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Posted by: Gezza 24th April 2017, 07:05 PM

Hello All,

I know how much this forum loves its female acts so what better way to celebrate the success of the ladies of pop than with the ultimate rundown of the best selling female acts of 1980-2013?

I've chosen to end the tally in 2013 as this is before "Streaming" comes into the chart equation and makes estimating much harder in terms of "pure sales". The list is based on singles sales only.

As with all my rundowns here an act will be credited with the total sales of a track if they are individually credited on a track even as a named feature act.

To accompany each post I'll try to find a video which shows most of not all of their discography along with my personal fave from that act.

Finally the top positions will probably be well known but please no spoilers- the fun is in the rundown as they say.

My tallies may differ from the OCC as I use the Gallup figures for 1983-1994 and the figures of the time for the 1994-1996 period which occasionally differ from the OCC tallies used.

Thanks as always go to OCC, Gallup, MW, MFR, Haven, and youtube.

As always the success of a thread depends on you so participation is encouraged!

Posted by: Ne Plus Ultra 24th April 2017, 07:13 PM

Looking forward to this.

Posted by: UltraGreenLight 24th April 2017, 07:33 PM

Yasssss!!! Hyped and ready, love your countdowns Gezza and love the theme of this one!

Posted by: Jade 🐱 24th April 2017, 07:39 PM

Ooh a wild new Gezza countdown *.* consider me hyped for this!

Posted by: cqmerqn 24th April 2017, 07:45 PM

Wonder if Ellie will make the top 100.

Posted by: T Boy in Weeyals 24th April 2017, 07:58 PM

Looks great. Love these threads, always dig up some forgotten gems.

Posted by: GTH 24th April 2017, 08:23 PM

Looking forward to seeing where Janet Jackson ends up

Posted by: Tippin Virginia 24th April 2017, 08:33 PM

bet the Spicey Ones are waaay down.

Posted by: danG 24th April 2017, 08:41 PM

the lounge is a better place to discuss the weird adverts you're seeing post edited

Posted by: garyfeld 25th April 2017, 01:39 PM

Well, we all know who number 1 will be...but will be great to see the Top 5!

Posted by: Gezza 25th April 2017, 04:48 PM

OK Let's get some facts on the board-

All of our ladies have breached the 1 million mark in singles sales in the UK. (there's actually 106 females who have sold that figure in the time frame covered here)

Each post will contain the total number of hits they've had in the period (Top 75 hits only) and won't include any re-entries or remixes unless the original was before 1980. The acts individual best seller (to the end of 2013) will also be listed and their years active as a hit maker.

Are we all ready?

Posted by: Rob Spears 25th April 2017, 05:13 PM

Yes

Posted by: Gezza 25th April 2017, 05:45 PM

100. SAM FOX (1,073,000)



14 HITS 1986-1998

BIGGEST HIT: TOUCH ME ( I WANT YOUR BODY)

Who had Sam Fox pegged for a place on this list? From Page 3 pin up to sexy songstress and onto Stock Aitken & Waterman, Sam Fox had it all back in the 80s with enough fame to make her a household name. Come the 90s and the hits dried up with an attempt at a dance makeover proving a damp squib in 98, since then she’s kept her name in the limelight with regular spots on various reality shows.



Personal highlight:

Posted by: Gezza 25th April 2017, 05:54 PM

99. CIARA (1,102,800)



12 HITS 2005-2013

BIGGEST HIT: LOVE SEX AND MAGIC

Labelled as the first Queen of “Crunk & B” (remember that) Ciara arrived in the pop world with a debut chart topper in “Goodies” in early 2005 whilst we were in the midst of THOSE Elvis re-issues and fixating over who got the 1000th No 1. She was last seen in the top 40 on the 2009 with Justin Timberlake and we’ve seemingly lost interest in her since then…..



Personal Highlight

Posted by: danG 25th April 2017, 06:00 PM

I do like a fair bit of Ciaras hits, Goodies and 1 2 Step are great crunk anthems. Personal fave is Get Up which was used in the Step Up film but wasn't a hit single sadly.

Posted by: Jade 25th April 2017, 06:04 PM

I hadn't heard of Sam Fox until her stint on I'm A Celeb not sure I am familiar with any of her songs.

Ciara isn't exactly a favourite but she does have a few good songs in her repertoire! Very commercial choice but I think my favourite by her is 'Goodies' glad that the Elvis re-issues didn't get in the way of that going to #1.

Posted by: liamk97 25th April 2017, 06:12 PM

My favourite from Ciara is probably 'Work' with Missy Elliot. 'Goodies' and '1 2 Step' are Noughties staple club hits and I love 'Love. Sex. Magic' and 'Takin' Back My Love' too.

Posted by: PeaceMob 25th April 2017, 07:06 PM

Ciara's "Goodies", great No 1 tune and it still holds up today. Ciara's had quite a few songs that missed the top 40 chart but should have been bigger e.g. "I Bet", "Work".

Posted by: JosephStyles🐶 25th April 2017, 07:15 PM

Ciara is fantastic and very underrated I think! My personal favourite is I'm Out

Posted by: 360Jupiter 25th April 2017, 07:52 PM

Love, Sex and Magic is Ciara's biggest hit? That surprises me given her string of success back in 05-06...I guess sales were lower then, though?

Posted by: Gezza 25th April 2017, 08:02 PM

Yes much lower!

Posted by: liamk97 25th April 2017, 08:07 PM

Believe it or not, but 'Goodies' hasn't even passed 200k yet!

Posted by: Ne Plus Ultra 25th April 2017, 08:44 PM

Ciara is awful.

Loved Samantha Fox though.

