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Posted by: nirvanamusic 20th August 2017, 12:11 PM

The Best Selling Boyband in Britain at year end with both singles/albums sales combined since 1988 are:

I've placed a #1 to show largest yearly total by group and how it changed hands over years and where it currently sits.
In bold is highlighted the huge impressive achievement of over 3 million records sold in the year.

1988: Bros - 2,003,000
1989: Bros - 637,000
1990: New Kids on the Block - 2,100,000
1991: Color Me Badd - 556,600
1992: Take That - 983,500
1993: Take That - 2,137,000
1994: East 17 - 1,933,400
1995: Take That - 2,020,000
1996: Boyzone - 2,070,000
1997: Backstreet Boys - 1,670,000
1998: Boyzone - 3,100,000
1999: Boyzone - 3,186,860
2000: Westlife - 3,084,643
2001: Westlife - 2,360,000
2002: Blue - 2,200,000
2003: Busted - 2,069,000
2004: Busted - 1,190,000
2005: Westlife - 1,630,000
2006: Take That - 1,850,000
2007: Take That - 2,416,521
2008: Take That - 2,711,766
2009: Take That - 2,238,970
2010: Take That - 3,015,311
2011: JLS - 1,387,700
2012: One Direction - 1,975,400
2013: One Direction - 2,651,750
2014: One Direction - 1,048,500
2015: One Direction - 1,132,500
2016: One Direction - 701,500
2017: CNCO - 779,500
2018: 5 Seconds Of Summer - 689,000
2019: Jonas Brothers - 760,000
2020: BTS - 420,000

Biggest Boyband in Britain by years:

1.Take That: 8 years
2.One Direction: 5 years
3=Boyzone/Westlife: 3 years

Bros/Busted: 2 years
Backstreet Boys/Blue/BTS/CNCO/Color Me Badd/East 17/JLS/Jonas Brothers/New Kids On The Block/5 Seconds Of Summer: 1 year

It's interesting to see the balance between some mainstay boyband leaders over years and also the newcomers who throw a spanner in the works every few years!!

Longest continuous run as yearly biggest boyband: Take That & One Direction (5 years)

Top 10 biggest years:

1.Boyzone - 3,186,860 (1999)
2.Boyzone - 3,100,000 (1998)
3.Westlife - 3,084,643 (2000)
4.Take That - 3,015,311 (2010)
5.Take That - 2,711,766 (2008)
6.One Direction - 2,651,750 (2013)
7.Take That - 2,416,521 (2007)
8.Westlife - 2,360,000 (2001)
9.Take That - 2,238,970 (2009)
10.Blue - 2,200,000 (2002)

Peak boyband years in Britain since 1988: 1998 - 2002 and then again 2007 - 2010.

Peak Year For Boyband Year End Leaders:

Backstreet Boys: 1997
Blue: 2002
Boyzone: 1999
Bros: 1988
BTS: 2020
Busted: 2003
CNCO: 2017
Color Me Badd: 1991
East 17: 1994
JLS: 2010
Jonas Brothers: 2019
New Kids On The Block: 1990
One Direction: 2013
Take That: 2010
Westlife: 2000
5 Seconds Of Summer: 2018

Lowest 10 years:

1.BTS - 420,000 (2020)
2.Color Me Badd - 556,600 (1991)
3.Bros - 637,000 (1989)
4.5 Seconds Of Summer - 689,000 (2018)
5.One Direction - 701,500 (2016)
6.Jonas Brothers - 760,000 (2019)
7.CNCO - 779,500 (2017)
8.Take That - 983,500 (1992)
9.One Direction - 1,048,500 (2014)
10.One Direction - 1,132,500 (2015)

Lowest boyband years in Britain since 1988: 1991 - 1992 and then again 2014 - 2020.

