in the Wind 1997]]" / "[[Something About the Way You Look Tonight]]"
|{{Sortname|Elton|John}}
|{{Dts|format=dmy|1997|9}}
|align=center|4.92
|-
!scope="row"|2
|"[[Do They Know It's Christmas?]]"
|[[Band Aid (band)|Band Aid]]
|{{Dts|format=dmy|1984|11}}
|align=center|3.75
|-
!scope="row"|3
|"[[Bohemian Rhapsody]]"<br/>"Bohemian Rhapsody" / "[[These Are the Days of Our Lives]]"
|[[Queen (band)|Queen]]
|{{Dts|format=dmy|1975|10}}<br/>{{Dts|1991|November}}
|align=center|2.44
|-
!scope="row"|4
|"[[Happy (Pharrell Williams song)|Happy]]"
|[[Pharrell Williams]]
|{{Dts|format=dmy|2013|11}}
|align=center|2.12+
|-
!scope="row"|5
|"[[Uptown Funk]]"
|{{Sortname|Mark|Ronson}} featuring [[Bruno Mars]]
|{{Dts|format=dmy|2014|11}}
|align=center|2.12
|}

==See also==
⚫
{{See also|List of million-selling singles in the United Kingdom|List of most downloaded songs in the United Kingdom|List of most streamed songs in the United Kingdom|List of Platinum singles in the United Kingdom awarded before 2000|List of Platinum singles in the United Kingdom awarded since 2000}}


==References==
==References==

Revision as of 19:15, 3 October 2015

"Candle in the Wind 1997" / "Something About the Way You Look Tonight" by Elton John is the best-selling single in the UK.

For the purposes of calculating sales, a single is currently defined by the Official Charts Company (OCC) as either a 'single bundle' having no more than four tracks and not lasting longer than 25 minutes or one digital audio track not longer than 15 minutes with a minimum sale price of 40 pence.[1] The rules have changed many times as technology has developed, the most notable being the inclusion of digital downloads in 2004.

The best-selling single in the UK is "Candle in the Wind 1997" / "Something About the Way You Look Tonight", a double A-side released by Elton John following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. Since September 1997, the single has sold over 4,900,000 copies in the UK.

Sales of singles have been monitored and charted in the UK since 1952, when Percy Dickins of New Musical Express (NME) telephoned around 20 record stores and aggregated their best-selling singles into a hit parade. Dickins published this Top 12 chart in NME on 14 November 1952.[2][3] Since then, two singles have sold over 3 million copies – "Candle in the Wind 1997" / "Something About the Way You Look Tonight", and "Do They Know It's Christmas?", a charity single by Band Aid released in aid of victims of the 1983–85 famine in Ethiopia. A further five singles have sold more than 2 million copies.

The highest-selling by a solo female artist is "Believe" by Cher – released in October 1998, the single has sold 1.79 milliion copies in the UK.[4] Boney M. have two entries in the top 10 and The Beatles have three in the top 40.

The biggest-selling single not to top the UK Singles Chart is "Last Christmas" / "Everything She Wants" by Wham!. Released in December 1984, the single sold more than 500,000 copies in its first week, but was kept off number one by "Do They Know It's Christmas?", and peaked at number two. It has since sold a total of 1.7 million copies.

The highest-selling single in the 21st century is "Happy" by Pharrell Williams which overtook "Evergreen" by Will Young in 2015.[5]

Best-selling singles based on paid-for purchases

Until 2014 only a paid download or a purchase of a physical single counted as a sale. Based on this definition these are the 40 best-selling singles in the Uk.