Posted by: danG 25th April 2017, 10:09 PM

Has '1, 2 Step' passed it? That seemed to have a better chart run than 'Goodies' although didn't peak at number one.

Posted by: GTH 25th April 2017, 10:31 PM

It is a shame the general public lost interest in her after Love Sex Magic. Jackie was one of my top albums of 2015, with I Bet being in my top 10 singles.

Posted by: Jamie Barkley 26th April 2017, 09:38 AM

Can't say I have had much exposure to Sam Fox (musically, there's plenty of other exposure out there I'm sure) outside of her big hit. Though I do enjoy 'Touch Me' for what it is - a slightly trashy but undeniably catchy slice of 80's pop.

Ciara strikes me as objectively more talented than her immediate obvious competition, Rihanna. I guess it's kind of a Britney/Christina tale five years later, in a different genre, with a much bigger gap in career fortunes between the more and less successful act. And I do remember Ciara being very much the big buzzed about new thing for a few months in 2005 before all the hype just seemed to disappear. Still, she's trucking on bless her, and 'Jackie' was probably her personal best for me. Solo wise, I'd go with 'I Bet' as my favourite single of hers though overall 'Lose Control' with Missy Elliott & Fatman Scoop just pips it.

Posted by: Jamie Barkley 26th April 2017, 09:49 AM

I'd forgotten all about those Elvis re-issues clogging up the chart in early 2005 (and people complain about Ed!), that was a very frustrating time. Whilst I'm still pleased 'Goodies' managed to make it, I'd sacrifice it's number one status for the vastly superior 'Only U' if I could.

Posted by: danG 26th April 2017, 10:27 AM

I have to agree the Elvis situation there was even more ridiculous than Ed's album clogging the singles chart. Singles sales being really low too and songs having ridiculously short chart runs would make 2005 a really frustrating time to follow the chart (what did CoolClarity make of it all Doctor Blind?)

Posted by: liamk97 26th April 2017, 11:57 AM

Yeah, passed in February 2016. It sold 106k in 2005 whereas 'Goodies' sold 83k.

I feel like 'Goodies' can't be far off by now. I've always found that more memorable than '1 2 Step', which I hadn't even heard until a couple of years ago or so.

Posted by: Jamie Barkley 26th April 2017, 11:59 AM

That said, without the Elvis covers, I think we would have had Manic Street Preachers dropping from like 1-21 in one week.

Posted by: danG 26th April 2017, 12:07 PM

Would have been 1-24 (they dropped 2-26). The state of the top of the charts then really was dire. If only streaming had been invented then there'd have been no need for these Elvis re-issues and we'd have had songs like 'Goodies' and 'Galvanize' spending multiple weeks at number one.

Posted by: Jamie Barkley 26th April 2017, 01:54 PM

I guess it's impossible to ever know for sure, but I do often find myself wondering how the 2000's charts would have looked with the current chart system.

Posted by: danG 26th April 2017, 02:08 PM

all the be there gone tomorrow hits would have missed the top 40 (including quite a few top 10s) and the biggest hits would have spent much longer in the chart, well even in 2005 we were starting to see some long runners (hi James Blunt and your 28 T40 weeks with 'You're Beautiful').

Posted by: Gezza 26th April 2017, 05:13 PM

98. BARBARA DICKSON (1,106,000)



4 HITS 1980-1985

BIGGEST HIT: I KNOW HIM SO WELL

Becoming famous in the 70s as a regular singer on the “Two Ronnies” Dickson has conducted a career which is already familiar in this thread namely actress and musician and writer. She started out as a folk singer before moving through the charts and onto the stage and TV starring in “Band Of Gold” in the 90s though most still recall her for “I Know Him So Well”, her only chart topper.

Posted by: Gezza 26th April 2017, 05:20 PM

97. TIFFANY (1,112,000)



6 HITS 1988-1989

BIGGEST HIT: I THINK WE’RE ALONE NOW

Famous for that big sweater on TOTP, rising to fame via touring shopping mall’s, and having an awful relationship with her mother, teenage Tiffany was clearly troubled. She did however have a great 1988 in a year when a host of teenager female soloists broke through, “I Think We’re Alone Now” has become something of a cult classic now.



Personal highlight:

Posted by: Gezza 26th April 2017, 05:24 PM

96. SINEAD O’CONNOR (1,128,000)



16 HITS 1988-2007

BIGGEST HIT: NOTHING COMPARES 2 U

Much more famous now for her outspoken views (and writing letters to Miley Cyrus) and ripping up pictures of the pope, O’Connor certainly retains one of the most distinctive voices in pop. Her rendition of Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U” launched briefly into the big time topping charts on both sides of the Atlantic but she proved a bit too controversial for US audiences.

Posted by: vibe 26th April 2017, 05:57 PM

Can't wait to see where Melanie C and Dannii Minogue are!! And for fun Billie Piper

Will all of Nicki Minaj's feats count , if so be interesting to see where she ends up 👍🏻

Posted by: Jamie Barkley 26th April 2017, 06:23 PM

Can't say I know enough about Barbara Dickinson to have an opinion on her.

Tiffany's only good song was "I Think We're Alone Now". Can't say I care for any of her other stuff. The best teen breakout of '88 for me is Debbie Gibson (Kylie would prove her worth later down the line) who definitely had some duds (Out of the Blue, Electric Youth) but also made Foolish Beat which is one of my favourite melodramatic teen break up anthems ever. I'm also guilty of having something of a spot for the ludicrously cheesy but fun Shake Your Love. I'm guessing she won't be making this list though.

Rather like Sam Fox, and I'm sure this is the only way the two could be compared, the only Sinead O'Connor song I know is the one everyone knows. And what a song it is.

