Million-Selling Singles
The first single to sell a million copies in Britain alone was Bill Haley's "Rock Around The Clock." Released in 1955, it took until 1957 to attain this landmark achievement. Below is a list of all million-sellers since "Rock Around The Clock" in chronological order of the date upon which they achieved their millionth sale!
The first date refers to the year in which the track sold its millionth copy. This can differ significantly from the year of release / peak chart success (the second date shown).
Key: M - a million+ sold 'over the counter' MM - 2 million+ sold 'over the counter' etc.
(M) - a re-issue pushed 'over the counter' sales above a million m - a million to retail.
Year Released
Millions Artist Title
1 1957 1955 M Bill Haley Rock Around The Clock
2 1957 1957 M Harry Belafonte Mary's Boy Child
3 1957 1957 M Paul Anka Diana
4 1960 1960 M Elvis Presley It's Now Or Never
5 1962 1962 M Cliff Richard & The Shadows The Young Ones
6 1962 1961 M Mr Acker Bilk Stranger On The Shore
7 1962 1962 M Frank Ifield I Remember You
8 1963 1963 M The Beatles She Loves You
9 1963 1963 M The Beatles I Want To Hold Your Hand
10 1964 1964 M The Beatles Can't Buy Me Love
11 1964 1964 M The Beatles I Feel Fine
12 1965 1965 M Ken Dodd Tears
13 1965 1965 M The Seekers The Carnival Is Over
14 1966 1965 M The Beatles We Can Work It Out / Day Tripper
15 1966 1966 M Tom Jones Green Green Grass Of Home
16 1967 1967 M Englebert Humperdinck Release Me
17 1967 1967 M Englebert Humperdinck The Last Waltz
18 1973 1973 M Gary Glitter I Love You Love Me Love
19 1975 1975 M(M) Queen Bohemian Rhapsody
20 1976 1976 M Brotherhood Of Man Save Your Kisses For Me
21 1977 1976 M David Soul Don't Give Up On Us
22 1977 1942 (M) Bing Crosby White Christmas
23 1977 1977 MM Paul Mccartney & Wings Mull Of Kintyre / Girl's School
24 1977 1972 M The Simon Park Orchestra Eye Level
25 1978 1978 Mm Boney M Rivers Of Babylon / Brown Girl In The Ring
26 1978 1978 M John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John You're The One That I Want
27 1978 1978 M John Travolta & Olivia-Newton-John Summer Nights
28 1978 1978 M Boney M Mary's Boy Child - Oh My Lord
29 1979 1978 M The Village People Y.M.C.A.
30 1979 1979 M Blondie Heart Of Glass
31 1979 1979 M Art Garfunkel Bright Eyes
32 1981 1975 M John Lennon Imagine
33 1981 1981 M The Human League Don't You Want Me
34 1982 1982 M Dexy's Midnight Runners Come On Eileen
35 1983 1983 M Culture Club Karma Chameleon
36 1984 1983 M Frankie Goes To Hollywood Relax
37 1984 1984 M Frankie Goes To Hollywood Two Tribes
38 1984 1984 M George Michael Careless Whisper
39 1984 1984 M Stevie Wonder I Just Called To Say I Love You
40 1984 1984 MMM Band Aid Do They Know It's Christmas
41 1984 1984 M Wham! Last Christmas / Everything She Wants
42 1985 1985 M Jennifer Rush The Power Of Love
43 1985 1973 (M) Slade Merry Xmas Everybody
44 1991 1981 (M) Soft Cell Tainted Love
45 1991 1991 M Bryan Adams (Everything I Do) I Do It For You
46 1993 1992 M Whitney Houston I Will Always Love You
47 1994 1994 M Wet Wet Wet Love Is All Around
48 1994 1994 M Whigfield Saturday Night
49 1995 1994 M Celine Dion Think Twice
50 1995 1995 M Robson & Jerome Unchained Melody / (There'll Be Blue Birds Over) The White Cliffs Of Dover
51 1995 1983 (M) New Order Blue Monday
52 1995 1995 M Coolio featuring LV Gangsta's Paradise
53 1995 1995 M Robson & Jerome I Believe
