The best-selling singles of all time on the Official UK Chart

Every million-selling song in the UK based on downloads and physical sales.
Elton John, Bastille and Boney M

It quite literally doesn't get bigger than this.

To date, 180 singles in UK chart history have surpassed one million sales, the latest of which is Pompeii by Bastille.

Pompeii is the group's first million-selling single, and is the first song to surpass one million sales since Taylor Swift's Shake It Off in 2022. Goo Goo Dolls were the last group to manage the feat with Iris in 2020. Read more about Bastille's amazing achievement (and see their reaction!) here.

Maintaining its title as the best-selling single in UK chart history, Elton John's Candle In The Wind '97/Something About The Way You Look Tonight reigns supreme at Number 1, with UK chart sales in excess of 4.94 million.

Rounding out the Top 5 we have Band Aid's Do They Know It's Christmas? (2) with 3.83 million, Queen's magnum opus Bohemian Rhapsody (3) at 2.63 million, Wings' Mull of Kintyre/Girls' School (4) with 2.1 million and John Travolta & the late, great Olivia Newton-John with Grease OST hit You're The One That I Want (5) at 2.08 million.

Β 

1997: Candle In The Wind/Something About The Way You Look Tonight – Elton John. Officially the UK's biggest selling single of all time.

MORE: Re-visit every Number 1 on the UK's Official Singles Chart

The best-selling song never to reach Number 1 in the UK is 1995 anthem Wonderwall by Oasis, at Number 34. Very close behind is the previous title holder, Moves Like Jagger by Maroon 5 ft. Christina Aguilera. Before this, Wham! held the honour with Last Christmas, until January 2021 when it finally earned its place at the top - some 36 years after its release.

22 acts have earned more than one million seller, including The Beatles with a very impressive six; their biggest being 1963 chart-topper She Loves You, with 1.93m.

Within the Top 40 best-selling singles, despite the sharp increase in streaming over recent years, there are seven singles that make the cut released in the 21st century.Β In sales order they are: Pharrell Williams' Happy (8), Will Young's Pop Idol winners single Anything Is Possible/Evergreen (19), Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars on Uptown Funk (22), Robin Thicke, Pharrell and TI with Blurred Lines (24), Adele's Someone Like You (25), Maroon 5 ft. Christina Aguilera's Moves Like Jagger (34) and finally Gotye and Kimbra with Somebody That I Used To Know (40).

Over the past ten years,Β 39 songs have crossed the million sales threshold; including 14 songs by 13 British artists including Ed Sheeran, One Direction, Coldplay, and two from Adele.

The UK's Official best-selling songs of all time (physical single and download sales)

