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The best-selling album in the United Kingdom is Greatest Hits, a compilation album by British band Queen that was first released in 1981. As of February 2014^[update], it has sold more than 6 million copies, of which approximately 124,000 have been from downloads.^[1] Queen's second greatest hits album, Greatest Hits II, has sold approximately 3.89 million copies since being released in 1991, and is the tenth biggest-selling album in the UK.^[2] Of the UK's top 40 best-selling albums, more than half are by British artists.^[3] Nine are by American artists, with the rest being from Ireland, Canada, Sweden and Jamaica.^[4] Five acts—The Beatles, Coldplay, Dido, Michael Jackson and Queen—feature on the chart with more than one album, with Jackson and Queen both featuring twice within the top ten.^[2] The most-represented record label is Parlophone with five entries, while the decade that appears the most is the 2000s, with 14 of the entries having been released during that period, despite its "general background of declining sales and internet piracy".^[3]^[4]

According to the British organisation the Official Charts Company (OCC), an album is defined as being a type of music release that features more than four tracks and is longer than 25 minutes in duration.^[5] Sales of albums in the UK were first published on 28 July 1956 by the music magazine Record Mirror, who compiled a weekly chart of the country's five biggest-selling records.^[6] Record Mirror's first number one was Songs for Swingin' Lovers! by Frank Sinatra.^[7] Since then, three albums have gone on to sell more than five million copies each: Greatest Hits by Queen, Gold: Greatest Hits by ABBA and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles.^[8] The top eight best-selling albums have each sold at least four million copies.^[9] Since 1994, sales of albums have been monitored by the OCC, who took over compiling the weekly UK Albums Chart.^[10]

Sales certifications for albums are awarded by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for shipments, physical sales and downloads of albums, and, as of June 2015^[update], streaming of album tracks.^[11] The BPI began awarding certifications soon after it was founded in April 1973.^[12] Initially, certifications were based on the revenue received by the album manufacturers – records that generated revenue of £75,000 were awarded silver certification, £150,000 represented gold and £1 million was platinum.^[12] Over the following six years, the thresholds for silver and gold certifications both grew twice – the threshold for platinum certification remained at £1 million.

In January 1979, this method of certifying sales was abolished, and certifications were instead based on unit sales to retail outlets: sales of 60,000 were awarded silver, gold for 100,000 and platinum for 300,000.^[12] Multi-platinum awards were introduced in February 1987;^[a] digital downloads have been counted towards unit sales since 2004.^[13] Certifications for albums released before April 1973 were retroactively awarded in August 2013 for sales from 1994 onwards, giving Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band triple-platinum status.^[14] The highest-certified album is 21 by Adele, which has been awarded platinum certification 16 times, representing 4,800,000 units.^[15] As of June 2015^[update], sales of 21 are estimated by the OCC to be just over 4.75 million.^[16]

Best-selling albums

As of 10 February 2014^[update]:^[2]

Key
†	Released before UK music recording certifications were introduced in April 1973

