List of best-selling albums by year in the United Kingdom
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/16/The_Beatles_in_Treslong.jpg/265px-The_Beatles_in_Treslong.jpg)
The Beatles went on to earn the most best-selling albums of the year, five times with With the Beatles (1963), Beatles for Sale (1964), Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967), Abbey Road (1969) and 1 (2000).
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cb/ABBA_-_TopPop_1974_5.png/184px-ABBA_-_TopPop_1974_5.png)
ABBA had the best-selling album of the year three times with Greatest Hits (1976), Arrival (1977) and Super Trouper (1980).
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c1/Ed_Sheeran_%28cropped%29.jpg/183px-Ed_Sheeran_%28cropped%29.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a0/Kylie_Minogue_-_Summer_2019_-_Step_Back_In_Time_Tour_-_Castlefield_Bowl_-_Manchester_-_11.07.19_-_239.jpg/183px-Kylie_Minogue_-_Summer_2019_-_Step_Back_In_Time_Tour_-_Castlefield_Bowl_-_Manchester_-_11.07.19_-_239.jpg)
Madonna had the best-selling album of 1986 with True Blue.
![]() | This article needs additional citations for verification. (October 2011) |
This is a list of the best-selling albums in the United Kingdom each year. The sales figures given are only within that year, but each album has sold more copies overall.
Best-selling albums by year[]
Year | Album | Artist | Number sold | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|
1956 | Carousel | Original Soundtrack | ||
1957 | The King and I | |||
1958 | My Fair Lady | Broadway Cast recording | ||
1959 | South Pacific | Original Soundtrack | ||
1960 | ||||
1961 | G.I. Blues | Elvis Presley | ||
1962 | West Side Story | Original Soundtrack | ||
1963 | With the Beatles | The Beatles | ||
1964 | Beatles for Sale | |||
1965 | The Sound of Music | Original Soundtrack | ||
1966 | ||||
1967 | Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band | The Beatles | 751,000 | |
1968 | The Sound of Music | Original Soundtrack | ||
1969 | Abbey Road | The Beatles | ||
1970 | Bridge over Troubled Water | Simon and Garfunkel | ||
1971 | ||||
1972 | 20 Dynamic Hits | Various Artists | ||
1973 | Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player | Elton John | ||
1974 | The Singles: 1969–1973 | The Carpenters | ||
1975 | The Best of the Stylistics | The Stylistics | ||
1976 | Greatest Hits | ABBA | ||
1977 | Arrival | |||
1978 | Saturday Night Fever | Original Soundtrack | ||
1979 | Parallel Lines | Blondie | ||
1980 | Super Trouper | ABBA | ||
1981 | Kings of the Wild Frontier | Adam and the Ants | ||
1982 | Love Songs | Barbra Streisand | ||
1983 | Thriller | Michael Jackson | ||
1984 | Can't Slow Down | Lionel Richie | ||
1985 | Brothers in Arms | Dire Straits | ||
1986 | True Blue | Madonna | ||
1987 | Bad | Michael Jackson | ||
1988 | Kylie | Kylie Minogue | ||
1989 | Ten Good Reasons | Jason Donovan | ||
1990 | ...But Seriously | Phil Collins | ||
1991 | Stars | Simply Red | ||
1992 | ||||
1993 | Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell | Meat Loaf | ||
1994 | Cross Road | Bon Jovi | ||
1995 | Robson & Jerome | Robson & Jerome | 2,040,000 | [1] |
1996 | Jagged Little Pill | Alanis Morissette | 1,627,000 | [2] |
1997 | Be Here Now | Oasis | 1,740,000 | [1] |
1998 | Talk on Corners | The Corrs | 1,676,439 | [3] |
1999 | Come On Over | Shania Twain | 2,201,842 | |
2000 | 1 | The Beatles | 1,850,101 | |
2001 | No Angel | Dido | 1,920,167 | |
2002 | Escapology | Robbie Williams | 1,410,931 | |
2003 | Life for Rent | Dido | 2,168,302 | [4] |
2004 | Scissor Sisters | Scissor Sisters | 1,594,259 | [3] |
2005 | Back to Bedlam | James Blunt | 2,367,758 | [5] |
2006 | Eyes Open | Snow Patrol | 1,514,554 | [3] |
2007 | Back to Black | Amy Winehouse | 1,883,897 | |
2008 | Rockferry | Duffy | 1,685,000 | [6] |
2009 | I Dreamed a Dream | Susan Boyle | 1,632,732 | [7] |
2010 | Progress | Take That | 1,841,148 | [8] |
2011 | 21 | Adele | 3,772,346 | [9] |
2012 | Our Version of Events | Emeli Sandé | 1,393,000 | [10] |
2013 | Midnight Memories | One Direction | 685,000 | [11] |
2014 | x | Ed Sheeran | 1,689,000 | [12] |
2015 | 25 | Adele | 2,496,000 | [13] |
2016 | 753,000 | [14] | ||
2017 | ÷ | Ed Sheeran | 2,700,000 | [15] |
2018 | The Greatest Showman: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | Original Soundtrack | 1,600,000 | [16] |
2019 | Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent | Lewis Capaldi | 641,000 | [17] |
2020 | 456,000 | [18] | ||
2021 | 30 | Adele | 600,000 | [19] |
Best-selling albums by decade[]
Decade | Album | Artist(s) | Number sold | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|
1950s | South Pacific | Original Soundtrack | ||
