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| OCC: Top 20 Best Selling Love Ballads of All Time |
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 10th February 2016, 11:52 AM
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 BuzzJack Idol
Joined: 8 December 2010
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The UK's Official Top 20 Biggest Selling Love Ballads of All Time
10 February 2016 By Justin Myers We're sure by now you're fully prepped for your Valentine's Day wooing by now, right? You've made the dinner reservations, your flowers are on order and the champagne's on ice, but what about a little music to set the mood? We're a romantic lot in Britain, and many of our biggest selling singles of all time are of the sentimental and mushy nature. To celebrate Valentine's Day and to give you a bit of romantic playlist inspo (we've put one together for you here), we present the UK's favourite love ballads – the Official Top 20 best sellers. ❤ 1: Love Is All Around – Wet Wet Wet Summer 1994 belonged to this song, which spent an astonishing 15 straight weeks at Number 1 – the second longest consecutive run at the top of all time. Taken from the global phenomenon that was Four Weddings and a Funeral, starring Hugh Grant and Andie MacDowell, Love Is All Around was the Wets' third Number 1. The track was a cover – it originally got to Number 5 in 1967 for the Troggs. The Wet Wet Wet version has sold 1.88 million copies! "Is it still raining? I hadn't noticed." Smooth. 2: Unchained Melody – Robson and Jerome One of two appearances in the Top 20 for this much-covered classic, which has hit Number 1 four times for different artists. Coming off the back of their starring roles in ITV's military drama Soldier Soldier, Robson & Jerome's version was a double-A side with a cover of Vera Lynn's White Cliffs of Dover and stayed at Number 1 for a whopping seven weeks. Sentimental sorts couldn't get enough of it – it's sold 1.86 million copies. 3: (Everything I Do) I Do It For You – Bryan Adams Another movie soundtrack song, the theme from Kevin Costner fairy tale Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves holds the record for longest consecutive run at Number 1. Bryan's classic ballad kept hold of the top spot for an incredible 16 weeks. Sixteen. If you weren't a big fan of the song, let's just say summer 1991 was a particularly tough time to be a chart fan. 1.82 million of you own this one. 4: Anything Is Possible/Evergreen – Will Young Two for the price of one for Pop Idol winner Will Young's victory song from 2002. Evergreen was a cover of a Westlife album track, but Anything Is Possible was a new tune co-written by Cathy Dennis, who also penned Toxic for Britney and Can't Get You Out of my Head for Kylie. The single sold over 1.1 million copies in its first week on sale and is the fastest-selling debut single ever. The single spent three week at the summit and has now hit almost 1.78 million sales. 5: I Will Always Love You – Whitney Houston The highest lady on our love ballad countdown is the late, great Whitney Houston. Taken from the hugely successful soundtrack of the hit movie The Bodyguard, in which Houston starred, I Will Always Love You spent 10 weeks at the top was 1992's Official Christmas Number 1. It's well known the song was a cover of a Dolly Parton track that never charted in the UK. Two further versions have made the Top 40: a dance reinterpretation by Sarah Washington hit Number 12 in 1993, and Pop Idol finalist Rik Waller went Top 10 with his rendition in 2002. Whitney's still the one to beat, though: her version has sold 1.62 million copies. Other notable entries Gareth Gates's 2002 cover of Unchained Melody, which actually deposed Will Young from Number 1, comes in eighth with 1.34 million sales, while the highest placed song not to reach Number 1 at all is Robbie Williams' Angels, which peaked at 4 and has racked up 1.2 million sales. The most recent track in our countdown is John Legend's All of Me, which passed a million sales in 2015 – it's now on 1.18 million – and the only female group to make the Top 20 is the Spice Girls, with 1996's Christmas chart-topper 2 Become 1. Take That also land two entries in our Top 20, thanks to 1995's Number 1 Back