Posted by: Jade 26th April 2017, 09:39 PM

I admittedly don't think I am familiar with any other Tiffany songs apart from her smash 'I Think We're Alone Now'. But that song is a total classic! The Girls Aloud version of it was decent too (well, the album version anyway!).

Barbara Dickson I just know as one of those women behind 'I Know Him So Well' and even then I haven't heard the original, I only know that flop Susan Boyle/Geraldine McQueen version :')

'Nothing Compares 2 U' is very overrated, I can appreciate the raw emotion of the video but her vocals are a tad off-putting on the song. I seem to remember 'Mandinka' being quite good when it came on a Now album before though.

Posted by: Jamie Barkley 26th April 2017, 11:20 PM

Is 'Nothing Compares 2 U' near a million sales yet? I imagine it's responsible for a good 3/4 of O'Connor's total there?

Posted by: Gezza 27th April 2017, 07:42 AM

I'd put it somewhere round the 850k Mark but that's a guess

Posted by: Gezza 27th April 2017, 09:03 PM

95. TRACEY ULLMAN (1,129,000)



6 HITS IN 1983-84

BIGGEST HIT: THEY DON’T KNOW

Pop has always been a supplementary career for Ullman having started out in Comedy, a field which saw her launch “The Simpsons” and return to our screens with her own show this year. Indeed her whole pop career lasted just two years during which time she became a staple on TOTP and scoring her biggest hit with a cover of Kirsty MacColl’s “They Don’t Know”.

Posted by: Gezza 27th April 2017, 09:09 PM

94. ANNIE LENNOX (1,132,000)



13 HITS 1988-2009

BIGGEST HIT: NO MORE I LOVE YOU’S

Even without the Eurythmics sales to count Lennox has topped the million mark herself with two hugely successful solo albums in the early 90s to help her out. “Diva” gave her a hat trick of top 10 singles but it was her follow up album “Medusa” which provided her with her biggest solo hit when she covered “No More I Love You’s”. Despite falling out with Dave Stewart she returned to the Eurythmics fold in 1999 albeit temporarily.



Personal highlight:

Posted by: Gezza 27th April 2017, 09:15 PM

93. KATY B (1,149,000)



8 HITS 2010-2013

BIGGEST HIT: LIGHTS ON

OK so she’s scored her biggest hits post 2013 but Katy B’s first album campaign alone sees her qualify here. A graduate from the BRIT school she’d already toured with Tinie Tempah (which would result in a chart topper in 2015) and dueted with Mark Ronson for a Coca Cola advert in her first few years on the scene.



Personal highlight:

Posted by: Jamie Barkley 27th April 2017, 09:16 PM

I've always found 'They Don't Know' to be a charming little record. I like what Ullman does with it as well, she's no world class vocalist but she has a sweet voice that carries her through the track with ease, though I have heard the high-pitched 'Bay-Be' in the middle was still MacColl's original vocal as Ullman wasn't able to hit it. Didn't realize she'd had such a reasonably successful career musically though.

Annie Lennox is an icon of British music, probably our second best female artist after Kate Bush in my view.

Katy B always seems to get a bit lost and looked over when you think of the new British female superstars of the 2010's so I'm glad she's made the list. Adele, Jessie J, Ellie Goulding exct. have been more successful but Katy is my favourite breakout female star of the decade. Crying For No Reason is just exceptional. One of the best pop records of the last decade for sure.

Posted by: Jade 27th April 2017, 09:50 PM

'They Don't Know' by Tracy Ullman was a brilliant discovery from the first ever Now! That's What I Call Music album! It just exudes sweetness and I really like the wedding bell-esque production elements.

I don't know much of Annie Lennox's solo stuff but I like quite a fair amount of her work with Eurythmics. 'Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)' in particular is glorious

Now, finally an artist who I know lots of songs by! I remember Katy debuting in the UK chart with 'Katy On A Mission' and instantly falling in love with that song. Soon came 'Perfect Stranger' with Magnetic Man which was also brilliant, and omnipresent in my household as it was my mum's ringtone for many years She would later top both of these for me with the stunning 'Crying For No Reason', though! 'Little Red' was a great album on the whole actually, with 'Aaliyah', '5am' and 'All My Lovin' being huge highlights as well. Need more music from her soon!

Posted by: 360Jupiter 27th April 2017, 10:08 PM

Very surprised to see that Lights On was Katy B's biggest chart hit pre-Crying For No Reason! I expected Broken Record or even Katy On a Mission... Lights On is a bit more forgettable I think.

As for Tracey Ullman I had no idea that was a woman or a singer, I'd only heard of that person from The Simpsons.

Posted by: The Hit Parade 27th April 2017, 10:31 PM

Things that make me feel old part 94 - people who've only heard of Tracey Ullman because of her connection to the Simpsons.
I could mention that Neil Kinnock was in one of her videos but I don't imagine that will mean much to a Buzzjack audience.

When I went on the radio to talk about my collection of Now albums, they asked me to choose a song from Now 1 to play and I chose 'They Don't Know'. It's genuinely one of my favourite covers ever, because I like the way Ullman uses her limitations as a vocalist as a strength.

Posted by: Riser 28th April 2017, 03:22 AM

Yeah, Lights On had the longest chart run IIRC plus the benefit of a December release, gift card effect etc. And I never knew Tracey had a music career, glad to see I'm not alone

Those chart history videos are a great find! Just watched Katy B's, I'd forgotten how frustrating it was when 5 AM missed the top 10.

Posted by: GTH 28th April 2017, 08:09 AM

I actually thought Annie would be a bit higher in the list, but I guess I don't really know the individual sales for the singles or their chart runs. Got plenty of good solo singles.

