List of best-selling singles by year in the United Kingdom

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Elvis Presley performed the best-selling song in three years (1958, 1960, 1961) Elvis Presley promoting Jailhouse Rock.jpg
Elvis Presley performed the best-selling song in three years (1958, 1960, 1961)

This is a list of the best-selling singles on the UK Singles Chart for each year. Note that the Number sold section denotes the number sold within the year, not in total, as very often the single continues to sell more in later years (and sometimes other singles released within a particular year will go on to outsell the year-end winner (e.g. Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan's "Especially for You" (from 1988) ultimately outsold "Mistletoe and Wine")). [1]

Contents

The best-selling UK single of all time is "Candle in the Wind 1997/Something About The Way You Look Tonight" by Elton John, which sold 4,770,000 copies.

Best-selling singles by year

YearSingleArtistNumber
sold [2]
Number
sold and
streamed
1952"Here in My Heart" Al Martino N/A
1953"I Believe" Frankie Laine N/A
1954"Secret Love" Doris Day N/A
1955"Rose Marie" Slim Whitman N/A
1956"I'll Be Home" Pat Boone N/A
1957"Diana" Paul Anka N/A
1958"Jailhouse Rock" Elvis Presley N/A
1959"Living Doll" Cliff Richard 800,000N/A
1960"It's Now or Never" Elvis Presley N/A
1961"Wooden Heart" Elvis Presley N/A
1962"I Remember You" Frank Ifield N/A
1963"She Loves You" The Beatles 1,300,000 [3] N/A
1964"Can't Buy Me Love" The Beatles N/A
1965"Tears" Ken Dodd 1,268,000N/A
1966"Green, Green Grass of Home" Tom Jones 850,000 [4] N/A
1967"Release Me" Engelbert Humperdinck N/A
1968"Hey Jude" The Beatles N/A
1969"Sugar, Sugar" The Archies N/A
1970"In the Summertime" Mungo Jerry N/A
1971"My Sweet Lord" George Harrison 700,000N/A
1972"Amazing Grace" The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Band N/A
1973"Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" Dawn featuring Tony Orlando N/A
1974"Tiger Feet" Mud 730,000N/A
1975"Bye Bye Baby" Bay City Rollers N/A
1976"Save Your Kisses for Me" Brotherhood of Man 1,006,000N/A
1977"Mull of Kintyre" / "Girls' School" Wings 2,000,000N/A
1978"Rivers of Babylon" / "Brown Girl in the Ring" Boney M. 1,995,000N/A
1979"Bright Eyes" Art Garfunkel 1,155,000N/A
1980"Don't Stand So Close to Me" The Police 808,000N/A
1981"Don't You Want Me" [5] The Human League 1,150,000N/A
1982"Come On Eileen" Dexys Midnight Runners 1,200,000N/A
1983"Karma Chameleon" Culture Club 1,390,000N/A
1984"Do They Know It's Christmas?"* Band Aid 3,000,000 [6] N/A
1985"The Power of Love" Jennifer Rush 1,280,000N/A
1986"Don't Leave Me This Way" The Communards 745,000N/A
1987"Never Gonna Give You Up" Rick Astley 759,000N/A
1988"Mistletoe and Wine" Cliff Richard 750,000N/A
1989"Ride On Time" Black Box 960,000N/A
1990"Unchained Melody" The Righteous Brothers 840,000N/A
1991"(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" Bryan Adams 1,850,000 [7]
1992"I Will Always Love You" Whitney Houston 1,500,000N/A
1993"I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)" Meat Loaf 720,000N/A
1994"Love Is All Around" Wet Wet Wet 1,783,000N/A
1995"Unchained Melody" Robson & Jerome 1,840,000N/A
1996"Killing Me Softly" Fugees 1,360,000N/A
1997"Candle in the Wind 1997" / "Something About the Way You Look Tonight"* Elton John 4,770,000N/A
1998"Believe" Cher 1,830,000N/A
1999"...Baby One More Time" Britney Spears 1,445,000N/A
2000"Can We Fix It?" Bob the Builder 853,000 [8] N/A
2001"It Wasn't Me" Shaggy featuring Rikrok 1,151,000 [9] N/A
2002"Anything Is Possible" / "Evergreen" Will Young 1,783,919 [10] N/A
2003"Where Is the Love?" The Black Eyed Peas 625,198 [10] N/A
2004"Do They Know It's Christmas?"* Band Aid 20 1,065,000 [10] N/A
2005"Is This the Way to Amarillo"* Tony Christie featuring Peter Kay 1,100,200 [10] N/A
2006"Crazy" Gnarls Barkley 820,053 [10] N/A
2007"Bleeding Love" Leona Lewis 788,000 [11] N/A
2008"Hallelujah" Alexandra Burke 888,000 [12] N/A
2009"Poker Face" Lady Gaga 882,059 [13] N/A
2010"Love the Way You Lie" Eminem featuring Rihanna [14] N/A
2011"Someone like You" Adele 1,996,000 [15] N/A
2012"Somebody That I Used to Know" Gotye featuring Kimbra 1,318,000 [16] N/A
2013"Blurred Lines" Robin Thicke featuring T.I. and Pharrell Williams 1,470,000 [17] N/A
2014"Happy"Pharrell Williams1,500,000 [18] 1,620,000 [19]
2015"Uptown Funk" Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars 1,760,000 [20]
2016"One Dance" Drake featuring Wizkid & Kyla 530,000 [21] 1,950,000 [22]
2017"Shape of You" Ed Sheeran 787,000 [23] 3,200,000 [24]
2018"One Kiss" Calvin Harris and Dua Lipa 244,000 [25] 1,570,000 [26]
2019"Someone You Loved" Lewis Capaldi 2,300,000 [27]
2020"Blinding Lights" The Weeknd 2,200,000 [28]
2021"Bad Habits" Ed Sheeran 142,000 [29] 1,700,000 [30]
2022"As It Was" Harry Styles 65,000 [31] 1,550,000 [32]
2023"Flowers" Miley Cyrus 91,000 [33] 1,700,000 [33]