For Good and Rule The World, which peaked at Number 2 in 2007. And just outside our Top 20, we have two more million-selling ballads worthy of a mention: Atomic Kitten's Whole Again (21) and Kylie and Jason duet Especially For You (22). Play those to us and, yes, we will marry you. The Official Top 20 biggest selling love ballads ever in the UK are appear below. Click here to listen to a playlist of the songs on Spotify, and here if you're on Deezer. TRACK ARTIST YEAR 1 LOVE IS ALL AROUND WET WET WET 1994 1,880,000 2 UNCHAINED MELODY/(THERE'LL BE BLUEBIRDS OVER) THE WHITE CLIFFS OF DOVER ROBSON GREEN & JEROME FLYNN 1995 1,860,000 3 (EVERYTHING I DO) I DO IT FOR YOU BRYAN ADAMS 1991 1,820,000 4 ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE/EVERGREEN WILL YOUNG 2002 1,780,000 5 I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU WHITNEY HOUSTON 1992 1,620,000 6 MY HEART WILL GO ON CELINE DION 1998 7 THE POWER OF LOVE JENNIFER RUSH 1985 8 UNCHAINED MELODY GARETH GATES 2002 1,340,000 9 JUST THE WAY YOU ARE (AMAZING) BRUNO MARS 2010 10 ANGELS ROBBIE WILLIAMS 1997 1,200,000 11 ALL OF ME JOHN LEGEND 2014 1,180,000 12 DON'T GIVE UP ON US DAVID SOUL 1976 13 I DON'T WANT TO MISS A THING AEROSMITH 1998 14 NO MATTER WHAT BOYZONE 1998 15 THINKING OUT LOUD ED SHEERAN 2014 16 2 BECOME 1 SPICE GIRLS 1996 17 CHASING CARS SNOW PATROL 2006 18 BACK FOR GOOD TAKE THAT 1995 19 RULE THE WORLD TAKE THAT 2007 20 HERO ENRIQUE IGLESIAS 2002 21 WHOLE AGAIN ATOMIC KITTEN 2001 22 ESPECIALLY FOR YOU KYLIE & JASON 1988 |
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10th February 2016, 04:44 PM
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 BuzzJack Regular
Joined: 20 December 2009
Posts: 226 User: 10,260
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How much have Think Twice and I Just Called To Say I Love You sold? Thought they might be on the list.
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10th February 2016, 05:23 PM
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Yes, it's me.
Joined: 4 November 2009
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QUOTE(Campbell @ Feb 10 2016, 04:44 PM)  How much have Think Twice and I Just Called To Say I Love You sold? Thought they might be on the list. They should be well ahead of Rule the World |
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10th February 2016, 08:57 PM
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New Entry
Joined: 23 November 2015
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Does anybody know why Love Is All Around got deleted? I've often wondered this, surely at 15 weeks number one they would want to try and break the record of 16 weeks?
Also, might not be a "love ballad" but where would Steps "Heartbeat" appear on here? |
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10th February 2016, 09:03 PM
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 BuzzJack Legend
Joined: 18 July 2012
Posts: 22,832 User: 17,376
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Wet Wet Wet reportedly deleted it, sick of it being at number one, and enough is enough. Cynics might say it was a last desperate attempt to pile all remaining potential sales into one week to try and stop the coming monster steamroller of Barbie Girl knocking them off the top (to equal Bryan Adams)..
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10th February 2016, 09:29 PM
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BuzzJack Gold Member
Joined: 18 May 2007
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QUOTE(vancey @ Feb 10 2016, 08:57 PM) Does anybody know why Love Is All Around got deleted? I've often wondered this, surely at 15 weeks number one they would want to try and break the record of 16 weeks? It actually never stood a chance anyway - the publicity over the single's deletion caused its sales to climb 60% week on week, but it was not enough to stop Saturday Night. It's also interesting that whilst the sales did fall quite sharply after that, there were clearly plenty of copies lying around, coz it spent another 4 months or so on the top 75! |
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10th February 2016, 09:49 PM
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Yes, it's me.