POS TITLE ARTIST YEAR PEAK
1 SOMETHING ABOUT THE WAY YOU LOOK TONIGHT/CANDLE IN THE WIND 97 ELTON JOHN 1997 1
2 DO THEY KNOW IT'S CHRISTMAS? BAND AID 1984 1
3 BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY QUEEN 1975 1 (1975 & 1991)
4 MULL OF KINTYRE/GIRLS' SCHOOL WINGS 1977 1
5 YOU'RE THE ONE THAT I WANT JOHN TRAVOLTA & OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN 1978 1
6 RELAX FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD 1983 1
7 RIVERS OF BABYLON/BROWN GIRL IN THE RING BONEY M 1978 1
8 HAPPY PHARRELL WILLIAMS 2013 1
9 LAST CHRISTMAS/EVERYTHING SHE WANTS WHAM! 1984 1 (2021)
10 SHE LOVES YOU THE BEATLES 1963 1
11 LOVE IS ALL AROUND WET WET WET 1994 1
12 MARY'S BOY CHILD/OH MY LORD BONEY M 1978 1
13 I JUST CALLED TO SAY I LOVE YOU STEVIE WONDER 1984 1
14 (EVERYTHING I DO) I DO IT FOR YOU BRYAN ADAMS 1991 1
15 UNCHAINED MELODY/(THERE'LL BE BLUEBIRDS OVER) THE WHITE CLIFFS OF DOVER ROBSON GREEN & JEROME FLYNN 1995 1
16 BARBIE GIRL AQUA 1997 1
17 BELIEVE CHER 1998 1
18 I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND THE BEATLES 1963 1
19 ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE/EVERGREEN WILL YOUNG 2002 1
20 IMAGINE JOHN LENNON 1975 1975 No 6 / 1980 No 1
21 EYE OF THE TIGER SURVIVOR 1982 1
22 UPTOWN FUNK MARK RONSON FT BRUNO MARS 2014 1
23 I'LL BE MISSING YOU PUFF DADDY & FAITH EVANS 1997 1
24 BLURRED LINES ROBIN THICKE/TI/PHARRELL 2013 1
25 SOMEONE LIKE YOU ADELE 2011 1
26 THREE LIONS BADDIEL & SKINNER & LIGHTNING SEEDS 1996 1
27 I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU WHITNEY HOUSTON 1992 1
28 DON'T YOU WANT ME? HUMAN LEAGUE 1981 1
29 SUMMER NIGHTS JOHN TRAVOLTA & OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN 1978 1
30 TWO TRIBES FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD 1984 1
31 GANGSTA'S PARADISE COOLIO FEATURING L.V. 1995 1
32 MY HEART WILL GO ON CELINE DION 1998 1
33 ...BABY ONE MORE TIME BRITNEY SPEARS 1999 1
34 WONDERWALL OASIS 1995 2
35 MOVES LIKE JAGGER MAROON 5 FEATURING CHRISTINA AGUILERA 2011 2
36 CARELESS WHISPER GEORGE MICHAEL 1984 1
37 CAN'T BUY ME LOVE THE BEATLES 1964 1
38 PERFECT DAY VARIOUS ARTISTS 1997 1
39 KARMA CHAMELEON CULTURE CLUB 1983 1
40 SOMEBODY THAT I USED TO KNOW GOTYE FEATURING KIMBRA 2011 1
41 YMCA VILLAGE PEOPLE 1978 1
42 WAKE ME UP AVICII 2013 1
43 TEARS KEN DODD 1965 1
44 I GOTTA FEELING BLACK EYED PEAS 2009 1
45 GET LUCKY DAFT PUNK FT PHARRELL WILLIAMS 2013 1
46 KILLING ME SOFTLY FUGEES 1996 1
47 THE POWER OF LOVE JENNIFER RUSH 1985 1
48 COME ON EILEEN DEXY'S MIDNIGHT RUNNERS 1982 1
49 IT WASN'T ME SHAGGY FEATURING RIKROK 2001 1
50 (WE'RE GONNA) ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK BILL HALEY & HIS COMETS 1955 1
51 WE FOUND LOVE RIHANNA FEATURING CALVIN HARRIS 2011 1
52 THE CARNIVAL IS OVER THE SEEKERS 1965 1