By Decade (most years top yearly act):

80's: Bros: 2 years
90's: Boyzone/Take That: 3 years
00's: Take That: 4 years
10's: One Direction: 5 years

Years by nationality of top boyband (note One Direction count for both UK/Ireland & CNCO count for Cuba/Dominican Republic/Ecuador/Mexico/Puerto Rico)

UK: 18
Ireland: 11
USA: 4
Australia: 1
Cuba: 1
Dominican Republic: 1
Ecuador: 1
Mexico: 1
Puerto Rico: 1
South Korea: 1

To throw it in, here are the second biggest boyband acts per year (1988 onwards) some miles behind whilst others missed being top by a whisker!

1988: Brother Beyond - 631,000
1989: New Kids on the Block - 592,000
1990: Bros - 200,000
1991: New Kids on the Block - 220,000
1992: Boyz II Men - 537,300
1993: East 17 - 725,000
1994: Take That - 1,340,500
1995: Boyzone - 1,550,000
1996: Take That - 1,740,000
1997: Hanson - 1,220,000
1998: Five - 1,560,000
1999: Westlife - 2,202,814
2000: Backstreet Boys - 712,165
2001: Blue - 1,290,000
2002: Westlife - 1,790,000
2003: Westlife - 1,229,000
2004: McFly - 910,000
2005: McFly - 931,500
2006: Westlife - 1,420,000
2007: Westlife - 1,395,233
2008: Westlife - 441,004
2009: JLS - 1,873,500
2010: JLS - 1,903,958
2011: The Wanted - 1,342,000
2012: Lawson - 421,500
2013: The Vamps - 237,750
2014: 5 Seconds Of Summer - 604,000
2015: Take That - 360,000
2016: The Vamps - 200,000
2017: Take That - 217,250
2018: Take That - 231,290
2019: Westlife - 331,200
2020: Jonas Brothers - 400,000

Group most years as runner up:

1.Westlife: 7 years
2.Take That: 5 years
3=JLS/McFly/New Kids On The Block/The Vamps: 2 years

Backstreet Boys/Blue/Boyz II Men/Boyzone/Bros/Brother Beyond/Five/Hanson/Jonas Brothers/Lawson/The Wanted/5 Seconds Of Summer: 1 year

Longest continuous run as yearly runner up boyband: Westlife (3 years)

By Decade (most years runner up yearly act):

80's: Brother Beyond/New Kids on The Block: 1 year
90's: Take That: 2 years
00's: Westlife: 5 years
10's: Take That: 3 years
20's: Jonas Brothers: 1 year

* For TT solo Fans Gary, Mark and Robbie's top solo combined sales year are below:

2013: Gary Barlow: 749,750
1996: Mark Owen: 306,165
1998: Robbie Williams: 3,633,000

Posted by: nirvanamusic 20th August 2017, 04:18 PM

Color Me Badd needn't worry though as it's looking like this year will be the lowest highest selling boyband act since 1991. In the UK charts last year One Direction reached that tally with a farewell single and few album sales of their last album.
5 Seconds of Summer have never really taken off outside of their debut year (2014) and unless there is a sudden boom of acts waiting in the wings and preparing to launch I don't see anyone taking One Direction's spot.

Posted by: nirvanamusic 20th August 2017, 05:07 PM

Just as a side note to the above post I've also done a UK #1's tally (albums/singles) by decade below: I've only posted top three for each decade.

90's

Take That: 11
Boyzone: 10
Westlife: 4

00's

Westlife: 17
McFly: 9
Blue: 6

10's

One Direction: 9
JLS: 4
Take That: 4

Posted by: slowdown73 22nd August 2017, 10:25 PM

What stands out is Take That have two successful era's - during the 90s and 00s when they sold consistently well. None of the other groups have managed to achieve that and are unlikely to ever do so.