Joined: 4 November 2009
Posts: 19,813 User: 9,885
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QUOTE(popchartfreak @ Feb 10 2016, 09:03 PM) Wet Wet Wet reportedly deleted it, sick of it being at number one, and enough is enough. Cynics might say it was a last desperate attempt to pile all remaining potential sales into one week to try and stop the coming monster steamroller of Barbie Girl knocking them off the top (to equal Bryan Adams)..  Whigfield's Saturday Night - surely |
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10th February 2016, 09:50 PM
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 Ciao, 911? E 'Quagmire. Sì, è preso nella finestra di questo
Joined: 25 March 2011
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If I recall correctly the "deleted" story was later discovered to be a hoax (hence the fact that it lingered around the charts for a long time afterwards). It was true that the record label invented the story to try to get another week at the top and equal the Bryan Adams record.
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11th February 2016, 01:06 AM
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BuzzJack Gold Member
Joined: 4 April 2006
Posts: 3,445 User: 366
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QUOTE(Colm @ Feb 10 2016, 09:49 PM) Whigfield's Saturday Night - surely |
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11th February 2016, 02:12 PM
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BuzzJack Enthusiast
Joined: 15 March 2006
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The story of Wet Wet Wet being deleted did have an effect as its sales increased 60% that week but still ended up 50,000 sales behind Whigfield
This post has been edited by fiesta: 11th February 2016, 02:19 PM |
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11th February 2016, 04:21 PM
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BuzzJack Platinum Member
Joined: 10 March 2006
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What makes a song classify as a "love ballad" though? Surely the definition is a bit vague...
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11th February 2016, 05:32 PM
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BuzzJack Platinum Member
Joined: 3 August 2006
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Think twice has sold about 1.3 million in total so don't understand why it's not included unless they don't class it as a ballad.
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11th February 2016, 08:50 PM
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BuzzJack Enthusiast
Joined: 1 January 2016
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I messaged the OCC and apparently Think Twice, Bleeding Love, Someone like You and I Just Called to Say I Love You are not Valentine's Day-appropriate. Hence their exclusion.
They're kinda right, Stevie is just calling for the sake of saying "I love you", Leona's having a troubled relationship, and Celine and Adele are both going through break-ups - not really appropriate for Valentine's Day This post has been edited by JCM20: 11th February 2016, 09:02 PM |
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11th February 2016, 09:10 PM
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BuzzJack Enthusiast
Joined: 1 January 2016
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Then again, Think Twice and Don't Give Up on Us both have a subject matter of "please don't leave me" - so it is a little confusing how only one of them made the list
This post has been edited by JCM20: 13th February 2018, 06:09 PM |
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11th February 2016, 09:40 PM
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Is anyone here a marine biologist?
Joined: 23 January 2010
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Just a minor quibble I know, but I find it a bit odd that the OCC have 'Anything Is Possible/Evergreen' on 1,780,000 when they normally have it on 1,790,000. I assume they've just made an error and it should be the latter figure?
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11th February 2016, 10:57 PM
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Yes, it's me.