Best-selling singles by decade

DecadeSingleArtistNumber sold
1950s"Rock Around the Clock" Bill Haley & His Comets
1960s"She Loves You" The Beatles
1970s"Mull of Kintyre" / "Girls' School" Paul McCartney and Wings
1980s"Do They Know It's Christmas?" Band Aid
1990s"Something About the Way You Look Tonight" / "Candle in the Wind 1997" Elton John
2000s"Anything Is Possible" / "Evergreen" Will Young
2010s"Shape of You" Ed Sheeran [34] [lower-alpha 1]

See also

Related Research Articles

The UK Singles Chart was first compiled in 1969. However the records and statistics listed here date back to 1952 because the Official Charts Company counts a selected period of the New Musical Express chart and the Record Retailer chart from 1960 to 1969 as predecessors for the period prior to 11 February 1969, where multiples of competing charts coexisted side by side. For example, the BBC compiled its own chart based on an average of the music papers of the time; many songs announced as having reached number one on BBC Radio and Top of the Pops prior to 1969 may not be listed here as chart-toppers since they do not meet the legacy criteria of the Charts Company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Especially for You</span> 1988 single by Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan

"Especially for You" is a song performed by Australian recording artists Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan from Donovan's debut album, Ten Good Reasons (1989). The song was released as his album's second single on 28 November 1988 and was written and produced by Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW).

The Official Charts Company is a British inter-professional organisation that compiles various official record charts in the United Kingdom, Ireland and France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anything Is Possible (Will Young song)</span> 2002 single by Will Young

"Anything Is Possible" is a song co-written by Chris Braide and Cathy Dennis for the winner of the first series of Pop Idol in the United Kingdom. Will Young won the competition and therefore released the song as his debut single, with production by Dennis and Oskar Paul. It debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart, and has been certified 3× platinum by the British Phonographic Industry. It has since become the 14th best-selling single of all time in the UK, as well as the second best-selling UK single of the 21st century.

"Evergreen" is a song co-written by Jörgen Elofsson, Per Magnusson and David Kreuger, and originally recorded by Irish boy band Westlife. The song appears on their album World of Our Own (2001). It was composed in the traditional verse–chorus form in C major, with band members Shane Filan and Brian McFadden's vocal ranging from the chords of F#3 to B4.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mama Do the Hump</span> 2011 single by Rizzle Kicks

"Mama Do the Hump" is the third official single taken from British hip hop duo Rizzle Kicks' debut studio album, Stereo Typical (2011). The single was released in the United Kingdom on 16 December 2011. The track was produced by Fatboy Slim. The song incorporates a sample of Craig McLachlan's 1990 cover of "Mona ", originally recorded by Bo Diddley and an interpolation of "Reunion" by Bobbie Gentry. It peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart on 22 January 2012, held off the top spot by Jessie J's "Domino". It contains uncredited vocals from MNEK, who performs the chorus.

<i>Salute</i> (Little Mix album) 2013 studio album by Little Mix

Salute is the second studio album released by British girl group Little Mix, on 8 November 2013 through Syco Music and Columbia Records. The album was mostly co-written by Little Mix, who stated that they were more involved in the development of this album compared to their debut album DNA. The album was preceded by the lead single "Move", an additional two singles "Little Me", and "Salute". It is also one of the two studio albums by the group to not feature any collaborations.

This is a summary of the year 2014 in British music charts.

<i>Get Weird</i> 2015 studio album by Little Mix

Get Weird is the third studio album released by British girl group Little Mix, on 6 November 2015, through Syco Music and Columbia Records. The group began work on a previous album before it was scrapped in 2014, with only a few tracks making it to the final cut. It was supported by four singles including the UK number-one single "Black Magic", "Love Me Like You", "Secret Love Song" featuring American singer Jason Derulo, and "Hair" featuring Jamaican singer Sean Paul. A deluxe edition was later released and features four new tracks, while the Japanese edition of the album features a collaboration with Japanese girl group Flower.

