Skip to content
Surf Wiki
Save to docs
arts

From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

List of best-selling singles in the United Kingdom

None

List of best-selling singles in the United Kingdom

Summary

None

"[[Candle in the Wind 1997]]" / "[[Something About the Way You Look Tonight]]" by [[Elton John]] is the best-selling single in the UK.

For the purposes of calculating sales, a single is currently defined by the Official Charts Company (OCC) as either a "single bundle" having no more than four tracks and not lasting longer than 25 minutes or one digital audio track not longer than 15 minutes with a minimum sale price of 40 pence. The rules have changed many times as technology has developed, the most notable being the inclusion of digital downloads in 2004 and streaming in 2014.

The best-selling single in the UK is "Something About the Way You Look Tonight"/"Candle in the Wind 1997", a double A-side released by Elton John following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. Since September 1997, the single has sold over 5.4 million copies in the UK.

Sales of singles have been monitored and charted in the UK since 1952, when Percy Dickins of New Musical Express (NME) telephoned around 20 record stores and aggregated their best-selling singles into a hit parade. Dickins published this Top 12 chart in NME on 14 November 1952.

The highest-selling single by a solo female artist is "All I Want for Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey. Released in October 1994, it has combined sales of over 4 million in the UK.

The best-selling single not to top the UK Singles Chart is "Mr. Brightside" by The Killers, which reached number 10 in 2004. When streaming is taken into account, "All of Me" by John Legend, which has over 2.1 million combined sales, is the highest-selling single not to have topped the charts.

The highest-selling single (paid-for purchases) in the 21st century is "Happy" by Pharrell Williams, which has sold 1.93 million; it overtook "Anything Is Possible" / "Evergreen" by Will Young in 2015.

The most streamed song is "Shape of You" by Ed Sheeran with over 200 million streams (2 million equivalent sales) from 2017. Twenty other songs have been streamed over 100 million times, including two more by Ed Sheeran.

Best-selling singles based on paid-for purchases

Until June 2014, only a paid download or a purchase of a physical single counted as a sale. Based on this definition, these are the 50 best-selling singles in the UK. Positions are current .

No.SingleArtistRecord labelReleasedChart
peakTraditional sales1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132333435363738394041424344454647484950
"Something About the Way You Look Tonight" / "Candle in the Wind 1997"Rocket14,940,000
"Do They Know It's Christmas?"Band AidMercury13,830,000
"Bohemian Rhapsody"
/ "These Are the Days of Our Lives"QueenEMI
12,630,000
"Mull of Kintyre" / "Girls' School"WingsCapitol12,100,000
"You're the One That I Want"and Olivia Newton-JohnRSO12,080,000
"Relax"Frankie Goes to HollywoodZTT12,066,230
"Rivers of Babylon" / "Brown Girl in the Ring"Boney M.Atlantic/Hansa12,032,656
"Last Christmas" / "Everything She Wants"Wham!Epic11,931,000
"Happy"Pharrell WilliamsColumbia11,930,000
"She Loves You"Parlophone11,930,000
"Love Is All Around"Wet Wet Wet11,898,790
"Mary's Boy Child – Oh My Lord"Boney M.Atlantic/Hansa11,885,274
"I Just Called to Say I Love You"Motown11,874,225
""A&M1
"Unchained Melody" / "White Cliffs of Dover"Robson & JeromeRCA11,867,755
"Barbie Girl"AquaUniversal11,844,310
"Believe"CherWEA11,826,573
"I Want to Hold Your Hand"The BeatlesParlophone11,810,829
"Anything Is Possible" / "Evergreen"S11,795,213
"Imagine"Apple11,714,351
"Eye of the Tiger"SurvivorScotti Brothers11,650,293
"Uptown Funk"Mark Ronson featuring Bruno MarsRCA11,647,310
"I'll Be Missing You"Puff Daddy and Faith Evans featuring 112Bad Boy1
"Blurred Lines"Robin Thicke featuring T.I. and Pharrell WilliamsInterscope11,667,165
"Someone like You"AdeleXL11,644,597
"Three Lions"
"3 Lions '98"Epic1
"I Will Always Love You"Arista11,642,360
"Don't You Want Me"Virgin1
"Summer Nights"John Travolta and Olivia Newton-JohnRSO11,640,672
"Two Tribes"Frankie Goes to HollywoodZTT11,629,287
"Gangsta's Paradise"Coolio featuring L.V.Tommy Boy11,585,504
"My Heart Will Go On"Epic11,583,276
"Jive11,570,000
"Wonderwall"OasisCreation2
"Moves like Jagger"Maroon 5 featuring Christina AguileraA&M/Octone2
"Careless Whisper"Epic1
"Can't Buy Me Love"The BeatlesParlophone1
"Perfect Day"Various artistsChrysalis11,550,017
"Karma Chameleon"Culture ClubVirgin11,528,498
"Somebody That I Used to Know"Gotye featuring KimbraIsland1
"Y.M.C.A."Village PeopleMercury1
"Wake Me Up"AviciiPositiva/PRMD1
"Tears"Columbia11,523,690
"I Gotta Feeling"Interscope11,477,778
"Get Lucky"Daft Punk featuring Pharrell WilliamsColumbia11,471,356
"Killing Me Softly"FugeesColumbia11,457,641
"The Power of Love"Jennifer RushCBS11,456,087
"Come On Eileen"Dexys Midnight RunnersMercury Records1
"It Wasn't Me"Shaggy featuring RikRokMCA1
"Rock Around the Clock"Brunswick11,439,196