Joined: 4 November 2009
Posts: 19,813 User: 9,885
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QUOTE(JCM20 @ Feb 11 2016, 08:50 PM) I messaged the OCC and apparently Think Twice, Bleeding Love, Someone like You and I Just Called to Say I Love You are not Valentine's Day-appropriate. Hence their exclusion. They're kinda right, Stevie is just calling for the sake of saying "I love you", Leona's having a troubled relationship, and Celine and Adele are both going through break-ups - not really appropriate for Valentine's Day Someone thinks too much about these things. |
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11th February 2016, 11:55 PM
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BuzzJack Idol
Joined: 8 December 2010
Posts: 50,972 User: 12,472
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QUOTE(OutstandingMixer @ Feb 11 2016, 09:40 PM) Just a minor quibble I know, but I find it a bit odd that the OCC have 'Anything Is Possible/Evergreen' on 1,780,000 when they normally have it on 1,790,000. I assume they've just made an error and it should be the latter figure? I assume it is just an error. It sold 1.784m in 2002 and has been on 1.79m for absolutely years without any more precise info than that. I'd personally like to see how close it is to 1.8m now, particularly since it won't automatically be certified 3x Platinum by the BPI as it already has that certification from when they were based on shipments. |
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12th February 2018, 03:41 PM
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BuzzJack Enthusiast
Joined: 1 January 2016
Posts: 907 User: 22,819
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12 February 2018
The UK's Official Top 20 biggest selling love ballads of all time It's almost Valentine's Day! We reveal the best selling love ballads that get the UK feeling loved up. By Justin Myers Ah, Valentine's Day – bunches of flowers, boxes of chocolates, a glass of champagne and a romantic dinner, but let's not forget the music to set the mood! The Brits are a soppy lot, and many of our biggest selling singles of all time are love songs. To celebrate Valentine's Day we've put together a romantic playlist for you here, and we count down the UK's favourite love ballads – the Official Top 20 best sellers. ❤ 1: Love Is All Around – Wet Wet Wet Summer 1994 belonged to this song, by Scottish band Wet Wet Wet, which spent an astonishing 15 straight weeks at Number 1 – the second longest consecutive run at the top of all time, and equalled in 2016 by Drake's One Dance. Taken from the global movie phenomenon Four Weddings and a Funeral, starring Hugh Grant and Andie MacDowell, Love Is All Around was the Wets' third Number 1. The track was a cover – it originally got to Number 5 in 1967 for the Troggs. The Wet Wet Wet version has sold 1.9 million copies! "Is it still raining? I hadn't noticed." Smooth, Andie. Smooth. 2: Unchained Melody – Robson and Jerome Unchained Melody hay be over five decades old, but it still has enduring appeal, and is much-covered, reaching Number 1 four times for different artists. Coming off the back of their starring roles in ITV's military drama Soldier Soldier, Robson & Jerome's version was a double-A side with a cover of Vera Lynn's White Cliffs of Dover and stayed at Number 1 for a whopping seven weeks. Sentimental sorts couldn't get enough of it – it's sold 1.87 million copies. MORE: See the chart runs of every version of Unchained Melody 3: (Everything I Do) I Do It For You – Bryan Adams Another movie soundtrack song, the theme from Kevin Costner fairy tale Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves holds the record for longest consecutive run at Number 1. Bryan's classic ballad kept hold of the top spot for an incredible 16 weeks. Sixteen. If you weren't a big fan of the song, let's just say summer 1991 was a particularly tough time to be a chart fan. 1.85 million of you own this one. 4: Anything Is Possible/Evergreen – Will Young Two for the price of one for Pop Idol winner Will Young's victory song from 2002. Evergreen was a cover of a Westlife album track, but Anything Is Possible was a new tune co-written by Cathy Dennis, who also penned Toxic for Britney and Can't Get You Out of my Head for Kylie. The single sold over 1.1 million copies in its first week on sale and is still the fastest-selling debut single ever. The single spent three weeks at the summit and now has over 1.81 million sales. See where all of Will Young's UK singles and albums have charted. 