Posted by: Gezza 28th April 2017, 05:46 PM

92. SONIQUE (1,154,000)



6 HITS 1998-2003

BIGGEST HIT: FEELS SO GOOD

Finding fame first as a member as S Express in the early 90s (post “Theme From…”) Sonique was first a much sought after DJ before becoming a popstar with initial singles becoming minor hits. After US success “Feels So Good” got a re-issue becoming one of the big dance hits of 2000 and a three week chart topper in the UK (making it an equal longest No 1 in that year) contributing roughly half of her sales total here.

Posted by: Gezza 28th April 2017, 05:49 PM

91. DINA CARROLL (1,190,400)



14 HITS 1991-2001

BIGGEST HIT: DON’T BE A STRANGER

Few thought that Carroll would become a major artist when she arrived in tandem with Quartz in 1991 but her album “So Close” became the first debut album by a UK Female act to sell a million copies. It also yielded six top 30 singles including her biggest “Don’t Be A Stranger”. Future albums weren’t so successful and it all ended chart wise with a greatest hits compilation in 2001.

Posted by: Gezza 28th April 2017, 05:53 PM

90. RANDY CRAWFORD (1,224,000)



12 HITS 1980-1997

BIGGEST HIT: ONE DAY I’LL FLY AWAY

After leading the Crusaders to the top 10 in the 70s with “Streetlife”, Crawford struck out on her own grabbing hits like “You Might Need Somebody” and “Almaz” in the 80s. Her biggest hit remains “One Day I’ll Fly Away” which of course was used as the John Lewis advert in a cover by Vaults.

Posted by: vibe 28th April 2017, 08:11 PM

Remembers Dina Carrolls Escaping

Posted by: Gezza 29th April 2017, 01:56 PM

89. SOPHIE ELLIS BEXTOR (1,252,000)



11 HITS 2001-2010

BIGGEST HIT: MURDER ON THE DANCEFLOOR

Who can forget when Spiller kept Victoria Beckham from making No 1 in 2000, although Bextor went uncredited on the single it helped to transform her from Indie singer (with theaudience) into a popstress and 2001’s “Read My Lips” saw her consolidate her position at pop’s top table. She returned to her dance roots toward the decade end when she hooked up with the Freemasons to keep the hits coming.

Discography:



Personal highlight:

Posted by: Gezza 29th April 2017, 02:01 PM

88. ELAINE PAIGE (1,256,000)



6 HITS 1981-1998

BIGGEST HIT: I KNOW HIM SO WELL

Her lead role in “Evita” in 1978 brought Paige to public recognition and so it follows that her two biggest hits are from musicals, “Memory” from “Cats” and “I Know Him So Well” from “Chess”. The latter remains the best selling single ever by a female duo with sales of over 850k.

Posted by: Gezza 29th April 2017, 02:04 PM

87. DUFFY (1,264,000)



6 HITS 2008-2010

BIGGEST HIT: MERCY

Remember back in 2008 when Duffy was IT! Grammy’s and BRITS followed her million selling album “Rockferry” and she looked like a long term star. Quite where it all went wrong is a matter for debate….Was it that Coke ad? The disastrous second album and/ or lead single “Well, well, well”, whatever it was it did the trick and she’s never made another album.

Posted by: danG 29th April 2017, 03:37 PM

I think it was Whale Whale Whale that ended it for her. If she had came back with something like Rolling In The Deep the Coke ad would've been forgotten about.

Posted by: peterdav2000 29th April 2017, 04:26 PM

Check out Sinead O'Connor's 1988 minor hit Mandinka. It is a fantastic song!

Posted by: Dmdr 29th April 2017, 05:01 PM

Is this these artists total UK sales? As if it is I was expecting much more from several of these artists.

Posted by: Gezza 29th April 2017, 05:04 PM

Total UK single sales to the end of 2013 yes.

Posted by: Dmdr 29th April 2017, 05:07 PM

Oh I see, that makes much more sense now.

Posted by: mdh 29th April 2017, 05:12 PM

Is it bad that I genuinely have no idea who #1 will be :')

Posted by: mdh 29th April 2017, 05:15 PM

Omg Sonique I recall hearing It Feels So Good on the radio in 2003 when I was in Year 1 and I fell in love with it then :')

Posted by: Gezza 29th April 2017, 05:47 PM

No it just surely makes the rundown all the better for you to follow!

Posted by: sammy01 29th April 2017, 06:50 PM

Streaming wasn't introduced in 2013 was it?

Posted by: Gezza 29th April 2017, 06:56 PM

No Streaming wasn't introduced until the start of 2014 and that's why 2013 was picked as it easier to estimate paid for sales.

The rest of your post has been edited by me as it constituted a spoiler. However your comments have been noted and I will address them at the end of the thread

Posted by: Gezza 30th April 2017, 09:41 AM

86. MARTINE MCCUTCHEON (1,274,000)



6 HITS 1995-2001

BIGGEST HIT: PERFECT MOMENT

Flop girlband Milan didn’t help McCutcheon find the charts and a guest spot on Uno Clio’s “Are You Man Enough” only made No 62 in 1995 leaving it up to her stint on “Eastenders” as Tiffany Raymond to land her in our consciousness. She left the show at the end of 1998 and launched a pop career again scoring 5 hits before leaving the charts behind for the silver screen.

Posted by: Gezza 30th April 2017, 09:46 AM

85. GINA G (1,325,000)



7 HITS 1996-2006

BIGGEST HIT: OOH AAH JUST A LITTLE BIT

Incredibly “Ooh Aah Just A Little Bit” only made SEVENTH at the Eurovision but it became the last UK entry to top the charts, even though she was Australian. Subsequent releases were more or less a retreat and followed the rules of ever decreasing returns for her.