Best-selling songs based on combined sales (streaming-adjusted)

From 2014, streaming has counted towards sales (sometimes called "combined sales" or "chart sales") at the rate of 100 streams equal to one download or physical purchase, although the singles chart no longer uses this ratio. In September 2017, the OCC changed their definition of a 'million seller' to include streaming. Below are the best-selling singles by combined sales of over 1.8 million, based on sales and streaming equivalent, as of the latest data available.

SingleArtistChart
peakReleasedSalesStreaming equivalentCombined sales"Perfect""Shape of You""Something About the Way You Look Tonight" / "Candle in the Wind 1997""Last Christmas" / "Everything She Wants""Do They Know It's Christmas?""Viva la Vida""Yellow""Someone Like You""Shake It Off""Something Just Like This""Billie Jean""Bohemian Rhapsody""Uptown Funk""Happy""Fix You""Thinking Out Loud""Hello""Torn""Paradise""A Sky Full of Stars""Hymn for the Weekend""The Scientist""Adventure of a Lifetime""Photograph""One Dance""Rather Be""Blank Space""Sorry""All of Me""You're the One that I Want""Relax""Rolling in the Deep""Mull of Kintyre" / "Girls' School""Love Yourself""Rivers of Babylon"/"Brown Girl in the Ring""Make You Feel My Love""Love Story""Wonderwall""Mary's Boy Child – Oh My Lord""Wake Me Up!""She Loves You""Take Me to Church""Blurred Lines""(Everything I Do) I Do It for You""Love Is All Around""Believe""Cheerleader (Felix Jaehn Remix)""I Just Called to Say I Love You""Despacito (Remix)""Barbie Girl""Eye of the Tiger""Unchained Melody" /
"White Cliffs of Dover""I Want to Hold Your Hand""What Do You Mean?""Let Her Go""Get Lucky""Earth Song
120175,504,332
12017url=https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/ed-sheerans-official-top-40-biggest-songs__34350/title=Ed Sheeran's Official Top 40 biggest songslast=Copseyfirst=Robwebsite=Official Chartsdate=2 November 2021access-date=31 August 2025}}
119974,935,93615,4724,951,408
Wham!119841,940,0002,350,1264,564,703
Band Aid119843,802,066140,9933,943,060
Coldplay12008date=29 August 2025title=Charts Analysis: Record-Breaking K-Pop Chart Takeover Led by K-Pop Demon Huntersurl=https://www.musicweek.com/analysis/read/charts-analysis-record-breaking-k-pop-chart-takeover-led-by-k-pop-demon-hunters/092556url-access=subscriptionurl-status=livearchive-url=https://archive.today/20250829184728/https://www.musicweek.com/analysis/read/charts-analysis-record-breaking-k-pop-chart-takeover-led-by-k-pop-demon-hunters/092556archive-date=29 August 2025access-date=29 August 2025website=Music Week}}
Coldplay420003,641,555
Adele120111,644,597351,7723,000,000
220141,000,000url=https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/taylor-swifts-official-top-40-biggest-songs-in-the-uk-revealed/title=Taylor Swift's Official Top 40 biggest songs in the UK revealeddate=April 23, 2024access-date=August 18, 2025publisher=Official Charts Company}}
The Chainsmokers and Coldplay22017region=United Kingdomartist=Coldplayaccess-date=12 December 2025}}
Michael Jackson11983500,0002,400,0002,900,000
Queen119752,540,604254,4302,795,034
featuring Bruno Mars120141,647,3101,076,1602,723,470
120131,921,805707,8512,629,657
Coldplay420052,600,000
120141,219,1841,302,1192,521,302
Adele12015948,618906,4312,500,000
Natalie Imbruglia219971,208,0981,200,4312,420,000
Coldplay120112,400,000
Coldplay920142,400,000
Coldplay620152,400,000
Coldplay1020022,400,000
Coldplay720152,400,000
1520152,380,000
Drake featuring Wizkid & Kyla12016553,9731,791,0072,344,981
Clean Bandit featuring Jess Glynne120141,283,122935,5752,218,697
420142,200,000
12015724,1881,443,7192,167,907
220141,259,708896,4182,156,126
& Olivia Newton-John119782,072,03582,8972,154,932
Frankie Goes to Hollywood119832,066,23082,0922,148,322
Adele220112,100,000
Wings119772,086,1831,0662,087,249
12015718,5491,340,6662,059,215
Boney M.119782,032,6566,1642,038,820
Adele42008url=https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/adeles-official-top-20-biggest-songs-revealed__34212/title=Adele's Official Top 20 biggest songs revealedlast=Griffithsfirst=Georgedate=14 October 2021publisher=Official Charts Companyaccess-date=31 August 2025}}
220092,000,000
Oasis219951,502,270493,6711,995,940
Boney M.119781,885,27491,7251,976,999
Avicii120131,483,346484,0351,967,381
119631,922,27531,0991,953,374
Hozier22013934,4661,017,8511,952,317
featuring T.I. and Pharrell Williams120131,667,615284,0041,951,619
119911,848,15490,3821,938,536
Wet Wet Wet119941,898,79038,9511,937,741
Cher119981,826,573101,0201,927,593
Omi12014861,0861,057,4391,918,526
119841,874,22538,3031,912,528
featuring Daddy Yankee and Justin Bieber12017566,4251,334,1741,900,599
Aqua119971,844,31052,9361,897,247
Survivor119821,650,293223,0451,873,338
Robson Green & Jerome Flynn119951,867,7554,2141,871,969
119631,810,82947,8991,858,728
12015533,5811,320,2561,853,837
Passenger220121,243,336589,0191,832,354
Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams120131,471,356349,9891,821,344
Michael Jackson11995600,0001,200,0001,800,000

