List of best-selling albums of the 2000s (decade) in the United Kingdom

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James Blunt's debut album Back to Bedlam was the best-selling album of the 2000s in the United Kingdom, shipping nearly 3.2 million copies. James-Blunt.jpg
James Blunt's debut album Back to Bedlam was the best-selling album of the 2000s in the United Kingdom, shipping nearly 3.2 million copies.

The UK Albums Chart is a music chart compiled by the Official Charts Company that calculates the best-selling albums of the week in the United Kingdom. [1] Since 2005, it has been based on the sales of both physical and digital albums, on the condition that the album was available in both formats. In 2007, the rules were changed so that legal downloads of all albums, irrespective of whether a physical copy was available, were eligible to chart. [2]

Contents

Between 2000 and 2009, more than 100 albums sold more than 1 million copies in the United Kingdom. At the end of the decade, a retrospective chart was compiled by the Official Charts Company to determine the best-selling artist album of this ten-year period. The title was won by James Blunt, with his debut album Back to Bedlam , released in 2004. [3] The album sold 3.19 million copies, finishing ahead of Dido's album No Angel , which sold 3.05 million copies. [4] Dido featured twice in the top 10 best-sellers, with Life for Rent being the seventh best-seller of the decade. Amy Winehouse (3), Leona Lewis (4) and David Gray (5) were the other solo-artists to feature. [5] The Beatles' compilation album 1 was the highest entry by a group in the chart at number 6; Coldplay (8), Keane (9) and Scissor Sisters (10) made up the rest of the top ten. [6] [7] Robbie Williams had the most albums on the list with five entries.

BBC Radio 1 announced the chart in a programme, presented by DJ Nihal, on 28 December 2009. [8] The list of the best-selling albums of the decade in the United Kingdom was also announced in a series of three shows between 29 and 31 December 2009. [8] As it was broadcast during the last week of December, the chart did not include sales from the final week of the year. An updated chart, including sales up to 31 December 2009 and containing some minor changes from the chart broadcast on Radio 1, was published in the UK trade magazine Music Week in the issue dated 30 January 2010. [9]

The list of the best-selling compilation albums of the decade in the UK Compilation Chart was dominated by the Now That's What I Call Music! series of albums. The best-selling compilation album of the 2000s was Now 47 with 1,371,324 copies sold, ahead of Now 50 with 1,367,380 copies. The best-selling soundtrack album of the decade was Mamma Mia! The Movie Soundtrack , with a total of 1,320,357 to the end of 2009. [10]

Best-selling albums

Amy Winehouse had the third best-selling album of the decade with Back to Black, which later became the UK's best-selling album of the 21st century (only to later be overtaken by Adele's 21). AmyWinehouseBerlin2007.jpg
Amy Winehouse had the third best-selling album of the decade with Back to Black , which later became the UK's best-selling album of the 21st century (only to later be overtaken by Adele's 21 ).
Robbie Williams had the most entries in the top 100 best-selling albums chart with five. Swing When You're Winning charted at number 17, followed by Greatest Hits (19), Sing When You're Winning (20), Escapology (22) and Intensive Care (55). HamburgDSC03276.JPG
Robbie Williams had the most entries in the top 100 best-selling albums chart with five. Swing When You're Winning charted at number 17, followed by Greatest Hits (19), Sing When You're Winning (20), Escapology (22) and Intensive Care (55).
Coldplay had four entries in the chart: A Rush of Blood to the Head (8), X&Y (12), Parachutes (13) and Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends (90). Coldplay - December 2008.jpg
Coldplay had four entries in the chart: A Rush of Blood to the Head (8), X&Y (12), Parachutes (13) and Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends (90).
Eminem had three albums on the list. The Marshall Mathers LP was the 16th best-selling album, while The Eminem Show (61) and Curtain Call: The Hits (89) also appeared. Eminem at DJ hero party with d12.jpg
Eminem had three albums on the list. The Marshall Mathers LP was the 16th best-selling album, while The Eminem Show (61) and Curtain Call: The Hits (89) also appeared.