Posted by: Gezza 30th April 2017, 09:52 AM

84. FERGIE (1,363,000)



8 HITS 2006-2013

BIGGEST HIT: BIG GIRLS DON’T CRY

Dipping in and out of being a member of the Black Eyed Peas seems not to have harmed Fergie who grabs the hits regardless. Her solo album “The Dutchess” is responsible for most of the sales here though she’s only made No 1 as a soloist by guesting on a David Guetta track “Gettin’ Over You”.

Discography:



Personal highlight:

Posted by: Jamie Barkley 30th April 2017, 11:45 AM

I love Martine. Not the most dynamic or charismatic of singers but she has a sweet little voice and enough charm to pull it all off. Of her singles, I'd go with "I'm Over You" as being the best, though it seems to have been forgotten by any one who isn't a pop nerd.

Gina G, and this is becoming a running theme here for me it seems, is only familiar to me through her big hit that everyone knows. I do like it though, probably the last real Eurovision classic our country has produced (no offence to Scooch or Blue)

Fergie is confusing because she really feels like she should be considered an absolute joke, yet she's kind of not? I can't say I care for much of her solo material bar a weird morbid fascination with Fergalicious which I try and listen to at least once a fortnight to prove to myself it's actually a real thing that exists. Other than that, I find her either dull (Big Girls Don't Cry, Glamorous) or just plain awful (London Bridge).

Posted by: Gezza 30th April 2017, 01:00 PM

It was a toss up between "On The Radio" and "I'm Over You" - both are great

You've summed up my thoughts on Fergie perfectly

Posted by: Jade 30th April 2017, 02:58 PM

Sonique's 'It Feels So Good' is an all-time favourite I don't know much else by her except 'Sky' and 'I Put A Spell On You', which were both good but not a patch on the brilliance of 'It Feels So Good'. Sophie Ellis-Bexter is another one who has an all-time favourite song for me! That is of course the magnificent 'Groovejet' with Spiller. 'Murder On The Dancefloor', 'Catch You' and 'Heartbreak (Make Me A Dancer)' are all very enjoyable too. She has such a charming singing voice.

Duffy was always a bit hit and miss with me. She could be great ('Mercy' and 'Rain On Your Parade'), boring ('Warwick Avenue' and 'Stepping Stone') and then just descended into awfulness with 'Well Well Well'. I still cannot get over how amusingly awful her Pepsi ad is.

Fergie is my favourite on the whole from these last two batches! I was always a fan of the Black Eyed Peas and hoped her solo ventures would be strong. 'Clumsy' is the only single from 'The Dutchess' that I wasn't crazy about, the others are all fabulous. 'Fergalicious' in particular is a total guilty pleasure *.*

Posted by: 360Jupiter 30th April 2017, 03:11 PM

I like Fergie, but it's mental that she had two solo #1s in the US!

She's a real confusing one, she's got a great rock voice as you can hear in this one:

Posted by: Jamie Barkley 30th April 2017, 03:27 PM

Actually, now I remember, I really like Fergie's song from The Great Gatsby soundtrack. Lots of fun.

Posted by: Jamie Barkley 30th April 2017, 03:29 PM

It's weird to think that back in 2008, Adele was the underdog and Duffy the superstar. How times change. I never really clicked with Duffy or really understood the mass appeal she seemed to command (maybe it was because 15 year old 2008 me was still clinging on to his My Chemical Romance/Fall Out Boy/Panic! At The Disco phase) but I don't mind Rain On Your Parade. I despise Mercy to an almost comical degree, it's probably not even that objectively bad, but damn that song just does something to me.

Posted by: Jamie Barkley 30th April 2017, 03:33 PM

Ahhhh, you gotta love a bit of Sophie haven't you? With the exception of her Take Me Home cover (a very strange single choice that will never make sense to me), everything from her in the 00s is just kind of fabulous. If we're discounting Groovejet as she was uncredited on it (harsh that Spiller my dude) then I think I'll have to go with Mixed Up World as my favourite song by her - a brilliantly written pop track that really deserved more attention.

Posted by: peterdav2000 30th April 2017, 04:19 PM

Amazing to see Martine McCutcheon, Gina G and Fergie all above Annie Lennox. Would be really interesting to hear what her position would be at the end if it were to include all her Eurythmics hits.

Posted by: T Boy in Weeyals 30th April 2017, 04:54 PM

I still love Duffy and am a bit 'meh' with Adele. Not ashamed to say.

Fergie is someone where I think she probably is a great singer but her solo singles are always pretty shockingly bad. London Bridge is particularly turdlike.

I was assuming this was singles sales only. Am I right?

Posted by: mdh 30th April 2017, 05:04 PM

L.A LOVE was a banger from Fergie.

Posted by: Riser 1st May 2017, 12:50 AM

Three if you count Glamorous!

I loved all the singles from The Duchess and still do, Fergie's quite the one-album wonder although that's ignoring all of her BEP hits of course.

Posted by: Gezza 1st May 2017, 11:16 AM

83. BJORK (1,370,100)



22 HITS 1991-2005

BIGGEST HIT: IT’S OH SO QUIET

A gigantic haul of hits for Bjork but only 3 made the top 10 and only 1 spent more than 7 days in there. She’s of course known for her eccentric videos and dressing as a swan whilst laying an egg at an awards ceremony then going crazy at a journalist at the airport but that’s kind of why we love her. That and the music.

Discography:



Personal Highlight:

Posted by: Gezza 1st May 2017, 11:21 AM

82.KERI HILSON (1,388,000)



15 HITS 2005-2011

BIGGEST HIT: THE WAY I ARE

Long time backing vocalist Hilson actually first made the top 10 on Xzibit.s 2005 single “Hey Now” but it was in 2007 that she hit it big as a feature on Timbaland’s chart topper “The Way I Are”. The hits started to rack up with impressive speed most notably including “Knock You Down”, before she disappeared off the radar to star in films though we’re promised more.

