Official Singles Charts' biggest selling artists of all time revealed

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

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NG

Nuno Gouveia

0

Not sure if mixing Maxi-Single sales (3 to 6 tracks most of them) with 2 track single sales and 1 track DOWNLOAD as the same it's fair. Today fans download all maxi-single tracks apart so they count as different single sales (it the song has 6 remixes it will count as 6 downloads sold while before 1 maxi-single is just 1 unit compared to just 1 track sold - the same for 3 track CDs and 2 or 4 track 7" vinyl ).