Best-selling albums in the UK
No.	Album	Artist	Record label^[b]	Released^[b]	Chart peak^[b]	Sales	Number of times certified Platinum^[c]
1	Greatest Hits	Queen	Parlophone	October 1981	1	6,000,000^[1]	11×
2	Gold: Greatest Hits	ABBA	Polydor	September 1992	1	5,100,000^[18]	14×
3	Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band	The Beatles	Parlophone	June 1967	1	5,100,000^[18]	3× †
4	21	Adele	XL	January 2011	1	4,770,000^[19]	16×
5	(What's the Story) Morning Glory?	Oasis	Creation	October 1995	1		14×
6	Thriller	Michael Jackson	Epic	November 1982	1		11×
7	The Dark Side of the Moon	Pink Floyd	Harvest	March 1973	2		9× †
8	Brothers in Arms	Dire Straits	Vertigo	May 1985	1		13×
9	Bad	Michael Jackson	Epic	August 1987	1		13×
10	Greatest Hits II	Queen	Parlophone	October 1991	1	3,890,000^[2]	8×
11	The Immaculate Collection	Madonna	Sire	November 1990	1		12×
12	Rumours	Fleetwood Mac	Warner Bros.	February 1977	1		11×
13	Back to Black	Amy Winehouse	Island	October 2006	1	3,590,000^[20]	12×
14	Stars	Simply Red	East West	September 1991	1		12×
15	Come On Over	Shania Twain	Mercury	March 1998	1		11×
16	Back to Bedlam	James Blunt	Atlantic	November 2004	1		10×
17	Urban Hymns	The Verve	Hut	September 1997	1		10×
18	Legend	Bob Marley & The Wailers	Island/Tuff Gong	May 1984	1		6×
19	Bat Out of Hell	Meat Loaf	Epic	October 1977	9		7×
20	Bridge Over Troubled Water	Simon & Garfunkel	CBS	January 1970	1		1× †
21	Spirit	Leona Lewis	Syco	November 2007	1	3,130,000^[21]	10×
22	Dirty Dancing	Original soundtrack	RCA	August 1987	4		5×
23	No Angel	Dido	Cheeky	October 2000	1		10×
24	1	The Beatles	Apple	November 2000	1	3,120,000^[22]	10×
25	Crazy Love	Michael Bublé	Reprise	October 2009	1	3,040,000^[23]	10×
26	White Ladder	David Gray	IHT/East West	November 1998	1		9×
27	Talk on Corners	The Corrs	Atlantic	October 1997	1		9×
28	Spice	Spice Girls	Virgin	November 1996	1		10×
29	The Fame	Lady Gaga	Interscope	January 2009	1	2,890,000^[24]	9×
30	A Rush of Blood to the Head	Coldplay	Parlophone	August 2002	1		9×
31	Life for Rent	Dido	Cheeky	September 2003	1	2,880,000^[25]	9×
32	Only by the Night	Kings of Leon	Hand Me Down	September 2008	1		9×
33	Beautiful World	Take That	Polydor	November 2006	1	2,820,000^[25]	8×
34	Hopes and Fears	Keane	Island	May 2004	1	2,760,000^[25]	9×
35	The Joshua Tree	U2	Island	March 1987	1		6×
36	Scissor Sisters	Scissor Sisters	Polydor	February 2004	1	2,730,000^[26]	9×
37	...But Seriously	Phil Collins	Virgin	November 1989	1		8×
38	X&Y	Coldplay	Parlophone	June 2005	1	2,730,000^[27]	9×
39	Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds	Jeff Wayne	CBS	June 1978	5		5×
40	Jagged Little Pill	Alanis Morissette	Maverick	June 1995	1		10×

Notes

^ As an example, a 2× Platinum certification would reflect 2 × 300,000 = 600,000 sales.
^ ^a ^b ^c The record labels, dates and chart peaks are those given by the OCC.^[17]
^ The certifications are those given by the BPI as of May 2015^[ref].^[15]

References

General (chart positions)

Kreisler, Lauren (11 February 2014). "Queen's Greatest Hits becomes first album to sell 6 million copies in the UK". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 12 February 2014. Retrieved 12 February 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