Discography:



Personal Highlight:

Posted by: Gezza 1st May 2017, 11:24 AM

81. ARETHA FRANKLIN (1,405,000)



19 HITS 1980-1998

BIGGEST HIT: (I KNEW) YOU WERE WAITING FOR ME

Obviously she sold considerably more before the 80s but Franklin’s hit making days were in truth behind her until the Eurythmics made her “relevant”, as they say, in 1985. Her only chart topper came in 1987 with George Michael before she was made over as a dance diva in 1994 for a final flush of chart action for the great soul star.

Posted by: Jamie Barkley 1st May 2017, 12:11 PM

I do like how it seems like some Universal unwritten law that whenever Iceland gets mentioned under any circumstances, Bjork gets one too. For me, she's always been more of a symbol I guess than a music artist I've engaged with. Like really, all I can tell you about her is that she's Icelandic, she wore a swan dress to the Oscars, "It's Oh So Quiet" and one time she smacked a photographer outside an airport. That's all I know and to be honest, I'm not fussed about finding out anymore

Yes Keri! Why not? Gotta root for the underdog and I don't think there's a bigger one in late-2000s RnB than Ms. Hilson. I still cringe and laugh when I think of her standing in that mall with copies of her album, commanding an audience of at most twenty people. She's a very anonymous artist in a lot of ways, lending herself well to hooks and the odd guest spot but she's never really had a solo hit of her own besides 'Knock You Down" and maybe 'Pretty Girl Rock' if we're being generous. Still, don't feel too bad for her, she'll have made bank through her song writing.

I didn't think Aretha would be making this list, I guess I always attribute her success more to the 60s, but looking at her chart history she was still pulling off the hits thirty years on so fair play. I don't really understand how "It Isn't, It Wasn't, It Ain't Never Gonna Be" with Whitney Houston wasn't a world conquering smash but hey ho.

Posted by: 360Jupiter 1st May 2017, 07:07 PM

Keri Hilson! Knock You Down felt like it was huge at the time, although I'm thinking it was probably only a top 5 or 10.

I remember it was always on the radio when it came out though so it seemed like a much bigger hit than it was.

Keri Hilson being one above Bjork and just one below Aretha is bizarre. I'm gonna have to look up and see what their respective streaming is now. I know it's not included in this but it's sometimes surprising seeing what holds popularity on streaming and what doesn't.

EDIT: So despite streaming often favouring niche artists, Keri Hilson has double the monthly listeners of Bjork and her highest tracks top Bjork's by a factor of 5. Aretha Franklin has double again Keri Hilson's listeners.

Posted by: dandy* 1st May 2017, 08:20 PM

Björk is an amazing artist. If you're interested in hearing more than just It's Oh So Quiet then try these...

Jóga
Hyperballad
Triumph of a Heart
Play Dead
Earth Intruders
Pagan Poetry
Bachelorette
Vökuró
Crystalline
All is Full of Love

She possibly maybe does take a little while to get but there is so much to be discovered with her.

Posted by: Gezza 2nd May 2017, 05:03 PM

80.BRANDY (1,507,000)



14 HITS 1994-2005

BIGGEST HIT: THE BOY IS MINE

A star at 15 Brandy had hit singles, songs on film soundtracks and starred in a sitcom “Moesha” all by the time she was 17. Let’s be honest though it was “The Boy Is Mine” that put her on the map spending 13 weeks at No 1 stateside becoming the biggest selling female duo single worldwide though it missed out on the No 1 spot here to B*Witched. She left Atlantic records in 2005 and the hits dried up though she’s starred in a fair few films and TV shows since.

Discography:



Personal highlight:

Posted by: Gezza 2nd May 2017, 05:14 PM

79.LOUISE (1,515,000)



12 HITS 1995-2003

BIGGEST HIT: LET’S GO ROUND AGAIN

All but 3 of Louise’s singles made the top 10 making her departure from Eternal in 1995 seem an entirely correct move. A high profile relationship then marriage to Jamie Redknapp seems to have stood the test of time though her final stab at a hit single was a rejigged working of the ASDA theme rather shamefully though it was for charity. After that she branched into presenting and TV (there’s a theme going on here) last being seen on “Strictly”.

Discography:



Personal highlight:

Posted by: PeaceMob 2nd May 2017, 05:17 PM

Björk's Hyperballad is actually one of my favourite songs, Björk in the 90's was unstoppable, she was just able to find that middle line whilst being very original and still accessible to the average person.

Posted by: Gezza 2nd May 2017, 05:17 PM

78. JENNIFER RUSH (1,517,000)



4 HITS 1985-1989

BIGGEST HIT: THE POWER OF LOVE

Only 4 hits place Rush on our list, but when one of those is the million selling “The Power Of Love” it may make it easy to understand. It took a record breaking (at the time) 16 weeks from debut to top the charts en route to becoming 1985’s best seller and holds the record for being the first record ever by a female solo act to hit the magic million, perhaps she deserves her place then. The cosmetic work she’s had since is perhaps best overlooked.

Posted by: Jay ☆ 2nd May 2017, 05:45 PM

I think you meant to say "all but 3 of Louise's singles made the top 10"!

Let's Go Round Again being her biggest seller with a #10 peak certainly highlights how strong the singles market was in late 1997, given that she had 8 singles peak higher than that!

Looking at her chart runs, it's a shame that none of them managed 10+ weeks in the Top 75, all her hits were rather fleeting (although to be fair that was common for so many artists back then).