The Official Vinyl Singles Chart is a weekly record chart in the United Kingdom. It is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC) on behalf of the music industry. It lists the top 40 most popular singles in the vinyl format each week. The chart, along with the corresponding Official Vinyl Albums Chart, was launched on 6 April 2015 to coincide with Record Store Day, and was introduced in response to the major rise in popularity of vinyl records, both singles and albums; 2014 saw 1.3 million vinyl albums sold in the UK for the first time since 1995.

<i>Glory Days</i> (Little Mix album) 2016 studio album by Little Mix

Glory Days is the fourth studio album by British girl group Little Mix, released on 18 November 2016 by Syco Music and Columbia Records. When released it was met with acclaim from critics, with lyrics that addresses themes on sexuality, sexual relationships, female solitude, and other topics. Little Mix worked with various producers including MNEK, Freedo, Matt Rad, all of whom had worked with them on previous releases.

References

General (list positions)
Specific
  1. Official Charts Company "Especially for You" hits 1 million sales
  2. The Complete Book of British Charts by Warwick/Kutner/Brown (sales for earlier years)
  3. Hunter Davies Official Biography
  4. Billboard Magazine, 7 January 1967, Page 38
  5. "The Official Top 50 best-selling songs of 1981". Official Charts .
  6. "Band Aid sales top 3m – proceeds set to reach Ethiopia by summer". Music Week . London, England: Morgan–Grampian Publications: 3. 12 January 1985.
  7. Myers, Justin (February 12, 2018). "These are the UK's 20 biggest selling love ballads of all time". Official Charts Company . Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  8. "Can We Fix It? by Bob the Builder Songfacts". songfacts.com.
  9. "Shaggy's single is UK's best-seller". BBC News . 27 December 2001. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 "Biggest Selling Songs Of The Decade In The UK Charts". MUZU.TV. 11 November 2009. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  11. "Leona sells most singles in 2007". Newsround . CBBC. 31 December 2007. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
  12. "Alexandra Burke top selling single of 2008". Billboard . Retrieved 7 February 2009.
  13. Levine, Nick (3 January 2010). "GaGa's 'Poker Face' is top single of 2009". Digital Spy . Hearst Magazines UK . Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  14. The Official Charts Company. "The UK's Official Chart 'millionaires' revealed". Official Charts . Retrieved 2017-09-19.
  15. The Official Charts Company. "The Top 20 biggest selling singles of 2011 revealed!". Official Charts . Retrieved 2012-01-05.
  16. "The Official Top 40 Biggest Selling Singles of 2012 revealed!". Official Charts Company . Retrieved 2013-01-03.
  17. "The Official Top 40 Biggest Selling Singles of 2013". Official Charts Company . Retrieved 2014-01-01.
  18. Copsey, Rob (1 January 2015). "The Official Top 40 Biggest Selling Singles of 2014". Official Charts Company . Retrieved 1 January 2015.
  19. Copsey, Rob (31 December 2014). "The Top 100 biggest songs of 2014 on the Official Chart". Official Charts Company . Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  20. Copsey, Rob (4 January 2016). "The Official Top 40 Biggest Songs of 2015 revealed". Official Charts Company . Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  21. Myers, Justin (30 December 2016). "The Top 40 biggest songs of 2016 on the Official Chart" . Retrieved 2020-05-06.
  22. Myers, Justin (30 December 2016). "The Top 40 biggest songs of 2016 on the Official Chart" . Retrieved 2016-12-30.
  23. Copsey, Rob (3 January 2018). "The Top 40 biggest singles of 2017 on the Official Chart" . Retrieved 2020-05-06.
  24. Copsey, Rob (3 January 2018). "The Top 40 biggest singles of 2017 on the Official Chart" . Retrieved 2018-07-24.
  25. Copsey, Rob (3 January 2019). "The Official Top 40 biggest songs of 2018 on the Official Chart" . Retrieved 2020-05-06.
  26. Copsey, Rob (3 January 2019). "The Official Top 40 biggest songs of 2018 on the Official Chart" . Retrieved 2019-01-03.
  27. Copsey, Rob (1 January 2020). "The Official Top 40 biggest songs of 2019". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 2020-01-01.
  28. "The Official Top 40 biggest songs of 2020". www.officialcharts.com. 4 January 2021. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  29. "The Official Top 40 biggest songs of 2021". www.officialcharts.com. 4 January 2022. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  30. "The Official Top 40 biggest songs of 2021". www.officialcharts.com. 4 January 2022. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  31. "The Official Top 40 biggest songs of 2022". www.officialcharts.com. 4 January 2023. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  32. "The Official Top 40 biggest songs of 2022". www.officialcharts.com. 4 January 2023. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  33. 1 2 "The Official Top 40 Biggest Songs of 2023". www.officialcharts.com. 29 December 2023. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  34. "The UK's Official Top 100 biggest songs of the decade 2010 - 2019". OfficialCharts.com. 11 December 2019. Retrieved 25 May 2020.

Notes

  1. Based on combined sales, i.e. including streaming.