1960s | Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band | The Beatles | ||
1970s | Bridge over Troubled Water | Simon & Garfunkel | ||
1980s | Brothers in Arms | Dire Straits | ||
1990s | (What's the Story) Morning Glory? | Oasis | 3,000,000 | [20] |
2000s | Back to Bedlam | James Blunt | 3,200,000 | [21] |
2010s | 21 | Adele | 5,170,000 | [22] |
See also[]
- List of best-selling singles by year in the United Kingdom
- List of best-selling compilation albums by year in the United Kingdom
References[]
- ^ a b "The biggest selling album of every year since 1956 (see relevant year)". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 13 September 2016. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
- ^ "Looking back at Jagged Little Pill, which hit Number 1 20 years ago". officialcharts.com. Archived from the original on 1 September 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
- ^ a b c Sales: Music Week (Best selling albums 1998–2008), pub. 17 January 2009
- ^ Jones, Alan (12 December 2005). "Eminem and Now! 62 lead albums sales". Music Week. Intent Media. Archived from the original on 1 October 2015. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
- ^ Jones, Alan (15 September 2011). "From 21 to 3 million - Adele crunches the numbers". Music Week. Intent Media. Archived from the original on 27 April 2018. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
- ^ Sexton, Paul (29 December 2008). "Take That, Alexandra Burke Rule UK charts". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Archived from the original on 14 April 2013. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
- ^ "2009: being Boyled". Music Week. Archived from the original on 27 June 2010. Retrieved 3 February 2010.
- ^ Official Charts Company. "Eminem/Rihanna & Take That scoop 2010 crowns". OfficialCharts.com. Archived from the original on 11 November 2011. Retrieved 3 January 2011.
- ^ Jones, Alan (25 December 2011). "Christmas Album Chart analysis: Buble dominates with 317k weekly sales". Music Week. Intent Media. Archived from the original on 25 July 2012. Retrieved 25 December 2011.
- ^ Lane, Dan (2 January 2012). "The Official Top 40 Biggest Selling Albums of 2012 revealed!". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 29 January 2013. Retrieved 2 January 2012.
- ^ Lane, Dan (1 January 2014). "The Official Top 40 Biggest Selling Artist Albums of 2013!". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 20 April 2014. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
- ^ Moss, Liv (1 January 2015). "The Official Top 40 Biggest Selling Artist Albums of 2014". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 1 January 2015. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
- ^ Copsey, Rob (6 January 2016). "The Official Top 40 Biggest Albums of 2015 revealed". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 5 January 2016. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
- ^ Copsey. "The Official Top 40 Biggest Albums of 2016 revealed". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 30 December 2016. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
- ^ White, Jack (3 January 2018). "The Top 40 biggest albums of 2017 on the Official Chart". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 3 January 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
- ^ White, Jack (3 January 2019). "The Official Top 40 biggest albums of 2018". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 3 January 2019. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
- ^ White, Jack (1 January 2020). "The Official Top 40 biggest albums of 2019". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 3 January 2019. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
- ^ Sam Moore (4 January 2021). "Lewis Capaldi and The Weeknd among best-selling artists in the UK as streaming and physical music sales soar in 2020". NME.com. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
- ^ Griffiths, George (4 January 2022). "The Official Top 40 biggest albums of 2021". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Myers, Justin (3 October 2018). "The chart impact and mega sales of Oasis' second album (What's the Story) Morning Glory". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
- ^ Fullerton, Jamie (31 December 2009). "Will Young and James Blunt win biggest selling single and album of the noughties". NME. Archived from the original on 14 September 2018. Retrieved 31 December 2009.
- ^ Copsey, Rob (11 December 2019). "The UK's Official Top 100 biggest albums of the decade 2010 – 2019". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 11 December 2019. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
Categories:
- Lists of best-selling albums
- British music-related lists