The Official Top 40 biggest selling vinyl albums and singles of 2016

Sales of vinyl passed three million in 2016 - the highest for the format in 25 years.
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David Bowie was the leading force within 2016's continuation of the vinyl revival sweeping the nation.

David's final studio album Blackstar was the best selling LP on black plastic over the last 12 months, shifting 54,000 units since it was released in January 2016. Two days after the album was made available, David unexpectedly died from cancer, leading to a significant period of national mourning for one of the UK's most iconic musicians.

In addition to Blackstar, a further four of David's classic releases feature in the Official Top 40 biggest sellers of 2016: The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust (13), Hunky Dory (16), Nothing Has Changed - The Very Best Of (17), and Changesonebowie (28).

MORE: Check out the 40 biggest artist albums of 2016

More than three million LPs were sold in 2016, the first time that threshold has been passed for 25 years, a report from the British Phonographic Industry (the BPI) revealed today. The last time such a figure was spent was in 1991, when Simply Red's Stars was the best seller of that year. 2016 was the ninth year in a row that vinyl sales had increased (by 44% compared to 2015), with vinyl albums even making more money than digital album sales for one week across November and December.

MORE: Check out the Official Top 40 biggest songs of 2016

Back to the biggest vinyl records of the year and another artist sadly no longer with us is the year's second biggest seller. Strong sales influenced by her legacy and stocking in a wide variety of retailers, Amy Winehouse's Back to Black accumulated 35,500 sales in 2016. Other posthumous entries in the Top 10 come from Bob Marley, Prince, and Nirvana, whom were fronted by the late Kurt Cobain. 

British acts dominate the overall Top 40, with the majority of the albums making the cut being the works of British acts. The likes of The Smiths, Oasis and Arctic Monkeys appear twice while 2016 success stories The 1975, The Last Shadow Puppets, Biffy Clyro and Catfish & The Bottlemen also appear.

Looking at vinyl singles, it is The Stone Roses who rule the roost. The band released their 2016 comeback singles All For One and Beautiful Thing on vinyl, with the two tracks sitting at Numbers 1 and 2 on the year-end list.

The Top 20 also features four entries from David Bowie, two entries for Noel Gallagher (one with Oasis and another with High Flying Birds) and a surprise entry from Kylie and Dannii Minogue's 100 Degrees.

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The Official Top 40 biggest selling vinyl albums of 2016 are:

1 BLACKSTAR DAVID BOWIE
2 BACK TO BLACK AMY WINEHOUSE
3 GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY - AWESOME MIX 1 ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK
4 A MOON SHAPED POOL RADIOHEAD
5 RUMOURS FLEETWOOD MAC
6 THE STONE ROSES STONE ROSES
7 LEGEND BOB MARLEY & THE WAILERS
8 SGT PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND BEATLES
9 PURPLE RAIN - OST PRINCE & THE REVOLUTION
10 NEVERMIND NIRVANA
11 I LIKE IT WHEN YOU SLEEP FOR YOU ARE SO 1975
12 THE RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY STARDUST DAVID BOWIE
13 25 ADELE
14 PULP FICTION ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK
15 AM ARCTIC MONKEYS
16 THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON PINK FLOYD
17 HUNKY DORY DAVID BOWIE
18 THE QUEEN IS DEAD SMITHS
19 HOTEL CALIFORNIA EAGLES
20 EVERYTHING YOU'VE COME TO EXPECT LAST SHADOW PUPPETS
21 UNPLUGGED IN NEW YORK NIRVANA
22 WHAT'S THE STORY MORNING GLORY OASIS
23 HATFUL OF HOLLOW SMITHS
24 FOUR SYMBOLS LED ZEPPELIN
25 NOTHING HAS CHANGED - THE VERY BEST OF DAVID BOWIE
26 ABBEY ROAD BEATLES
27 APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION GUNS N' ROSES
28 CHANGESONEBOWIE DAVID BOWIE
29 BLUE & LONESOME ROLLING STONES
30 ELLIPSIS BIFFY CLYRO
31 THE WONDER OF YOU ELVIS PRESLEY
32 A HEAD FULL OF DREAMS COLDPLAY
33 STAR WARS - EPISODE 4 - A NEW HOPE - OST LSO/WILLIAMS
34 THE RIDE CATFISH & THE BOTTLEMEN
35 ALL OVER THE WORLD - THE VERY BEST OF ELO
36 WHATEVER PEOPLE SAY I AM THAT'S WHAT I'M ARCTIC MONKEYS
37 SKELETON TREE NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS
38 GREATEST HITS FOO FIGHTERS
39 GREATEST HITS FLEETWOOD MAC
40 LONDON CALLING CLASH

©2016 Official Charts Company. All rights reserved.

The Official Top 40 biggest selling vinyl singles of 2016 are:

1 ALL FOR ONE STONE ROSES
2 BEAUTIFUL THING STONE ROSES
3 TVC 15 DAVID BOWIE
4 REAPERS MUSE
5 THE BOY WITH THE THORN IN HIS SIDE JEFF BUCKLEY
6 STAND BY ME OASIS
7 A CHANGE OF HEART 1975
8 EL MEXICANO NOEL GALLAGHER'S HIGH FLYING
9 GOLDEN YEARS DAVID BOWIE
10 A DESIGN FOR LIFE MANIC STREET PREACHERS
11 RITUAL SPIRIT MASSIVE ATTACK FT AZEKEL
12 RAIN FOALS
13 OBLIVIUS STROKES
14 PEOPLE ON THE HIGH LINE NEW ORDER
15 GOD ONLY KNOWS BEACH BOYS
16 SPACE ODDITY DAVID BOWIE
17 100 DEGREES KYLIE MINOGUE & DANNII MINOGUE
18 THE OTHER SIDE PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING
19 DROWN BRING ME THE HORIZON
20 MELANCHOLY MOOD BOB DYLAN
21 FAME DAVID BOWIE
22 GANGSTERVILLE JOE STRUMMER
23 INNER SANCTUM PET SHOP BOYS
24 GETAWAY BLOSSOMS
25 THE POP KIDS PET SHOP BOYS
26 BURN THE WITCH RADIOHEAD
27 MARCH OF THE RESISTANCE JOHN WILLIAMS
28 THE WHEEL PJ HARVEY
29 RIDE 'EM ON DOWN ROLLING STONES
30 SINGULARITY NEW ORDER
31 AT MOST A KISS BLOSSOMS
32 A FEW OLDER ONES TWENTY ONE PILOTS
33 MANTRA FOR A STATE OF MIND PRIMAL SCREAM
34 SAY IT TO ME PET SHOP BOYS
35 WOLVES OF WINTER BIFFY CLYRO
36 YOUNG DEATH BURIAL
37 I AM A NIGHTMARE BRAND NEW
38 LADY GYPSY DAVID BRENT
39 THE SPOILS MASSIVE ATTACK/HOPE SANDOVAL
40 SEX 1975

©2016 Official Charts Company. All rights reserved.

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