Posted by: nirvanamusic 28th August 2017, 07:30 PM

Using the data it would seem that this is Take That's sales per year (lower catalogue sales outside active years 97-04 unknown plus 2013 and 2016):

1991: 50,000 (estimate as only Do What U Like #82 and Promises #38 were released this year and based upon 1991 sales patterns)
1992: 983,500
1993: 2,137,000
1994: 1,340,500
1995: 2,020,000
1996: 1,740,000
2005: 754,862
2006: 1,850,000
2007: 2,416,521
2008: 2,711,766
2009: 2,238,970
2010: 3,015,311
2011: 1,146,700
2012: 65,000
2014: 579,000
2015: 360,000
2017: 217,250
2018: 231,290
2019: 210,000
2020: 60,000

Total records sold in Britain = 24,058,424

Top 10 Take That Years:

1.2010: 3,015,311
2.2008: 2,711,766
3.2007: 2,416,521
4.2009: 2,238,970
5.1993: 2,137,000
6.1995: 2,020,000
7.2006: 1,850,000
8.1996: 1,740,200
9.1994: 1,340,500
10.2011: 1,146,700

Posted by: pippa 29th August 2017, 04:14 PM

The comeback era really has helped them to stand out greatly from all the others.

Posted by: nirvanamusic 1st September 2017, 05:30 PM

Just for any one who may be interested here are the top yearly girlband all sales act since 1988:

I've placed a #1 to show largest yearly total by group and how it changed hands over years and where it currently sits.
In bold is highlighted the huge impressive achievement of over 3 million records sold in the year.

1988: Bananarama - 1,036,000
1989: The Bangles - 892,000
1990: Wilson Philips - 200,000
1991: Wilson Philips - 200,000
1992: En Vogue - 300,000
1993: SWV - 288,000
1994: Eternal - 1,454,900
1995: Eternal - 990,000
1996: Spice Girls - 4,740,000
1997: Spice Girls - 4,610,000
1998: Spice Girls - 2,390,000
1999: TLC - 1,205,178
2000: All Saints - 1,456,265
2001: Destiny's Child - 1,700,000
2002: Atomic Kitten - 1,530,000
2003: Sugababes - 1,061,000
2004: Girls Aloud - 780,000
2005: Sugababes - 1,090,000
2006: Girls Aloud - 1,140,000
2007: Sugababes - 1,046,000
2008: Girls Aloud - 1,848,722
2009: Girls Aloud - 1,078,708
2010: The Saturdays - 790,660
2011: Little Mix - 390,600
2012: Little Mix - 817,000
2013: Little Mix - 823,500
2014: Little Mix - 300,000
2015: Little Mix - 1,067,500
2016: Little Mix - 1,800,000
2017: Little Mix - 3,881,250
2018: Little Mix - 900,000
2019: Little Mix - 600,000
2020: Little Mix - 1,000,000

Top 10 biggest years:

1. Spice Girls - 4,740,000 (1996)
2. Spice Girls - 4,610,000 (1997)
3. Little Mix - 3,881,250 (2017)
4. Spice Girls - 2,390,000 (1998)
5. Girls Aloud - 1,848,722 (2008)
6. Little Mix - 1,800,000 (2016)
7. Destiny's Child - 1,700,000 (2001)
8. Atomic Kitten - 1,530,000 (2002)
9. All Saints - 1,456,265 (2000)
10. Eternal - 1,454,900 (1994)

Peak girlband years in Britain since 1988: 1996 - 1998, 2000 - 2002 and 2016 - 2017

Most continuous run as yearly biggest girlband: Little Mix (10 years)

Lowest 10 years:

1= Wilson Phillips - 200,000 (1990/1991)
3. SWV - 288,000 (1993)
4= En Vogue/Little Mix - 300,000 (1992/2014)
6. Little Mix - 390,600 (2011)
7. Little Mix - 600,000 (2019)
8. Girls Aloud - 780,000 (2004)
9. The Saturdays - 790,660 (2010)
10. Little Mix - 817,000 (2012)

Lowest girlband years in Britain since 1988: 1990 - 1993 and 2010 - 2012, 2014 and 2019.

By Decade (most years top yearly act):

80's: Bananarama/The Bangles: 1 year
90's: Spice Girls: 3 years
00's: Girls Aloud: 4 years
10's: Little Mix: 9 years
20's: Little Mix: 1 year.

Biggest girlband in Britain by years:

1.Little Mix: 10 years
2.Girls Aloud: 4 years
3=Spice Girls/Sugababes: 3 years

Eternal/Wilson Philips: 2 years
All Saints/Atomic Kitten/Bananarama/The Bangles/Destiny's Child/En Vogue/The Saturdays/SWV/TLC : 1 year

Posted by: pippa 1st September 2017, 07:58 PM

Interesting post once again from you nirvanamusic.