My favourite by her is definitely 2 Faced.

Really enjoying the thread so far Gezza!

Posted by: Gezza 2nd May 2017, 06:35 PM

Ooops altered! Thanks

Posted by: T Boy in Weeyals 2nd May 2017, 07:49 PM

Christmas 97 was pretty astronomical for sales. Still can't believe Lets Go Round Again was her biggest seller!

Posted by: GTH 2nd May 2017, 07:59 PM

Louise is definitely one of my favourite 90s popstars. Still listen to 2 Faced, Naked and Pandora's Kiss often.

Posted by: Jamie Barkley 2nd May 2017, 08:06 PM

Brandy is a bloody phenomenal and vastly underrated artist. My favourite of those late 90's RnB girls - she has so many classics under her belt for me; Baby, Sittin' Up In My Room, The Boy Is Mine, Have You Ever?, What About Us? and Full Moon are all phenomenal tracks. Overall, my favourite from her is 2004's Afrodisiac.

Louise is beige as hell but she has some nice records. 2 Faced is probably my favourite.

I don't think I like any version of 'The Power of Love' particularly but Jennifer's version is probably the best. Celine did well but it was a bit by numbers for her.

Posted by: Gezza 3rd May 2017, 04:48 PM

77. YAZZ (1,522,000)



12 HITS 1988-1997

BIGGEST HIT: THE ONLY WAY IS UP

From Catwalk Model to George Michael’s hairdresser in the 80s, Yazz was on the periphery of fame for a while before Coldcut chose her to provide vocals on “Doctorin The House” which became a top 10 hit in 1988. The massive selling “The Only Way Is Up” which hit No 1 for 5 weeks and saw her selling a million singles in 1988 alone. The public grew weary quickly however and after 1990 she never saw the top 30 again.

Posted by: Gezza 3rd May 2017, 04:54 PM

76. DANNII MINOGUE (1,562,000)



21 HITS 1991-2007

BIGGEST HIT: ALL I WANNA DO

Dannii may have beaten Sister Kylie to a regular show on Aussie TV but there’s no real competition in terms of sales. Starting out foraging the same pop field as her sister she was reborn as a dance diva in 1997 and saw her front more credible club music for most of the late 90s/ early 00s. The demise of her pop career coincided with a move back into talent shows (in this case the daddy of them all- “X Factor”) and to become a TV “Personality” as they say.

Discography:



Personal highlight:

Posted by: 360Jupiter 3rd May 2017, 04:59 PM

That's one thing I find interesting when people talk about upcoming judges for the X Factor and the like - they always think of people at the peak of their careers. When Dannii and Cheryl were chosen as judges, one was riding on her sister's coattails and had a similar reputation to Lisa Scott-Lee, and the other was only vaguely known as 'the WAG' out of Girls Aloud.

Who knew Dannii Minogue had released 21 singles!

Going back one, that Louise retrospective was really something; embarassingly, the only song that really rang a bell was Pandora's Kiss.

It's so interesting how the industry has changed in the last 20 years; half of these girls would have been dropped after their first #11 hit these days.

Posted by: Gezza 3rd May 2017, 05:02 PM

75. NENEH CHERRY (1,594,000)



14 HITS 1988-2000

BIGGEST HIT: 7 SECONDS

Arriving with considerable critical backing and the coolest producer in the land at the time (Tim Simenon of Bomb The Bass), “Buffalo Stance” didn’t disappoint at retail moving well over 200,000, good for the late 80s. Despite a decent selling debut and further top 10 singles it took a duet with Youssou N’Dour in 1994 to reignite her fortune, enough to put her on the radar for Comic Relief who asked her to co-sing her only chart topper “Love Can Build A Bridge” the following year.

Discography



Personal highlight:

Posted by: Jamie Barkley 3rd May 2017, 08:16 PM

Dannii always gets a bit of an unfair shake in my book - obviously there's no comparing her success to Kylie's but she's clearly not done badly in the grand scheme of things. I can't say I care for her 91-94 stuff just going by what I've heard and a few of the samples of lesser known tracks on that video history. The dance makeover was a good move, with a pretty flawless run of singles between All I Wanna Do and Perfection. The best, naturally, being Who Do You Love Now?

Posted by: vibe 4th May 2017, 04:53 PM

Do you have any info on more of Dannii's sales ?
I love many of her songs !!

Brandy has had released killer singles ! Sittin up in my room is such a tune !!!

No one would guess let's go round again was Louise's biggest sellar !!!

I'm keen to see where Melanie C and Gabrielle are !!!

Posted by: Gezza 4th May 2017, 05:54 PM

74. AVRIL LAVIGNE (1,598,000)



17 HITS 2002-2013

BIGGEST SELLER: GIRLFRIEND

Little pint sized Avril, everyone’s favourite angsty teenager surely? Her first album “Let Go” made her the youngest female solo act ever to top the UK album chart and gave her a hat trick of top 10 singles. The hits continued to rack up for the remainder of the 00s though it’s fair to say that her output this decade has been greeted with less enthusiasm and sales

Discography:



Personal highlight:

Posted by: Gezza 4th May 2017, 06:00 PM

73. BONNIE TYLER (1,615,000)



6 HITS 1983-1996

BIGGEST HIT: TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE HEART

Wales’s best selling female solo act? Surely Bonnie Tyler (well after Shirley Bassey probably) but she’s best recalled for the 1983 chart topper “Total Eclipse Of The Heart” a song which Meat Loaf maintains was written for him originally by Jim Steinman. Steinman turned Tyler into a female Loaf in essence penning her other big hit of the 80s “Holding Out For A Hero” but as our love of OTT 80s rock faded so did our love for Bonnie.