No. Single Artist Record label[a] Released[a] Chart
peak[a] 		Traditional sales
(millions)[b]
1 "Candle in the Wind 1997" / "Something About the Way You Look Tonight" Elton John Rocket September 1997 1 4.92
2 "Do They Know It's Christmas?" Band Aid Mercury November 1984 1 3.75
3 "Bohemian Rhapsody"
"Bohemian Rhapsody" / "These Are the Days of Our Lives" 		Queen EMI October 1975
November 1991 		1 2.44
4 "Mull of Kintyre" / "Girls' School" Wings Parlophone November 1977 1 2.08
5 "You're the One That I Want" John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John RSO May 1978 1 2.05
6 "Relax" Frankie Goes to Hollywood ZTT January 1984 1 2.03
7 "Rivers of Babylon" / "Brown Girl in the Ring" Boney M. Atlantic/Hansa April 1978 1 2.02
8 "She Loves You" The Beatles Parlophone August 1963 1 1.92
9 "Love Is All Around" Wet Wet Wet PolyGram May 1994 1 1.86
10 "Mary's Boy Child – Oh My Lord" Boney M. Atlantic/Hansa November 1978 1 1.86
11 "Unchained Melody" / "(There'll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover" Robson Green & Jerome Flynn RCA May 1995 1 1.86
12 "I Just Called to Say I Love You" Stevie Wonder Motown August 1984 1 1.84
13 "Happy" Pharrell Williams Columbia November 2013 1 1.81
14 "Barbie Girl" Aqua Universal October 1997 1 1.80
15 "Evergreen" / "Anything Is Possible" Will Young S February 2002 1 1.79
16 "Believe" Cher WEA October 1998 1 1.79
17 "I Want to Hold Your Hand" The Beatles Parlophone November 1963 1 1.78
18 "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" Bryan Adams A&M June 1991 1 1.75
19 "Last Christmas" / "Everything She Wants" Wham! Epic December 1984 2 1.70
20 "Imagine" John Lennon Apple October 1975 1 1.64
21 "Blurred Lines" Robin Thicke featuring T.I. and Pharrell Williams Interscope May 2013 1 1.63
22 "Summer Nights" John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John RSO September 1978 1 1.60
23 "I'll Be Missing You" Puff Daddy featuring Faith Evans Bad Boy June 1997 1 1.59
24 "Two Tribes" Frankie Goes to Hollywood ZTT May 1984 1 1.59
25 "Don't You Want Me" The Human League Virgin November 1981 1 1.58
26 "I Will Always Love You" Whitney Houston Arista October 1992 1 1.58
27 "Someone Like You" Adele XL January 2011 1 1.57
28 "Perfect Day" Various artists Chrysalis November 1997 1 1.55
29 "My Heart Will Go On" Celine Dion Epic February 1998 1 1.55
30 "Three Lions"
"3 Lions '98" 		Baddiel & Skinner & The Lightning Seeds Epic June 1996 1 1.54
31 "Can't Buy Me Love" The Beatles Parlophone March 1964 1 1.54
32 "...Baby One More Time" Britney Spears Jive February 1999 1 1.54
33 "Eye of the Tiger" Survivor Scotti Brothers July 1982 1 1.53
34 "Tears" Ken Dodd Columbia August 1965 1 1.52
35 "Moves Like Jagger" Maroon 5 featuring Christina Aguilera A&M/Octone August 2011 2 1.50
36 "Karma Chameleon" Culture Club Virgin September 1983 1 1.49
37 "Somebody That I Used to Know" Gotye featuring Kimbra Island January 2012 1 1.48
38 "Gangsta's Paradise" Coolio featuring L.V. Tommy Boy October 1995 1 1.47
39 "Y.M.C.A." Village People Mercury November 1978 1 1.47
40 "Careless Whisper" George Michael Epic July 1984 1 1.46
  1. ^ a b c The record labels, dates and chart peaks are those given by the OCC.[6]
  2. ^ The sales are those given by the OCC as of 27 June 2013, except where a more recent OCC figure is available.[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]

Best-selling songs based on combined sales

From 2014 streaming has counted towards sales (sometimes called "combined sales" or "chart sales") at the rate of 100 streams equal to one download or physical purchase. Based on this, the top five is as follows.


No. Single Artist Released[a] Combined sales
(millions)
1 "Candle in the Wind 1997" / "Something About the Way You Look Tonight" Elton John September 1997 4.92
2 "Do They Know It's Christmas?" Band Aid November 1984 3.75
3 "Bohemian Rhapsody"
"Bohemian Rhapsody" / "These Are the Days of Our Lives" 		Queen October 1975
November 1991 		2.44
4 "Happy" Pharrell Williams November 2013 2.12+
5 "Uptown Funk" Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars November 2014 2.12

See also

See also: List of million-selling singles in the United Kingdom, List of most downloaded songs in the United Kingdom, List of most streamed songs in the United Kingdom, List of Platinum singles in the United Kingdom awarded before 2000, and List of Platinum singles in the United Kingdom awarded since 2000

References

  1. ^ "Rules For Chart Eligibility: Singles" (PDF). London: Official Charts Company. April 2013. p. 4. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  2. ^ Williams, Mark (19 February 2002). "Obituary: Percy Dickins". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 22 July 2010. Retrieved 6 August 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ Smith, Alan. "50s & 60s UK Charts – The Truth!". davemcaleer.com. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
  4. ^ Lane, Dan; Myers, Justin (8 March 2014). "Official Top 40 Biggest Selling Singles of All Time By Female Artists". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 24 September 2014.
  5. ^ Copsey, Rob (11 June 2015). "The Official Top 40 Biggest Selling Singles of the Millennium so far revealed". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  6. ^ "Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. 2010. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
  7. ^ Lane, Daniel (27 June 2013). "Daft Punk's Get Lucky becomes one of the UK's biggest selling singles of all-time!". Official Charts Company.
  8. ^ Lane, Dan (10 June 2014). "Naughty Boy and Sam Smith smash 1 million UK sales with La La La". Official Charts Company.
  9. ^ Copsey, Rob (9 September 2014). "Pharrell's Happy now the UK's most downloaded track of all time". Official Charts Company.
  10. ^ Copsey, Rob (1 October 2014). "The Official Top 40 Biggest Selling Singles of 2014 so far!". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
  11. ^ Copsey, Rob (26 May 2015). "Will Young's Official biggest selling singles revealed: "I'm shocked by that!"". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
  12. ^ Copsey, Rob (1 January 2015). "The Official Top 40 Biggest Selling Singles of 2014". Official Charts Company.
  13. ^ Copsey, Rob (11 June 2015). "The Official Top 40 Biggest Selling Singles of the Millennium so far revealed". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  14. ^ Myers, Justin (13 June 2015). "Britney Spears: her biggest selling singles and albums revealed". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
  15. ^ Copsey, Rob (23 June 2015). "James Horner, film composer for Titanic and Braveheart, dies in plane crash". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  16. ^ Copsey, Rob (27 August 2015). "The Official Top 50 biggest selling Beatles singles revealed". Official Charts Company.


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