[9]

No.TitleArtistPeak
position
Year of
release
Sales
1 Back to Bedlam James Blunt 120043,191,393 [10]
2 No Angel Dido 120003,052,901 [10]
3 [lower-alpha 1] Back to Black Amy Winehouse 12006
4 Spirit Leona Lewis 12007
5 White Ladder David Gray 11998
6 1 The Beatles 120002,867,152 [10]
7 Life for Rent Dido12003
8 A Rush of Blood to the Head Coldplay 12002
9 Hopes and Fears Keane 12004
10 Scissor Sisters Scissor Sisters 120042,707,567 [10]
11 Beautiful World Take That 12006
12 X&Y Coldplay12005
13 Parachutes Coldplay12000
14 Come Away with Me Norah Jones 12002
15 Eyes Open Snow Patrol 12006
16 The Marshall Mathers LP Eminem 12000
17 Swing When You're Winning Robbie Williams 12001
18 Only by the Night Kings of Leon 120082,260,195 [11]
19 Greatest Hits Robbie Williams12004
20 Sing When You're Winning Robbie Williams12000
21 Rockferry Duffy 12008
22 Escapology Robbie Williams12002
23 Employment Kaiser Chiefs 22005
24 The Circus Take That12008
25 Gold: Greatest Hits ABBA 119921,995,170 [10]
26 Hot Fuss The Killers 12004
27 American Idiot Green Day 12004
28 By the Way Red Hot Chili Peppers 12002
29 Stripped Christina Aguilera 22002
30 Songs About Jane Maroon 5 12002
31 Justified Justin Timberlake 12002
32 Never Forget – The Ultimate Collection Take That22005
33 The Greatest Hits Texas 12000
34 Call Off the Search Katie Melua 12003
35 Born to Do It Craig David 12000
36 Play Moby 11999
37 Number Ones Michael Jackson 12003
38 Missundaztood Pink 32002
39 Just Enough Education to Perform Stereophonics 12001
40 Let Go Avril Lavigne 12002
41 Final Straw Snow Patrol32003
42 Unbreakable – The Greatest Hits Vol. 1 Westlife 120021,730,028 [10]
43 Friday's Child Will Young 12003
44 Songbird Eva Cassidy 11998
45 Demon Days Gorillaz 12005
46 Fever Kylie Minogue 12001
47 Coast to Coast Westlife12000
48 The Platinum Collection (Greatest Hits I, II, III) Queen 22000
49 Whitney: The Greatest Hits Whitney Houston 12000
50 In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988–2003 R.E.M. 12003
51 Eye to the Telescope KT Tunstall 32004
52 I Dreamed a Dream Susan Boyle 120091,632,732 [11]
53 Gotta Get Thru This Daniel Bedingfield 22002
54 Music Madonna 12000
55 Intensive Care Robbie Williams12005
56 Elephunk The Black Eyed Peas 32003
57 Good Girl Gone Bad Rihanna 12007
58 Life in Cartoon Motion Mika 12007
59 ELV1S Elvis Presley 12002
60 Breakaway Kelly Clarkson 32005
61 The Eminem Show Eminem12002
62 Il Divo Il Divo 12004
63 Escape Enrique Iglesias 12001
64 Undiscovered James Morrison 12006
65 Razorlight Razorlight 12006
66 In Between Dreams Jack Johnson 12005
67 Greatest Hits Guns N' Roses 12004
68 Greatest Hits 1970–2002 Elton John 32002
69 Ta-Dah Scissor Sisters12006
70 Sam's Town The Killers12006
71 Confessions Usher 12004
72 The Story So Far: The Very Best of Rod Stewart Rod Stewart 72001
73 The Fame Lady Gaga 120091,388,847 [11]
74 Inside In/Inside Out The Kooks 22006
75 Permission to Land The Darkness 12003
76 One Love Blue 12002
77 Dreams Can Come True, Greatest Hits Vol. 1 Gabrielle 22001
78 Hybrid Theory Linkin Park 42000
79 Stop the Clocks Oasis 22006
80 My Way: The Best of Frank Sinatra Frank Sinatra 71997
81 Ronan Ronan Keating 12000
82 Confessions on a Dance Floor Madonna12005
83 Face to Face Westlife12005
84 Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not Arctic Monkeys 12006
85 Forever Faithless – The Greatest Hits Faithless 12005
86 Piece by Piece Katie Melua12005
87 Fallen Evanescence 12003
88 I'm Not Dead Pink32006
89 Curtain Call: The Hits Eminem12005
90 Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends Coldplay12008
91 All Rise Blue12001
92 The Man Who Travis 11999
93 10 Years of Hits Ronan Keating12004
94 Franz Ferdinand Franz Ferdinand 32004
95 PCD The Pussycat Dolls 72005
96 Rise Gabrielle11999
97 How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb U2 12004
98 The Invisible Band Travis12001
99 Anastacia Anastacia 12004
100 A New Day at Midnight David Gray12002

Note:

  1. The updated chart of the best-selling albums of the decade published in Music Week in January 2010 placed Back to Black at number 19. It appears likely that this position is for sales of the standard edition of the album only. A "deluxe edition" was released in November 2007 and was initially classified as a separate album, with its own chart positions (also peaking at number 1) and its own sales and award certifications. Sales for the two versions were later combined and subsequent reported sales figures for Back to Black are for the standard and deluxe editions combined.

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References

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