Do you have the sales information on Gary and Marks solo work?

Posted by: nirvanamusic 2nd September 2017, 02:23 PM

Gary Barlow

1996: 300,000
1997: 590,000
1999: Would be a low estimate based on chart year patterns
2010: 185,300
2011: 43,700
2012: 514,200
2013: 749,750
2014: 357,000

Total records sold in Britain = 2,739,950

Mark Owen

1996: 306,165
1997: 180,000
2003: 80,000
2004: Would be a low estimate based on chart year patterns
2005: Would be a low estimate based on chart year patterns
2013: Would be a low estimate based on chart year patterns

Total records sold in Britain = 566,165

Posted by: Feel_The_Fever 2nd September 2017, 09:40 PM

Marks overall sales are very disappointing and he he has released some really good stuff.

Posted by: nirvanamusic 3rd September 2017, 02:45 PM

Delete

Posted by: MoistSummerFruit 3rd September 2017, 05:08 PM

Had no idea boring manufactured cheesecoverband Westlife in 00 were as big as the much better Take That with their revival or that Boyzone were bigger back in t day!!$

Posted by: Feel_The_Fever 3rd September 2017, 08:16 PM

When Westlife where big they were big. Credit to Westlife for staying together so long as usually all the boybands break much sooner than they did. Id say its only a matter of time before they do a reunion tour at the least as none of them have had big solo success.

Take That, they would have had a lot of mileage had they not split but looking back it was good as it paved the pay for the almighty return.

Posted by: nirvanamusic 3rd September 2017, 09:55 PM

Westlife were definitely a force in their day and I've always said they were a good pop band 99-02 however all those covers and covers albums really were lazy throughout their career and not much variety from them for me.

The year Take That overtook Boyzone first and then Westlife to become the biggest boyband in Britain are below:

Take That - 13,292,383: 2007 (They were a fraction below Boyzone end of 2006 sales)
Boyzone - 11,819,377: 2007

Maybe this in part inspired the 2008 comeback of Boyzone?

Take That - 18,243,119: 2009 (They were a fraction below Westlife end of 2008 sales)
Westlife - 16,999,149: 2009

So counting from their 2005 return it took them 3 years to overtake Boyzone and 5 years to overtake Westlife and then put distance between them.

People are always surprised Boyzone were the highest selling boyband in Britain for the 90's and I think it's because they were initially primarily known as being very much in Take That's shadow for the first few years of their existence.
They rose alongside the international late 90's boyband boom of Backstreet Boys, Hanson and NSYNC in America and Boyzone and Westlife in Britain. People also forget that 'No Matter What' outsold 'Back For Good' and that Boyzone also had two albums sell higher than Take That's highest seller in 1998 and 1999.
Without sounding biased (!) I knew Boyzone and Westlife were huge in record sales however I don't think they had the same hysteria or acclaim that Take That did. The Spice Girls majorly burst new ground for pop sales from 1996 onwards and Boyzone and Westlife being the premier boybands benefitted from this although with far less sales. Boyzone year sales peak 3.1 million, Westlife 3 million however the Spice Girls rose to 4.7 million in 1996. Robbie's highest yearly solo records tally was 3.6 million in 1998.
I believe this is when the sales for pop acts rose in Britain as a result of the Spice Girls dominance and tally possibly. By the late 90's boybands were also a well oiled and marketed machine able to capitalise from first singe like Westlife and no mistakes like in Take Take and East 17's initial floundering beginnings.

Posted by: jay727 5th September 2017, 10:39 PM

Extremely interesting! Thanks so much for this Nirvana - greatly appreciated

Posted by: Spiceboy 26th September 2017, 02:30 PM

QUOTE(nirvanamusic @ Sep 1 2017, 06:30 PM)

Posted by: nirvanamusic 26th September 2017, 09:25 PM

1999

First: TLC - 1,205,178
Runner Up: B*Witched - 979,723
Third: Spice Girls - 453,400

1999:

Geri Halliwell - 1,317,582
Melanie C - 766,734
Spice Girls - 453,400
Emma Bunton - 219,455

2000:

Melanie C - 1,362,840
Spice Girls - 474,190
Geri Halliwell - 424,090
Victoria Beckham - 395,141
Melanie B - 159,000

Posted by: Spiceboy 26th September 2017, 10:16 PM

Thank you!