54 1996 1996 M Babylon Zoo Spaceman
55 1996 1995 M Michael Jackson Earth Song
56 1996 1996 M The Fugees Killing Me Softly
57 1996 1996 M Spice Girls Wannabe
58 1997 1996 M Spice Girls 2 Become 1
59 1997 1997 M Puff Daddy & Faith Evans I'll Be Missing You
60 1997 1997 MMMM Elton John Something About The Way You Look Tonight / Candle in The Wind 1997
61 1997 1997 M Aqua Barbie Girl
62 1997 1997 M Various Artists Perfect Day
63 1998 1997 M All Saints Never Ever
64 1998 1998 M Celine Dion My Heart Will Go On
65 1998 1997 M The Teletubbies Teletubbies Say Eh-Oh
66 1998 1998 (M) Run DMC vs Jason Nevins It's Like That
67 1998 1998 M Boyzone No Matter What
68 1998 1998 M Cher Believe
69 1999 1998 M Steps Heartbeat / Tragedy
70 1999 1999 M Britney Spears Baby One More Time
71 2000 1999 M Eiffel 65 Blue (Da Ba Dee)
72 2001 2001 M Shaggy featuring Rikrok It Wasn't Me
73 2001 2001 M Hear'Say Pure And Simple
74 2001 2000 M Bob The Builder Can We Fix It?
75 2002 2001 M Kylie Minogue Can't Get You Out Of My Head
76 2002 2002 M Will Young Anything Is Possible / Evergreen
77 2002 2002 M Gareth Gates Unchained Melody
78 2004 2004 M Band Aid 20 Do They Know It's Christmas?
79 2005 1971 M Tony Christie (Is This The Way To) Amarillo
80 2006 2005 M Shayne Ward That's My Goal
81 2007 1997 M Natalie Imbruglia Torn
82 2007 1995 M Oasis Wonderwall
Three further titles are believed to have sold a million+ to retail (ie. not over the counter). They are:
- 1980 1979 m Pink Floyd Another Brick In The Wall Part 2 (0.995m)
- 1998 1997 m Robbie Williams Angels (0.912m)
- 2004 1996 (m) Peter Andre Mysterious Girl (0.930m)
Key: M - a million+ sold to customers MM - 2 million+ sold to customers etc.
(M) - a re-issue pushed sales to customers above a million m - a million to retail only.
Three titles have sold a million in two forms:
• "Unchained Melody" - Robson & Jerome (1995) and Gareth Gates (2002)
• "Mary's Boy Child" - Harry Belafonte (1957) and Boney M (1978) (though the latter was a medley with "Oh My Lord").
• "Do They Know It's Christmas?" - Band Aid (1984) and Band Aid 20 (2004) (As the original performance of "Do They Know It's Christmas?" was the 'B side' to the versions by Band Aid II and Band Aid 20, it has 'stealth' sales of over 5 million).
The singles which have sold a million but failed to make number one are:
• Mr Acker Bilk - "Stranger On The Shore" (no. 2)
• Wham - "Last Christmas" (no. 2)
• Oasis - "Wonderwall" (no. 2)
• Natalie Imbruglia - "Torn" (no. 2)
• New Order - "Blue Monday" (no. 3)
• Robbie Williams - "Angles" [a million shipped] (no. 4)
• Bing Crosby - "White Christmas" (no. 5)
Quickest to sell a million copies:
• "Candle In The Wind '97" - Elton John (five days in 1997).
Longest time to sell a million:
• "White Christmas" - Bing Crosby (35 years from 1942 to 1977).
Run Of Million Sellers:
On three occasions in chart history, three successive number 1 singles have gone on to sell a million copies: • June to September 1984:
Frankie Goes To Hollywood - "Two Tribes" • George Michael - "Careless Whisper" • Stevie Wonder - "I Just Called To Say I Love You."
• October 1995 to January 1996:
Coolio featuring L.V. - "Gangsta's Paradise" • Robson Green and Jerome Flynn - "I Believe/Up On The Roof" • Michael Jackson - "Earth Song."
• November 1997 to December 1997:
Aqua - "Barbie Girl" • Various - "Perfect Day" • The Teletubbies - "Teletubbies Say Eh-Oh!"
