The Official Top 40 biggest selling albums of all-time

We reveal the UK's Official Top 40 biggest selling albums of all time in full!

Last night (Monday, April 9) Tony Blackburn counted down the Official Charts Company’s Top 40 biggest selling albums of all-time on BBC Radio 2.

The legendary DJ revealed that the UK’s most popular album is Queen’s 1981 Greatest Hits collection, which has more than 5.8 million sales to its name. The British rockers’ 1991 follow-up, Greatest Hits II, which was released in October 1991 - a month before lead singer Freddie Mercury’s death - also made it into the Top 10 (Number 10) with sales of over 3.8 million copies.

The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album, which celebrates its 45th birthday in June, is at Number 2 in the chart with sales of just over 5 million. Abba’s Gold is narrowly behind Sgt. Pepper’s... with sales of 4.9 million, putting it at Number 3, while Oasis’ 1995 sophomore release, (What's the Story) Morning Glory?, is at Number 4 with sales of over 4.5 million.

The Top 5 is completed by Michael Jackson’s 1982 epic, Thriller, which has sold more than 4.2 million copies in the UK. Like Queen, The King of Pop has two albums in the Top 10; 1987’s Bad is at Number 9 with sales of 3.9 million.

Adele’s 2011 mega-selling second album, 21, is still sitting pretty at Number 6 with sales of 4.18 million copies. As previously reported, despite only being on sale for just over a year, 21 has already overtaken classics such as Michael Jackson’s Bad, Dire Straits’ Brothers In Arms (Number 7, with sales of 4.15 million sales) and Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side Of The Moon (Number 8, 4.11 million sales). Now with just 89,000 copies separating 21 and the Number 5 album, Michael Jackson’s Thriller, the London-born singer could move up another place in the biggest selling albums of all-time chart very soon.

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Here is the Official Charts Company’s 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