List of best-selling albums of the 1960s in the United Kingdom

Last updated January 07, 2025

An album is defined by the Official Charts Company (OCC) as being a type of music release that features more than four tracks and lasts longer than 25 minutes;^[1] during the 1960s, sales of albums in the United Kingdom were compiled by several different magazines, including New Musical Express (NME), Record Retailer , Melody Maker , Disc and Record Mirror . The UK Albums Chart was first officially published in February 1969 when Record Retailers and the BBC jointly commissioned the British Market Research Bureau (BMRB) to record sales of albums.^[2] For dates between March 1960 and February 1969, the albums chart produced by Record Retailer is regarded by the OCC as being canonical to the UK Albums Chart; for dates before March 1960, the OCC considers the albums chart created by NME to be canonical.^[3] The biggest-selling album of the 1960s was Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles—of the top thirteen biggest-selling albums of the decade, ten were by The Beatles, the other three being motion picture soundtracks.

Albums

Best-selling albums of the 1960s in the UK
Position	Album	Artist	Record label^[a]	Year^[a]	Peak on the UK Albums Chart^[a]
1	Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band	The Beatles	Parlophone	1967	1
2	The Sound of Music	Original soundtrack	RCA Victor	1965	1
3	With the Beatles	The Beatles	Parlophone	1963	1
4	Abbey Road	The Beatles	Apple	1969	1
5	South Pacific	Original soundtrack	RCA Victor	1962	1
6	Beatles for Sale	The Beatles	Parlophone	1964	1
7	A Hard Day's Night	The Beatles	Parlophone	1964	1
8	Rubber Soul	The Beatles	Parlophone	1965	1
9	The Beatles	The Beatles	Apple	1968	1
10	West Side Story	Original soundtrack	Philips	1962	1
11	Revolver	The Beatles	Parlophone	1966	1
12	Please Please Me	The Beatles	Parlophone	1963	1
13	Help!	The Beatles	Parlophone	1965	1
14	Bookends	Simon & Garfunkel	CBS	1968	1
15	Best of The Beach Boys	The Beach Boys	Capitol	1966	2
16	Sounds of Silence	Simon & Garfunkel	CBS	1966	13
17	The Best of The Seekers	The Seekers	Columbia	1968	1
18	The Rolling Stones No. 2	The Rolling Stones	Decca	1965	1
19	Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme	Simon & Garfunkel	CBS	1968	13
20	The Black and White Minstrel Show	George Mitchell Minstrels	His Master's Voice	1960	1

1 2 3 The record labels, years and chart peaks are those given by the OCC.^[4]

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References

General (chart positions)

Mawer, Sharon (2007). "1969". London: Official Charts. Archived from the original on 17 December 2007. Retrieved 8 September 2011.

Specific

↑ "Rules For Chart Eligibility – Albums" (PDF). London: Official Charts. January 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 June 2007. Retrieved 29 July 2011.
↑ Leigh, Spencer (20 February 1998). "Music: Charting the number ones that somehow got away". The Independent . London. ISSN 0951-9467. OCLC 185201487 . Retrieved 5 August 2010.
↑ "Key Dates in the History of the Official UK Charts". Official Charts. Archived from the original on 10 January 2008. Retrieved 16 May 2010.
↑ "Artist Chart History". London: Official Charts. 2010. Archived from the original on 3 September 2011. Retrieved 9 September 2011.

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[A-5] 1 2 3 The record labels, years and chart peaks are those given by the OCC.^[4]

[1] "Rules For Chart Eligibility – Albums" (PDF). London: Official Charts. January 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 June 2007. Retrieved 29 July 2011.

[2] Leigh, Spencer (20 February 1998). "Music: Charting the number ones that somehow got away". The Independent . London. ISSN 0951-9467. OCLC 185201487 . Retrieved 5 August 2010.

[3] "Key Dates in the History of the Official UK Charts". Official Charts. Archived from the original on 10 January 2008. Retrieved 16 May 2010.

[4] "Artist Chart History". London: Official Charts. 2010. Archived from the original on 3 September 2011. Retrieved 9 September 2011.

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