53 I FEEL FINE THE BEATLES 1964 1
54 SEX ON FIRE KINGS OF LEON 2008 1
55 WANNABE SPICE GIRLS 1996 1
56 WE CAN WORK IT OUT/DAY TRIPPER THE BEATLES 1964 1
57 THINK TWICE CELINE DION 1994 1
58 RELEASE ME ENGELBERT HUMPERDINCK 1967 1
59 TAINTED LOVE SOFT CELL 1981 1
60 CALL ME MAYBE CARLY RAE JEPSEN 2012 1
61 NEVER EVER ALL SAINTS 1997 1
62 (IS THIS THE WAY TO) AMARILLO TONY CHRISTIE FT PETER KAY 2005 1
63 JUST THE WAY YOU ARE (AMAZING) BRUNO MARS 2010 1
64 TITANIUM DAVID GUETTA FT SIA 2011 1
65 UNCHAINED MELODY GARETH GATES 2002 1
66 HEART OF GLASS BLONDIE 1979 1
67 IT'S LIKE THAT RUN-D.M.C. VS JASON NEVINS 1997 1
68 HALLELUJAH ALEXANDRA BURKE 2008 1
69 MERRY XMAS EVERYBODY SLADE 1973 1
70 ALL OF ME JOHN LEGEND 2014 2
71 IMPOSSIBLE JAMES ARTHUR 2012 1
72 GANGNAM STYLE PSY 2012 1
73 RATHER BE CLEAN BANDIT FT JESS GLYNNE 2014 1
74 PARTY ROCK ANTHEM LMFAO FEATURING LAUREN BENNETT AND GOONROCK 2011 1
75 LOVE THE WAY YOU LIE EMINEM FEATURING RIHANNA 2010 2
76 FAIRYTALE OF NEW YORK POGUES FT KIRSTY MACCOLL 1987 2
77 BLUE MONDAY NEW ORDER 1983 ORIGINAL 1983 NO 9 / 1988 Remix NO 3
78 IT'S NOW OR NEVER ELVIS PRESLEY 1960 1
79 LET HER GO PASSENGER 2012 2
80 THINKING OUT LOUD ED SHEERAN 2014 1
81 GREEN, GREEN GRASS OF HOME TOM JONES 1966 1
82 ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOU MARIAH CAREY 1994 1 (2020)
83 ANGELS ROBBIE WILLIAMS 1997 4
84 DIANA PAUL ANKA 1957 1
85 PRICE TAG JESSIE J FEATURING B.O.B 2011 1
86 BRIGHT EYES ART GARFUNKEL 1979 1
87 HEARTBEAT/TRAGEDY STEPS 1998 1
88 EARTH SONG MICHAEL JACKSON 1995 1
89 I DON'T WANT TO MISS A THING AEROSMITH 1998 1
90 CHASING CARS SNOW PATROL 2006 6
91 TORN NATALIE IMBRUGLIA 1997 2
92 CAN'T GET YOU OUT OF MY HEAD KYLIE MINOGUE 2001 1
93 SATURDAY NIGHT WHIGFIELD 1994 1
94 POKER FACE LADY GAGA 2009 1
95 GHOSTBUSTERS RAY PARKER JR. 1984 2
96 STRANGER ON THE SHORE MR ACKER BILK AND HIS PARAMOUNT JAZZ BAND 1961 2
97 THE LAST WALTZ ENGELBERT HUMPERDINCK 1967 1
98 MARY'S BOY CHILD HARRY BELAFONTE 1957 1
99 DO THEY KNOW IT'S CHRISTMAS? BAND AID 20 2004 1
100 ONLY GIRL (IN THE WORLD) RIHANNA 2010 1
101 DON'T GIVE UP ON US DAVID SOUL 1976 1
102 DANCING QUEEN ABBA 1976 1
103 NO MATTER WHAT BOYZONE 1998 1
104 HEY JUDE THE BEATLES 1968 1
105 ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL (PART 2) PINK FLOYD 1979 1
106 SPACEMAN BABYLON ZOO 1996 1
107 WE ARE YOUNG FUN FT JANELLE MONAE 2011 1
108 COUNTING STARS ONEREPUBLIC 2013 1
109 I FEEL LOVE DONNA SUMMER 1977 1
110 ROAR KATY PERRY 2013 1
111 2 BECOME 1 SPICE GIRLS 1996 1
112 CRAZY GNARLS BARKLEY 2006 1
113 BLUE (DA BA DEE) EIFFEL 65 1999 1
114 I LOVE YOU LOVE ME LOVE GARY GLITTER 1973 1
115 DON'T STOP BELIEVIN' JOURNEY 1982 6 (2010)
116 THE A TEAM ED SHEERAN 2011 3
117 HIT ME WITH YOUR RHYTHM STICK IAN DURY AND THE BLOCKHEADS 1978 1
118 USE SOMEBODY KINGS OF LEON 2008 2