Notes

References

References

  1. (April 2013). "Rules for Chart Eligibility: Singles". [[Official Charts Company]].
  2. British Phonographic Industry, BPI. (4 May 2023). ""British single certifications – Mariah Carey – All I Want for Christmas Is You"". [[Official Charts Company]].
  3. Williams, Mark. (19 February 2002). "Obituary: Percy Dickins". [[The Guardian]].
  4. Smith, Alan. "50s & 60s UK Charts – The Truth!". [[davemcaleer.com]].
  5. Copsey, Rob. (19 September 2017). "The UK's Official Chart 'millionaires' revealed". [[Official Charts Company]].
  6. (9 May 2024). "Mr Brightside: The Killers' hit becomes the biggest song never to top charts".
  7. Myers, Justin. (14 February 2020). "The UK's biggest selling singles of all time". [[Official Charts Company]].
  8. Copsey, Rob. (11 June 2015). "The Official Top 40 Biggest Selling Singles of the Millennium so far revealed". [[Official Charts Company]].
  9. (8 November 2023). "The best-selling singles of all time on the Official UK Chart". [[Official Charts Company]].
  10. Jones, Alan. (27 September 2024). "Charts analysis: Sabrina Carpenter at No.1 on singles chart for 17th time in 2024".
  11. Copsey, Rob. (2 November 2021). "Ed Sheeran's Official Top 40 biggest songs".
  12. Paine, Andre. (December 20, 2024). "Wham!'s Last Christmas makes history with consecutive festive No.1s".
  13. (April 23, 2024). "Taylor Swift's Official Top 40 biggest songs in the UK revealed". [[Official Charts Company]].
  14. {{Cite certification
  15. (8 October 2024). "Coldplay's Official Top 40 Biggest Songs in the UK Revealed". Official Charts Company.
  16. Griffiths, George. (14 October 2021). "Adele's Official Top 20 biggest songs revealed". [[Official Charts Company]].
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about List of best-selling singles in the United Kingdom — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report