List of biggest-selling British music artists

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This list documents Britain's best-selling music artists alphabetically[1] as well as by record sales. This page lists those artists who have had claims of over one million or more records in sales. The list is divided into numerous record-sales brackets within each of which, artists are listed in alphabetical order, rather than by number of records sold. The artists on the list are supported by third-party reliable sources, the sales-figures within which should represent a total number of sold albums, singles, compilation-albums, music videos as well as downloads of singles and full-length albums. This list holds no account of sales after the initial release dates, some artists keep on selling albums they originally released for instance in 1972. those albums sold over the years in their millions.

Constraints[edit]

Although the criteria for the following list are intended to be expansive (including comparisons for total-sales for all recording artists) there are certain limitations and constraints that may limit the conclusions that can be derived from these data. There is no certainty these figures are correct for not all sales are controllable.

Such constraints include:

  • Bias towards acts who have had success in a specific country or region.
  • Bias towards older artists. There is a broader genre spectrum of music to listen to now which limits the number of listeners.
  • Bias towards modern artists. Comparatively fewer successful pre-modern artists will have sold more records, as both global spending power and population have increased. In 1950, the world's population was 2.5 billion; by 2000 it had risen to 6 billion. Also, older artists suffer from bias as their record sales are less likely to have been accurately tracked, and estimates of their early sales are likely to be more vague.
  • Fan sites, press articles and record labels have been known to inflate record sales claims.
  • Inflated claims for artists who performed in different acts during their careers. Sometimes all of the sales data is attributed to an individual artist. For the purposes of this list, an effort is made to separate the individual acts (e.g., the sales figures for The Beatles and Paul McCartney & Wings are mutually exclusive).

400 million or more records[edit]

Artist Biggest selling album Period Genre Claimed sales
The Beatles Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band 1960–1970 Pop / Rock 600 million[2]
500 million[3]

300 million to 400 million records[edit]

Artist Biggest selling album Period Genre Claimed sales
Elton John Goodbye Yellow Brick Road 1964–present Pop / Rock 300 million[4]
Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin IV[5] 1968–1980 Hard rock / Heavy metal 200-300 million[6][7]

200 million to 299 million records[edit]

Artist Biggest selling album Period Genre Claimed sales
Cliff Richard Always Guaranteed 1958–present Pop / Rock / Rock N Roll / Jazz 260 million[8]
Bee Gees Saturday Night Fever 1958-2003 Pop / Disco / Soul / Rock / Soft Rock 220 million[9]
David Bowie Let's Dance 1964–2016 Rock 200 million[10]
Queen Greatest Hits[11] 1970–present Glam rock / Hard rock 170-200 million[12][13][14]
Pink Floyd The Dark Side of the Moon[15] 1964–2014 Progressive rock 200 million[16][17]
The Rolling Stones Hot Rocks 1964–1971 1962–present Rock / Blues rock 200 million[18]

100 million to 199 million records[edit]

Artist Biggest selling album Period Genre Claimed sales
Ed Sheeran × 2011–present Pop 150 million[19]
Genesis Invisible Touch 1967–present Progressive rock / Pop rock 150 million[20]
Phil Collins No Jacket Required 1980–present Adult contemporary 150 million[21]
Shirley Bassey The Shirley Bassey Singles Album 1957–present Pop 135 million[22]
Status Quo 12 Gold Bars 1967–present Rock 130 million[23]
Adele 21 2006–present Pop / Soul 120 million[24]
Dire Straits Brothers in Arms 1977–1995 Rock / Pop 103 million[25]
Coldplay A Rush of Blood to the Head 1997–present Alternative rock 100 million[26]
The Dave Clark Five – 1964–1970 Pop rock / Beat 100 million[27][28]
Deep Purple Machine Head 1968–present Hard rock 100 million[29][30]
Depeche Mode Violator 1980–present Electro Rock 100 million[31][32]
Fleetwood Mac Rumours 1967–present Pop rock 100 million[33]
George Michael Faith 1981–2016 Pop 100 million[34]
Iron Maiden The Number of the Beast 1975–present Heavy metal 100 million[35][36]
Paul McCartney Pipes of Peace 1957–present Pop rock 100 million[37]
Pet Shop Boys Actually 1981–present Synthpop 100 million[38]
The Who Who's Next 1964–present Rock / Hard rock 100 million[39]
Rod Stewart Out of Order 1962–present Rock / Pop 100 million[40]

50 to 99 million records[edit]

Artist Biggest selling album Period Genre Claimed sales
Spice Girls Spice 1996–2000
2007–2008		 Pop, Euro Pop 90 million[41]
Eurythmics Greatest Hits 1980–present New wave 75 million[42]
Robbie Williams I've Been Expecting You 1990–present Pop 75 million[43]
Oasis (What's the Story) Morning Glory? 1991–2009 Britpop / Rock 75 million[44]
The Police Synchronicity 1977–present Pop rock / New Wave 75 million[45]
Little Mix Glory Days 2011–2022 Pop, R&B, dance-pop 75 million[46]
Duran Duran Rio 1978–present New wave / alternative rock 70 million[47]
UB40 Promises and Lies 1980–present Reggae 100 million[48]
Def Leppard Hysteria 1977–present Hard rock / heavy metal 65 million[49]
Supertramp Breakfast in America[50] 1969–present Progressive rock 60 million[51][52]
Jethro Tull Aqualung 1968–present Progressive rock / hard rock 60 million[53]
T. Rex The Slider[54] 1967–1977 Glam rock / Folk rock 58 million[55]
Black Sabbath Paranoid 1968–present Heavy metal 50 million[56]
Culture Club Colour by Numbers 1982–present New wave-pop 50 million

See also[edit]

References[edit]

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