119 LOSE YOURSELF EMINEM 2002 1
120 BACK FOR GOOD TAKE THAT 1995 1
121 BLEEDING LOVE LEONA LEWIS 2007 1
122 I BELIEVE/UP ON THE ROOF ROBSON & JEROME 1995 1
123 FIREWORK KATY PERRY 2010 3
124 DIAMONDS RIHANNA 2012 1
125 UNCHAINED MELODY THE RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS 1965 1
126 ROLLING IN THE DEEP ADELE 2011 2
127 THAT'S MY GOAL SHAYNE WARD 2005 1
128 TELETUBBIES SAY "EH-OH!" TELETUBBIES 1997 1
129 RIDE ON TIME BLACK BOX 1989 1
130 I REMEMBER YOU FRANK IFIELD 1962 1
131 PURE AND SIMPLE HEAR'SAY 2001 1
132 I WILL SURVIVE GLORIA GAYNOR 1979 1
133 RULE THE WORLD TAKE THAT 2007 2
134 RED RED WINE UB40 1983 1
135 FAME IRENE CARA 1982 1
136 LA LA LA NAUGHTY BOY FT SAM SMITH 2013 1
137 UPTOWN GIRL BILLY JOEL 1983 1
138 SAILING ROD STEWART 1975 1
139 DON'T YOU WORRY CHILD SWEDISH HOUSE MAFIA/MARTIN 2012 1
140 THE YOUNG ONES CLIFF RICHARD & THE SHADOWS 1962 1
141 STAND & DELIVER! ADAM AND THE ANTS 1981 1
142 BAD ROMANCE LADY GAGA 2009 1
143 GIVE ME EVERYTHING PITBULL FEATURING NE-YO, AFROJACK AND NAYER 2011 1
144 MR BRIGHTSIDE KILLERS 2004 10
145 WHITE CHRISTMAS BING CROSBY WITH THE KEN DARBY SINGERS AND JOHN SCOTT TROTTER ORCHESTRA 1942 5 (1977) - since 1952
146 HERO ENRIQUE IGLESIAS 2002 1
147 THE LION SLEEPS TONIGHT TIGHT FIT 1982 1
148 MYSTERIOUS GIRL PETER ANDRE FEATURING BUBBLER RANX 1995 1
149 SUGAR SUGAR THE ARCHIES 1969 1
150 FIGHT FOR THIS LOVE CHERYL COLE 2009 1
151 DON'T GO BREAKING MY HEART ELTON JOHN & KIKI DEE 1976 1
152 MAMBO NO.5 (A LITTLE BIT OF...) LOU BEGA 1999 1
153 WHERE IS THE LOVE BLACK EYED PEAS 2003 1
154 YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE GERRY & THE PACEMAKERS 1963 1
155 JAR OF HEARTS CHRISTINA PERRI 2011 4
156 DON'T CRY FOR ME ARGENTINA JULIE COVINGTON 1976 1
157 DON'T LOOK BACK IN ANGER OASIS 1996 1
158 MAKE YOU FEEL MY LOVE ADELE 2008 4
159 DON'T SPEAK NO DOUBT 1997 1
160 WHOLE AGAIN ATOMIC KITTEN 2001 1
161 CAN WE FIX IT? BOB THE BUILDER 2000 1
162 SAVE YOUR KISSES FOR ME BROTHERHOOD OF MAN 1976 1
163 STARSHIPS NICKI MINAJ 2012 2
164 NEVER GONNA GIVE YOU UP RICK ASTLEY 1987 1
165 WHAT MAKES YOU BEAUTIFUL ONE DIRECTION 2011 1
166 PARADISE COLDPLAY 2011 1
167 ESPECIALLY FOR YOU KYLIE MINOGUE & JASON DONOVAN 1988 1
168 IRIS GOO GOO DOLLS 1998 3
169 I'D LIKE TO TEACH THE WORLD TO SING THE NEW SEEKERS 1971 1
170 MY WAY FRANK SINATRA 1969 5
171 UNDER THE MOON OF LOVE SHOWADDYWADDY 1976 1
172 WHEN WE COLLIDE MATT CARDLE 2010 1
173 TIE A YELLOW RIBBON ROUND THE OLE OAK TREE DAWN FEATURING TONY ORLANDO 1973 1
174 GRENADE BRUNO MARS 2011 1
175 FORGET YOU CEE LO GREEN 2011 1
176 EYE LEVEL THE SIMON PARK ORCHESTRA 1972 1
177 SEXY AND I KNOW IT LMFAO 2011 5
178 LONG HAIRED LOVER FROM LIVERPOOL LITTLE JIMMY OSMOND 1972 1
179 SHAKE IT OFF TAYLOR SWIFT 2014 2
180 POMPEII BASTILLE 2013 2

