The Official Singles Charts' biggest selling artists of all time revealed

Bubs

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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:
See it here: http://www.officialcharts.com/chart...st-selling-artists-of-all-time-revealed-1431/
 
Michael was always an albums artist, more than a singles artists, so it's good.
 
Screw their Diamond Dozen, Michael is always #1 to me.
 
How many singles Michael released consider he only had 6 studio ablums? I think the least in this uk chart.
 
How many singles Michael released consider he only had 6 studio ablums? I think the least in this uk chart.

Thats the point, some or most of the artists in the top10 release far more albums and far more singles... than MJ.
Just count the first three artists...

On the other hand, Rihanna? Kylie?
 
:hysterical: Any so called "List" of music artists that people put together all the time that don't have Michael at the Top I just can't take seriously :hysterical:

You are so right :clapping:
What do they know about music anyways?
If you look at the final 8 list for Ultimate Icon, it says it all :D (I'm still in chock for the results)
 
It would have been useful if the OCC had included how many singles each artist has released to put this list into perspective. It also would have been nice if they specified whether MJ's singles sales included J5 and Jackson's singles. I'm assuming that as Paul McCartney is listed separately that this list shows only MJ's solo sales but you never know...
Similarly it would have been nice to see if the tally includes guest spots on other artists' singles and remixes. This would be particularly interesting for Rhianna. She has releases a huge number of her own singles over the past few years and appeared on loads of other artists' singles.
 
That's a good list and I'm certainly not making excuses or whatever for why Michael ain't top.
 
I thought it was odd the way they made it a top 12, rather than the usual top 10. Then i saw that rihanna had replaced Sir Paul at no 10, can't have macca not included on any uk list.

MJ at no 5 in alltime singles, and with two albums in the top 10 alltime album charts is pretty impressive. Thanks bubs for posting.
 
Thats the point, some or most of the artists in the top10 release far more albums and far more singles... than MJ.
Just count the first three artists...

On the other hand, Rihanna? Kylie?

thats because the downloads also counts. but thats ridiculous.
only physical sales should be counted. a physical single (6 or 7 euro in the past) costs much much more than a donwload (max 1 euro).
if there are charts without downloads, none of these b-stars from today are on this charts. they are only on this charts because of this cheap downloads. the charts from today are not real anymore. manipulated.
 
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