Specific

^ ^a ^b "Queen reach six million album sales in UK". BBC News. 11 February 2014. Archived from the original on 12 February 2014. Retrieved 12 February 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Kreisler, Lauren (11 February 2014). "Queen's Greatest Hits becomes first album to sell 6 million copies in the UK". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 12 February 2014. Retrieved 12 February 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
^ ^a ^b Murison, Krissi, ed. (9 April 2012). "'Queen's Greatest Hits' named biggest-selling UK album of all time". NME. IPC. ISSN 0028-6362. OCLC 317997735. Archived from the original on 4 May 2012. Retrieved 11 April 2012. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
^ ^a ^b "Queen retain UK album sales crown". BBC News. 9 April 2012. Archived from the original on 4 May 2012. Retrieved 11 April 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
^ "Rules For Chart Eligibility – Albums" (PDF). Official Charts Company. January 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 June 2007. Retrieved 29 July 2011.
^ Mawer, Sharon (2008). "1956". The Official UK Charts Company. Archived from the original on 8 March 2009. Retrieved 28 June 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
^ "Albums chart: 50 chart facts". Music Week. 5 August 2006. ISSN 0265-1548. OCLC 60620772. Retrieved 15 July 2011. ... The first number one album – Songs For Swingin' Lovers by Frank Sinatra ... {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
^ Kreisler, Laura (18 May 2012). "ABBA join The Beatles and Queen in 5 million sellers' club". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 18 May 2012. Retrieved 18 May 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
^ "Adele overtakes Dire Straits to become UK's sixth biggest selling album of all-time". Official Charts Company. 23 March 2012. Archived from the original on 4 May 2012. Retrieved 10 April 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
^ "Official UK Albums Top 100". Official Charts Company. 2010. Archived from the original on 4 May 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
^ "About Us". British Phonographic Industry. Archived from the original on 4 May 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
^ ^a ^b ^c "Certified Awards – A Timeline" (PDF). British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 18 April 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
^ "Certified Awards". British Phonographic Industry. Archived from the original on 4 May 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
^ "Beatles albums finally go platinum". BBC News. Archived from the original on 12 February 2014. Retrieved 12 February 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
^ ^a ^b "Certified Awards". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
^ Copsey, Rob (9 June 2015). "Official Biggest Selling Albums of the decade so far revealed". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
^ "Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. 2010. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
^ ^a ^b Bychawski, Adam. "ABBA's 'Gold' overtakes' 'Sgt. Pepper's' to become UK's second biggest selling album of all time". NME. {{cite web}}: Text "date-19 May 2013" ignored (help)
^ Roberts, Dave (27 October 2015). "The definitive* Adele stats and facts round-up". Music Week. Intent Media. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
^ "Quiz: Who sold more?". Official Charts Company. 24 October 2015.
^ Jones, Alan (18 September 2015). "Official Charts Analysis: Stereophonics score No.1 LP with Keep the Village Alive". Music Week. Intent Media. Retrieved 13 November 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |subscription= ignored (|url-access= suggested) (help)
^ Jones, Alan (13 November 2015). "Official Airplay Analysis: Elvis sees sales increase by 12.1% to stay atop on albums". Music Week. Intent Media. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
^ Jones, Alan (29 December 2013). "Official Charts Analysis: Pharrell Williams hits No.1 with 106k sales". Music Week. Intent Media. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
^ Patkinson, Tom (29 September 2014). "Official Charts Analysis: alt-J's This Is All Yours secures No.1 album slot on 30,947 sales". Music Week. Intent Media. Retrieved 19 May 2015. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |subscription= ignored (|url-access= suggested) (help)
^ ^a ^b ^c Jones, Alan (24 July 2011). "Adele still on top but UK album sales fall to 13-year low". Music Week. Intent Media. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
^ Jones, Alan (3 June 2012). "Official Charts Analysis: Gary Barlow LP sells 40k". Music Week. Intent Media. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
^ Jones, Alan (26 May 2014). "Official Charts Analysis: Coldplay LP sells 168k to set 2014 pace". Music Week. Intent Media. Retrieved 9 June 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |subscription= ignored (|url-access= suggested) (help)

External links

"Queen reach six million album sales in UK" – sales data for the top five biggest-selling albums in the UK as of 10 February 2014^[update]
Official UK Albums Top 100 at the Official Charts Company

[13] As an example, a 2× Platinum certification would reflect 2 × 300,000 = 600,000 sales.

[OCC-19] The record labels, dates and chart peaks are those given by the OCC.^[17]

[20] The certifications are those given by the BPI as of May 2015^[ref].^[15]

[Queen_Gtest_Hits-1] "Queen reach six million album sales in UK". BBC News. 11 February 2014. Archived from the original on 12 February 2014. Retrieved 12 February 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

[OCC-2] Kreisler, Lauren (11 February 2014). "Queen's Greatest Hits becomes first album to sell 6 million copies in the UK". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 12 February 2014. Retrieved 12 February 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

[NME-3] Murison, Krissi, ed. (9 April 2012). "'Queen's Greatest Hits' named biggest-selling UK album of all time". NME. IPC. ISSN 0028-6362. OCLC 317997735. Archived from the original on 4 May 2012. Retrieved 11 April 2012. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

[BBC_News-4] "Queen retain UK album sales crown". BBC News. 9 April 2012. Archived from the original on 4 May 2012. Retrieved 11 April 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

[5] "Rules For Chart Eligibility – Albums" (PDF). Official Charts Company. January 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 June 2007. Retrieved 29 July 2011.