Β© 2023 Official Charts Company. All rights reserved.

* Sales for White Christmas have only been counted since the inception of the chart in 1952.

See the UK's Official most-streamed songs of all time here.

Article image credit: Elton John -Β Ethan Miller/Getty Images; Bastille - Joe Horridge

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avatar

Aqua

0

ayyyy shake it off made it! i wont be surprised if it's that last song ever to crack the list

PYG

pipis y gaΓ±as

1

Local acts BeyoncΓ© and Janet Jackson are nowhere to be seen. I guess Jay-Z's payola and Tidal fraudelent numbers can only do so much ha?

avatar

Tosyma

1

Not surprised Madonna is not on the list. She can't even sing.

PK

Philip King

0

Only 2 since 2000 in the top 20.
Didn't realise Happy by Pharrell Williams was so high.

LM

Lee Moore

0

Year and peak column round the wrong way. Does anyone from OCC ever bother to give these lists a once over before posting them?!

CP

Courtney Puzzo

0

Last Christmas By Wham finally hit #1 last year some 36 years after it's original release also Mariah Carey's All I Want For Christmas Is You is 5 x platinum as of Christmas Day 2020 for lifelong UK sales of 3 million units while its 8x platinum in the US

P

Paul

0

My Way is one place above Little Jimmy Osmond. 😬

Maybe I missed it but β€œWaterloo” by ABBA doesn’t seem to be on the list. Surprised at that omission.

avatar

Mark Wislen

2

'Waterloo' has sold nowhere near a UK Million. After 'Dancing Queen', ABBA's Best Selling UK Singles are: 1).. Super Trouper, 2).. Knowing Me, Knowing You and 3).. 'The Winner Takes it All. With 1) and 2) being more or less on a Million Sales, with Downloads & Streaming added in. 3) is on close to a Million UK Sales - well over 950,000...

Q

Qyre

0

You should add that the Righteous Brothers version of "Unchained Melody" reached number 1 in 1990, thanks to its appearance in the film "Ghost" !

FC

Fact Checker

2

Bing Crosby - White Christmas. Your * note says that sales have only been counted since 1952. But the 1m+ sales figure relates to its all-time sales since 1941. There is no way that it has sold 1m+ since 1952, given it has spent only 2 weeks in the Top 10 in over 65 years.

JH

John Hawkins

1

I think they mean that the 5 peak chart position is based on data since 1952. Had there been a chart in the 1940s it is likely to have peaked at 1.

avatar

Blank

1

It's quite possible. Don't Stop Me Now sold more in 2004 (I think) than a McFly #1, without hitting the top 40. If you've got 70 years of slow / low sales can accumulate quite a bit under the radar. Although how it has been calculated, I don't know.

T

tmorgan

0

If it sold 14,000 copies each year on average since 1952, it would have sold a million copies in that timeframe. That seems doable to me.

FC

Fact Checker

1

Why has Nicki Minaj dropped from #102 in June to #160 now ?

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πŸ…—πŸ…”πŸ…›πŸ…›πŸ… πŸ…¨πŸ…”πŸ…›πŸ…›πŸ…Β©πŸ€ πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ

1

Congratulations!! I actually just posted the song on Skip/Repeat, a Disqus channel under 2000s Alternative Rock Songs. One of my favorites from one of the best groups of all time. I mean ALL TIME!

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Boo Jah

0

Any chance of listing actual sales next to song? It would be interesting for us chart facts and figures anoraks :)

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Bengy

0

Sales were given for ALL million sellers last September.
http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/the-uks-official-chart-millionaires-revealed__20459/

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Boo Jah

0

I have seen that article but we are now in June and therefore that list would need to be updated...preferable with right up to and including current month's physical and downloads, not streaming. That would dispel any guesstimate figures from chart sales anoraks.

avatar

Bengy

0

8 - HAPPY - PHARRELL WILLIAMS - 2013 - 1
9 - SHE LOVES YOU - THE BEATLES - 1963 - 1

Yet sales given are,
Pharrell Williams' Happy, which is eighth with 1.9 million sales,
Beatles, with their top-selling honour going to 1963 chart-topper She Loves You, on 1.92 million.

It's still a relatively rare feat, with currently only 171 songs making it to seven figures.
But list shows 175 million sellers.

avatar

Official Charts

0

Hi Bengy. Thanks for picking up on a few oversights. Pharrell's sales are 1.93 million, and the 175 number has been amended. That was not changed in the edit of the artile. Thank you.

DG

David Gibbs

0

One only for Elvis but I wonder how many near misses he had for example Are You Lonesome Tonight and Way Down.Perhaps also Surrender and Jailhouse Rock

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Urban City Cowboy

0

Why can't I see Nineteen by Paul Hardcastle on the list? It spent 5 weeks at number 1 in 1985 and went on to sell over 8 million copies globally putting it in the top 100 selling singles globally. I smell something fishy here.

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Johnny McVey

0

and I Know It was only 900 copies away in September. Is it still not there yet?

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Bengy

0

Just made it today.

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Bengy

3

In your previous list STARSHIPS by NICKI MINAJ was at no. 101. Now it is downgraded to no. 164. Why?

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Philip Pearce

0

I thought Drake with One Dance and Rhianna Umbrella would get in there

GF

Gary Feld

0

These are "sales only"...One Dance probably hasn't even sold half a million as yet, :)

avatar

Philip Pearce

0

What about Umbrela by Rhianna

GF

Gary Feld

0

about 870K

avatar

Johnny McVey

1

554k as of September

GF

Gary Feld

0

"while Frankie Goes to Hollywood's Relax claims the bestselling debut single by a group (2.06m) "....Maybe Band Aid can beat that as a "debut" hit for a band? :)