I forgot all about B*Witched they were massive, didn't they have like 4 or 5 #1 singles?

How embarrassing that they only just managed to outdo their 1999 sales in 2000 despite having a new single and album out It is interesting to see how they basically sold just short of another million records in 1999 and 2000 despite barely doing anything as a group. The interest was still there, the girls just didn't have the desire to keep working to build on it anymore. Such a shame.

Geri and Melanie really were massive for a short while as well weren't they.

Posted by: Feel_The_Fever 27th September 2017, 12:31 AM

I think the problem with B*Witched was the material on the 2nd single just didnt connect with people and wasnt nearly as good as their debut album. While the 2nd album did ok they got dropped quiet harshly and werent really given the opportunity to do a third album anywhere. From that side of things they were hard done by but i think the girls themselves werent really seeing eye to eye which didnt help.

Posted by: pippa 27th September 2017, 09:17 PM

Cest La Vie is the song i will always remember them for. While they had a few numbers 1's i honestly don't remember any other song from them.

Posted by: Spiceboy 16th October 2017, 12:18 AM

QUOTE(pippa @ Sep 27 2017, 10:17 PM)

Posted by: nirvanamusic 2nd February 2018, 01:47 PM

Little Mix selling 3.8 million last calendar year is amazing and would easily be at the top of the boyband yearly tally which is headed by Boyzone at 3.1 million sold in a year from 1999 and above Robbie's biggest year which was 1998 and 3.6 million sold and Take That's biggest in 2010 with 3 million sold. They have also gone far past One Directions biggest yearly UK tally which was 2.6 million sold during 2013.

As it stands it is the third largest yearly tally for a girlband behind two blockbuster years from the Spice Girls 4.7 million in 1996 and 4.6 million in 1997.
Spice Girls currently stand on 13.1 million records sold in the UK though don't sell on previous catalogue sales at all rarely adding to this huge tally.
Girls Aloud are sitting on 8.5 million and are similar to Spice Girls with rare sales activity. Little Mix this year overtaking Girls Aloud to go second biggest selling girlband in UK history with 9.6 million total UK sales.

3.5 million sales behind the Spice Girls it would take a few more years of this kind of success to match up and then do the unthinkable knock the Spice Girls down into second biggest selling girlband ever in British history. I think that last year maybe feels like Little Mix peak in my opinion however on steady sales for a few more years they could possibly do it.

Posted by: nirvanamusic 18th February 2018, 09:46 AM

In terms of album/singles breakdown the top 10 in UK sales looks like this:

Albums

1. Take That - 13.8 m
2. Westlife - 12 m
3. Boyzone - 6 m
4. One Direction - 4.2 m
5. Blue - 3.3 m
6. The Monkees - 2.9 m
7. JLS - 2.8 m
8. Bay City Rollers - 2.5 m
9. Busted - 2.4 m
10. East 17 - 1.8 m

Singles

1. One Direction - 12.7 m
2. Take That - 10.6 m
3. Westlife - 7.2 m
4. Boyzone - 7.1 m
5. JLS - 4.1 m
6. Backstreet Boys - 3.3 m
7. Bay City Rollers - 3 m
8. Five - 2.4 m
9. The Wanted - 2 m
10. The Monkees - 1.9 m

Overall Top 10 best selling boybands for the UK:

1. Take That - 24.4 m
2. Westlife - 19 m
3. One Direction - 14.9 m
4. Boyzone - 13.1 m
5. JLS - 6.9 m
6. Bay City Rollers - 5.5 m
7. Backstreet Boys - 4.9 m
8. The Monkees - 4.8 m
9. Blue - 4.3 m
10. Five - 4 m

Also rans: East 17 - 3.6m / McFly - 3.4 m / Busted 3.4 m.