5: I Will Always Love You – Whitney Houston The highest lady on our love ballad countdown is the late, great Whitney Houston. Taken from the hugely successful soundtrack of the hit movie The Bodyguard, in which Houston starred, I Will Always Love You spent 10 weeks at the top was 1992's Official Christmas Number 1. It's well known the song was a cover of a Dolly Parton track that never charted in the UK. Two further versions have made the Top 40: a dance reinterpretation by Sarah Washington hit Number 12 in 1993, and Pop Idol finalist Rik Waller went Top 10 with his rendition in 2002. Whitney's still the one to beat, though: her version has sold 1.64 million copies. Other notable entries Céline Dion is the only star to snare two spots on our Top 20, cementing her place as the queen of love songs. Titanic-soundtracking My Heart Will Go On is her biggest, sailing into sixth place with 1.58 million sales. Bonus fact: My Heart Will Go On came out exactly 20 years ago this week! Not too far behind is Think Twice, Céline's first chart-topper, with 1.37 million sales at 8, one place behind Jennifer Rush's The Power of Love, which Céline herself would later cover. Gareth Gates's 2002 version of Unchained Melody, which actually deposed Will Young from Number 1, comes in eighth with 1.35 million sales, while the highest placed song not to reach Number 1 at all is John Legend's All Of Me, also the most recent track in our countdown. It passed a million sales in 2015 – it's now on 1.25 million. The only female group to make the Top 20 is the Spice Girls, with 1996's Christmas chart-topper 2 Become 1 on 1.14 million sales. And just outside our Top 20, we have a few more million-selling ballads worthy of a mention: Unchained Melody makes yet another appearance, this time from original hitmakers the Righteous Brothers – thanks to its inclusion on '90s movie Ghost, while Take That make another showing at 22 with Rule The World, from the film Stardust. Also bubbling under are classics from Atomic Kitten, with Whole Again (23) and Kylie and Jason's duet Especially For You (24). Adele's Make You Feel My Love comes in 25th. Play those to us and, yes, we will marry you. The Official Top 20 biggest selling love ballads ever in the UK appear below. Click here to listen to a playlist of the songs on Spotify, and here if you're on Deezer. TRACK ARTIST YEAR 1 LOVE IS ALL AROUND WET WET WET 1994 (1,900,000) 2 UNCHAINED MELODY/(THERE'LL BE BLUEBIRDS OVER) THE WHITE CLIFFS OF DOVER ROBSON GREEN & JEROME FLYNN 1995 (1,870,000) 3 (EVERYTHING I DO) I DO IT FOR YOU BRYAN ADAMS 1991 (1,860,000) 4 ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE/EVERGREEN WILL YOUNG 2002 (1,810,000) 5 I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU WHITNEY HOUSTON 1992 (1,640,000) 6 MY HEART WILL GO ON CELINE DION 1998 (1,580,000) 7 THE POWER OF LOVE JENNIFER RUSH 1985 8 THINK TWICE CELINE DION 1994 (1,380,000) 9 UNCHAINED MELODY GARETH GATES 2002 (1,350,000) 10 JUST THE WAY YOU ARE (AMAZING) BRUNO MARS 2010 11 ALL OF ME JOHN LEGEND 2014 (1,250,000) 12 ANGELS ROBBIE WILLIAMS 1997 13 THINKING OUT LOUD ED SHEERAN 2014 14 I DON'T WANT TO MISS A THING AEROSMITH 1998 15 DON'T GIVE UP ON US DAVID SOUL 1976 16 NO MATTER WHAT BOYZONE 1998 17 CHASING CARS SNOW PATROL 2006 18 2 BECOME 1 SPICE GIRLS 1996 (1,140,000) 19 BACK FOR GOOD TAKE THAT 1995 20 THAT'S MY GOAL SHAYNE WARD 2005 ©2018 Official Charts Company. All rights reserved. This post has been edited by JCM20: 15th February 2018, 11:02 AM |
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13th February 2018, 05:10 PM
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BuzzJack Enthusiast
Joined: 31 December 2007
Posts: 1,189 User: 5,152
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QUOTE I messaged the OCC and apparently Think Twice, Bleeding Love, Someone like You and I Just Called to Say I Love You are not Valentine's Day-appropriate. Hence their exclusion. 8 THINK TWICE CELINE DION 1994 (1,380,000) Seems they have changed their mind. ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE/EVERGREEN (1,810,000) seems too high compared to the sales given in September 2017. (1,795,213 in Sept. 2017) ALL OF ME (1,250,000) should be rounded up to 1.26m. (1,259,708 in Sept. 2017) This post has been edited by ben08: 13th February 2018, 05:11 PM |
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13th February 2018, 05:49 PM
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 there's nothing straight about plump Elvis
Pronouns: they/any
Joined: 21 January 2016 Posts: 13,144 User: 22,895 
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Cringe at All Of Me being in this list...basic and sappy >.<
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