[6] Mawer, Sharon (2008). "1956". The Official UK Charts Company. Archived from the original on 8 March 2009. Retrieved 28 June 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

[7] "Albums chart: 50 chart facts". Music Week. 5 August 2006. ISSN 0265-1548. OCLC 60620772. Retrieved 15 July 2011. ... The first number one album – Songs For Swingin' Lovers by Frank Sinatra ... {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

[8] Kreisler, Laura (18 May 2012). "ABBA join The Beatles and Queen in 5 million sellers' club". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 18 May 2012. Retrieved 18 May 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

[9] "Adele overtakes Dire Straits to become UK's sixth biggest selling album of all-time". Official Charts Company. 23 March 2012. Archived from the original on 4 May 2012. Retrieved 10 April 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

[10] "Official UK Albums Top 100". Official Charts Company. 2010. Archived from the original on 4 May 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

[11] "About Us". British Phonographic Industry. Archived from the original on 4 May 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

[Certifications_timeline-12] "Certified Awards – A Timeline" (PDF). British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 18 April 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

[14] "Certified Awards". British Phonographic Industry. Archived from the original on 4 May 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

[15] "Beatles albums finally go platinum". BBC News. Archived from the original on 12 February 2014. Retrieved 12 February 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

[BPI-16] "Certified Awards". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 10 April 2012.

[sales_2015-17] Copsey, Rob (9 June 2015). "Official Biggest Selling Albums of the decade so far revealed". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 9 June 2015.

[18] "Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. 2010. Retrieved 10 April 2012.

[Abba-21] Bychawski, Adam. "ABBA's 'Gold' overtakes' 'Sgt. Pepper's' to become UK's second biggest selling album of all time". NME. {{cite web}}: Text "date-19 May 2013" ignored (help)

[Adele_sales-22] Roberts, Dave (27 October 2015). "The definitive* Adele stats and facts round-up". Music Week. Intent Media. Retrieved 27 October 2015.

[OCC_quiz-23] "Quiz: Who sold more?". Official Charts Company. 24 October 2015.

[24] Jones, Alan (18 September 2015). "Official Charts Analysis: Stereophonics score No.1 LP with Keep the Village Alive". Music Week. Intent Media. Retrieved 13 November 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |subscription= ignored (|url-access= suggested) (help)

[25] Jones, Alan (13 November 2015). "Official Airplay Analysis: Elvis sees sales increase by 12.1% to stay atop on albums". Music Week. Intent Media. Retrieved 13 November 2015.

[26] Jones, Alan (29 December 2013). "Official Charts Analysis: Pharrell Williams hits No.1 with 106k sales". Music Week. Intent Media. Retrieved 19 May 2015.

[27] Patkinson, Tom (29 September 2014). "Official Charts Analysis: alt-J's This Is All Yours secures No.1 album slot on 30,947 sales". Music Week. Intent Media. Retrieved 19 May 2015. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |subscription= ignored (|url-access= suggested) (help)

[July_2011-28] Jones, Alan (24 July 2011). "Adele still on top but UK album sales fall to 13-year low". Music Week. Intent Media. Retrieved 8 June 2015.

[29] Jones, Alan (3 June 2012). "Official Charts Analysis: Gary Barlow LP sells 40k". Music Week. Intent Media. Retrieved 9 June 2015.

[Coldplay_sales-30] Jones, Alan (26 May 2014). "Official Charts Analysis: Coldplay LP sells 168k to set 2014 pace". Music Week. Intent Media. Retrieved 9 June 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |subscription= ignored (|url-access= suggested) (help)

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