Those top 4 are like they'd say in football 'the big four' truly are amazing sales to go over 10 million overall sales in the UK is unprecedented. Those big four are interchangeable in both singles/albums split showing a true overall dominance across both formats.
To put it into context in the United States sales over 10 million of any album is diamond (and quite rare) so granted these are combined UK sales but still these four boybands have truly sold in amazing terms in Britain. So Take That have sold the equivalent of 2 US diamond albums (10 mill) plus one 3x Platinum (3 mill)!!!

If those UK sales as they stand were actually American TT would be lauded and held as one of the most successful acts of their time. 10 mill singles and over 13 mill albums that's far more than the UK band Bush sold in America and they are considered the UK success rock act of the 90's in America. This shows how phenomenal these UK sales truly are. Had TT been able to actually replicate this UK success in America or even half of it Stateside as well they would have shot up in sales globally.

Take That are the only boyband to have gone over 10 million UK sales in both albums and singles no other boyband has achieved that.

For anyone wondering about Take That in pure 90's sales they were in the combined 7 million area and would have placed in 4th overall had they not come back in 2006. They have put distance between themselves and Westlife having overtaken WL sales in 2009 to go into #1.

Time will tell with regard to the future Westlife and One Direction reunions: Westlife at present would need 4.5 million sales which is a lot less than where Take That were in 2006 in playing catch up and One Direction 8.8 million. One Direction have blown up single sales (the leaders) however their album sales are good but not up their with TT/WL and this is what hampers them in sales.
It's unfortunate the latest TT album hasn't sold Platinum or Giants hasn't gone silver considering it's used in background music often on television so hopefully these will go in time and push a further gap whilst both those groups are inactive.

In further analysis Blue and Busted were hindered by the times as despite strong album sales the period 2003 - 2005 is often regarded as the lowest selling period for singles due to the decline of physicals and the changeover to digital. This explaining why neither have made the top ten on the singles list. These two bands also used TV promo appearances to perform album tracks to a wider audience when others stick to the singles. Blue even performed an album track at The Brits which kick started that particular albums sales again.

Backstreet Boys have always been promoted as a singles act in Britain from the beginning hence their high singles standing. Despite global smash albums they were never pushed in Britain and are surprising actually quite low. It's only since their decline in singles success and being on an independent label 2007 onwards that the albums are now being promoted in Britain however only to current minimal sale returns.

Five and The Wanted were both single success driven with The Wanted album sales being really quite poor and minimal when compared to their single sales. They never appeared to promote their albums even in the UK and such were returned with apt sales returns. The Saturdays girlband were exactly the same truly identical to The Wanted here's an album if you want it but let's churn out the singles. If the artist isn't truly passionate about an album the fans are less likely either and casuals certainly won't be.
Five actually produced good albums but were very singles focussed especially as they had to wait years before actually topping the singles chart after falling just short so many times. It would appear most of their attention went onto the single releases.

Both The Monkees and Bay City Rollers had tremendous success however in a very short time space shorter than Take That, Boyzone, Westlife or One Direction. The fact they remain in the top ten lists for both shows how highly concentrated their success was. Telling for the times perhaps the fact unlike some groups they appear in both lists show fans supported all product both albums and singles. The Monkees especially chalked those sales over just 1-2 years in their UK height of popularity 1967-1968 and Bay City Rollers were also high selling during 1974-1976. They both potentially could have gone higher if they had the commercial longevity given to later boyband groups which had expanded to a now average of 6 years high commercial success.
This makes sense as if you triple both those groups sales they would both be around the current top four sales.

Posted by: jay727 18th February 2018, 09:51 AM

Fascinating to read! Thanks Nirvana! Just shows the staying power of Take That, with hopefully many more sales to come!

Posted by: nirvanamusic 5th January 2019, 01:53 PM

First page post updated

Posted by: Spiceboy 5th January 2019, 05:41 PM

QUOTE(nirvanamusic @ Feb 2 2018, 01:47 PM)

Posted by: nirvanamusic 1st January 2020, 10:03 AM

First page post updated.