The updated list of the best-selling album of all time

Recently the updated list of the best-selling album in UK has been published, covering all official data since the very first chart published by the Record Mirror in July 1956. The ranking includes both album releases and compilations and contains several surprises.

In the first place there is Queen’s Greatest Hits published in 1981, the only album to have sold more than 6 million copies only in the United Kingdom. It’s following by another Greatest Hits, Abba’s, 1992, while the first official album to appear is The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, the only album that dols more than 5 million copies. Immediately afterwards, surprisingly, an artist of the new generation, Adele, who confirms its regular presence among the most beloved artists in England. The rest alternates obvious names (Michael Jackson, Pink Floyd, Oasis, Dire Straits) and something unexpected (like Shania Twain so high in the chart, before R.E.M., Simon & Garfunkel or Take That), plus some excellent absences (Radiohead? Not available).

Here is the complete chart:

1. Queen – Greatest Hits (1981)
2. Abba – Gold: Greatest Hits (1992)
3. The Beatles – Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
4. Adele – 21 (2011)
5. Oasis – (What’s The Story) Morning Glory (1995)
6. Michael Jackson – Thriller (1982)
7. Pink Floyd – The Dark Side of the Moon (1973)
8. Dire Straits – Brothers In Arms (1985)
9. Michael Jackson – Bad (1987)
10. Queen – Greatest Hits II (1991)
11. Fleetwood Mac – Rumors (1977)
12. Madonna – The Immaculate Collection (1990)
13. Amy Winehouse – Back To Black (2206)
14. Simply Red – Stars (1981)
15. Shania Twain – Come On Over (1997)
16. Bob Marley And The Wailers – Legend (1984)
17. James Blunt – Back To Bedlam (2004)
18. The Verve – Urban Hymns (1997)
19. Meat Loaf – Bat Out Of Hell (1977)
20. The Beatles – 1 (2000)
21. Simon And Garfunkel – Bridge Over Troubled Water (1970)
22. Original Soundtrack – Dirty Dancing (1987)
23. Leona Lewis – Spirit (2007)
24. Michael Buble – Crazy Love (2009)
25. Dido – No Angel (2000)
26. David Gray – White Ladder (1998)
27. Adele – 25 (2015)
28. The Corrs – Talk On Corners (1997)
29. The Spice Girls – Spice (1996)
30. Lady Gaga – The Fame (2008)
31. Coldplay – A Rush Of Blood To The Head (2002)
32. Dido – Life For Rent (2003)
33. Kings Of Leon – Only By The Night (2008)
34. Take That – Beautiful World (2006)
35. Keane – Hopes And Fears (2004)
36. U2 – The Joshua Tree (1987)
37. Jeff Wayne – The War of the Worlds (1978)
38. Scissor Sisters – Scissor Sisters (2004)
39. Phil Collins – But Seriously (1989)
40. Coldplay – X & Y (2005)
41. Alanis Morissette – Jagged Little Pill (1995)
42. Mike Oldfield – Tubular Bells (1973)
43. Travis – The Man Who (1999)
44. Tracy Chapman – Tracy Chapman (1988)
45. Coldplay – Parachutes (2000)
46. Abba – Greatest Hits (1975)
47. Original Soundtrack – Grease (1977)
48. Robbie Williams – I’ve Been Expecting You (1998)
49. Ed Sheeran – X (2014)
50. Norah Jones – How Away With Me (2002)
51. Paul Simon – Graceland (1986)
52. Original Cast Recording – The Sound Of Music (1965)
53. George Michael – Ladies and Gentleman – The Best Of (1998)
54. Fleetwood Mac – Tango In The Night (1987)
55. Eminem – The Marshall Mathers LP (2000)
56. Robbie Williams – Swing When You’re Winning (2001)
57. Take That – Progress (2010)
58. Snow Patrol – Eyes Open (2006)
59. Take That – The Ultimate Collection (2005)
60. REM – Automatic For The People (1992)