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

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 amount 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]

The best-selling UK single of all time is "Candle in the Wind 1997" by Elton John, which sold 4,770,000 copies.

Best-selling singles by year

Year Single Artist Number
sold[2]
1952 "Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart" Vera Lynn
1953 "I Believe" Frankie Laine
1954 "Secret Love" Doris Day
1955 "Rose Marie" Slim Whitman
1956 "I'll Be Home" Pat Boone
1957 "Diana" Paul Anka
1958 "Jailhouse Rock" Elvis Presley
1959 "Living Doll" Cliff Richard 800,000
1960 "It's Now or Never" Elvis Presley
1961 "Wooden Heart" Elvis Presley
1962 "I Remember You" Frank Ifield
1963 "She Loves You" The Beatles 1,300,000[3]
1964 "Can't Buy Me Love" The Beatles
1965 "Tears" Ken Dodd
1966 "Green, Green Grass of Home" Tom Jones 850,000[4]
1967 "Release Me" Engelbert Humperdinck
1968 "What a Wonderful World" Louis Armstrong
1969 "Sugar, Sugar" The Archies
1970 "The Wonder of You" Elvis Presley
1971 "My Sweet Lord" George Harrison 700,000
1972 "Amazing Grace" The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Band
1973 "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" Tony Orlando and Dawn
1974 "Tiger Feet" Mud 730,000
1975 "Bye Bye Baby" Bay City Rollers
1976 "Save Your Kisses for Me" Brotherhood of Man 1,006,000
1977 "Mull of Kintyre" / "Girls' School" Wings
1978 "Rivers of Babylon" / "Brown Girl in the Ring" Boney M. 1,995,000
1979 "Bright Eyes" Art Garfunkel 1,155,000
1980 "Don't Stand So Close to Me" The Police 808,000
1981 "Don't You Want Me" The Human League
1982 "Come On Eileen" Dexys Midnight Runners 1,200,000
1983 "Karma Chameleon" Culture Club 1,390,000
1984 "Do They Know It's Christmas?" Band Aid 3,000,000[5]
1985 "The Power of Love" Jennifer Rush 1,280,000
1986 "Don't Leave Me This Way" The Communards 745,000
1987 "Never Gonna Give You Up" Rick Astley 759,000
1988 "Mistletoe and Wine" Cliff Richard 750,000
1989 "Ride On Time" Black Box 960,000
1990 "Unchained Melody" The Righteous Brothers 840,000
1991 "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" Bryan Adams 1,520,000
1992 "I Will Always Love You" Whitney Houston 1,500,000
1993 "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)" Meat Loaf 720,000
1994 "Love Is All Around" Wet Wet Wet 1,783,000
1995 "Unchained Melody" Robson & Jerome 1,840,000
1996 "Killing Me Softly" Fugees 1,360,000
1997 "Candle in the Wind 1997" / "Something About the Way You Look Tonight" Elton John 4,770,000
1998 "Believe" Cher 1,519,000
1999 "...Baby One More Time" Britney Spears 1,445,000
2000 "Can We Fix It?" Bob the Builder 853,000[6]
2001 "It Wasn't Me" Shaggy featuring Rikrok 1,151,000[7]
2002 "Anything Is Possible" / "Evergreen" Will Young 1,783,919[8]
2003 "Where Is the Love?" The Black Eyed Peas 625,198[8]
2004 "Do They Know It's Christmas?" Band Aid 20 1,065,000[8]
2005 "Is This the Way to Amarillo" Tony Christie featuring Peter Kay 1,100,200[8]
2006 "Crazy" Gnarls Barkley 820,053[8]
2007 "Bleeding Love" Leona Lewis 788,000[9]
2008 "Hallelujah" Alexandra Burke 888,000[10]
2009 "Poker Face" Lady Gaga 882,059[11]
2010 "Love the Way You Lie" Eminem featuring Rihanna 854,000[12]
2011 "Someone like You" Adele 1,242,000[13]
2012 "Somebody That I Used to Know" Gotye featuring Kimbra 1,318,000[14]
2013 "Blurred Lines" Thicke, RobinRobin Thicke featuring T.I. and Pharrell Williams 1,470,000[15]
2014 "Happy" Pharrell Williams 1,500,000[16]
2015 "Uptown Funk" Ronson, MarkMark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars 1,760,000[17]

See also

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. ↑ "Band Aid sales top 3m – proceeds set to reach Ethiopia by summer". Music Week (London, England: Morgan–Grampian Publications): 3. 12 January 1985.
  6. ↑ "Can We Fix It? by Bob the Builder Songfacts". songfacts.com.
  7. ↑ "Shaggy's single is UK's best-seller". BBC News. 27 December 2001. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 "Biggest Selling Songs Of The Decade In The UK Charts". MUZU.TV. 11 November 2009. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  9. ↑ "Leona sells most singles in 2007". Newsround. CBBC. 31 December 2007. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
  10. ↑ "Alexandra Burke top selling single of 2008". Billboard. Retrieved 7 February 2009.
  11. ↑ Levine, Nick (3 January 2010). "GaGa's 'Poker Face' is top single of 2009". Digital Spy (Hearst Magazines UK). Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  12. ↑ "Eminem/Rihanna & Take That scoop 2010 crowns". Archived from the original on 28 April 2015. Retrieved 3 January 2011.
  13. ↑ The Official Charts Company. "The Top 20 biggest selling singles of 2011 revealed!". Retrieved 2012-01-05.
  14. ↑ "The Official Top 40 Biggest Selling Singles of 2012 revealed!". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2013-01-03.
  15. ↑ "The Official Top 40 Biggest Selling Singles of 2013". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2014-01-01.
  16. ↑ Copsey, Rob (1 January 2015). "The Official Top 40 Biggest Selling Singles of 2014". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
  17. ↑ Copsey, Rob (4 January 2016). "The Official Top 40 Biggest Songs of 2015 revealed". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
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