Discography



Personal Highlight:

Posted by: Gezza 4th May 2017, 06:06 PM

72. SINITTA (1,617,000)



12 HITS 1986-1993

BIGGEST HIT: SO MACHO

There can’t be anyone else that counts Simon Cowell, Brad Pitt and David Essex as their ex’s- well except Sinitta. PWL gave her a reasonable chart career in the late 80s but as their popularity dwindled so did hers though at least X Factor brought her back into the limelight.


Discography



Personal highlight:

Posted by: vibe 4th May 2017, 06:40 PM

What is Avrils biggest sellar ?

Posted by: Jamie Barkley 4th May 2017, 07:33 PM

I'm pretty sure her biggest seller is Girlfriend, though Complicated could have pipped it by now. I hope so. Girlfriend's easily her worst single. I'm With You is definitely her best though she does have some crackers; Sk8er Boi, Losing Grip, Don't Tell Me, My Happy Ending, Nobody's Home, Fall To Pieces, Keep Holding On, When You're Gone, Hot, Smile, Rock N Roll....

Posted by: Gezza 4th May 2017, 08:17 PM

Apologies- post updated

Posted by: Gezza 5th May 2017, 04:53 PM

71. GWEN STEFANI (1,623,000)



11 HITS 2001-2007

BIGGEST HIT: SWEET ESCAPE

Taking advantage of No Doubt going on hiatus in 2003 Stefani struck out on her own with a couple of solo albums which did rather well. As well as her own fashion range and perfume she also managed to have 2 children before returning to the No Doubt fold in 2009 but 7 top 10 singles in 6 years proves she used her solo time wisely.

Discography



Personal highlight

Posted by: Gezza 5th May 2017, 04:58 PM

70. IRENE CARA (1,629,000)



3 HITS 1982-1983

BIGGEST HIT: FAME

Two hits basically make up almost all the sales here, the million selling “Fame” and the lesser “Flashdance….What A Feeling”. Though she was a star on TV and in theatre by the end of the 80s her role in the film “Fame” was the gamechanger and she earned some serious cash in co-writing “Flashdance” which has turned into a minor classic over the years.

Discography:



Personal Highlight:

Posted by: Gezza 5th May 2017, 05:04 PM

69. LANA DEL REY (1,642,000)



7 HITS 2011-2013

BIGGEST HIT: VIDEO GAMES

Her move to a major label in 2011 was all that was needed to finally launch Del Rey with the smouldering “Video Games” which was a viral sensation. The Lead single also became a top 10 hit and when Cedric Gervais remixed “Summertime Sadness” for commercial release in 2013 it proved to be her highest peaking single so far when it made No 4 and subsequent to 2013 has become her biggest seller.

Discography



Personal highlight:

Posted by: vibe 5th May 2017, 05:47 PM

I would not have thought 'the sweet escape' was Gwens Biggest sellar!!

Posted by: Jamie Barkley 5th May 2017, 07:31 PM

Wow, really wasn't expecting to see Lana or Gwen here (I kinda figured Irene Cara would be) but I'm glad they both made it. Gwen's had a very consistent pop career with some really great tracks but for me 4 In The Morning sticks out as the best for me. For Lana, it's always a tie between Young & Beautiful or Gods & Monsters.

Posted by: 360Jupiter 5th May 2017, 11:17 PM

Lana's best tracks are 100% not her singles.

Gwen Stefani I'm not surprised to see at all. Irene Cara's done well to get so high off 2 songs, although the same could be said for Bonnie Tyler.

Posted by: Bjork 6th May 2017, 08:38 AM

really? cannot think of any Lana non-single worth mentioning... Love has become my favourite of hers even beating the old classics like Video Games, National Anthem, Summertime Sadness, West Coast or Young and Beautiful
Personally, Honeymoon was her worst era, I'm kinda pretending it never happened and the new album is the followup to Ultraviolence

Posted by: Gezza 6th May 2017, 02:17 PM

68. OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN (1,653,000)



15 HITS 1980-2010

BIGGEST HIT: XANADU

Another act who sold millions before the eighties opened so would be higher but even into the 80s she was scoring big hits most notably “Xanadu” (No 1) and “Physical” (No 7) which have both stood the test of time. Her make over from country singer goody goody to sex kitten for “Grease” saw her become an international icon in the late 70s, this era peaked with “Physical” which was banned in some parts of the US despite spending 10 weeks at No 1 stateside.

Discography:



Personal highlight:

Posted by: Gezza 6th May 2017, 02:25 PM

67. SARAH BRIGHTMAN (1,675,000)



11 HITS 1983-1999

BIGGEST HIT: TIME TO SAY GOODBYE

Almost exclusively a hitmaker in duets, Brightman is of course better known for her West End credentials and being Mrs Andrew Lloyd Webber (1984-1990) but her occasionally foray into the charts have been a successful. Whilst some tracks were pulled from her musicals she’s also recorded the Olympic Theme (1992) and of course her best seller “Time To Say Goodbye” with Andrea Bocelli which premiered at a boxing match!

Posted by: Gezza 6th May 2017, 02:30 PM

66. CYNDI LAUPER (1,697,000)



17 HITS 1984-1997

BIGGEST HIT: TIME AFTER TIME

Often compared to and regarded as the rival to Madonna in the 84-86 period, Lauper was the first woman to score four top 5 singles from an album in the US though her score her was slightly less impressive with 2 top 3 singles to her name through her entire career. A remix of her debut hit “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” gave her top 10 hits a decade apart.

Discography



Personal highlight

Posted by: 360Jupiter 6th May 2017, 03:27 PM

I always hoped Cyndi Lauper would have a chart resurgence as a mature woman like Cher did with Believe. Even as a guest vocalist or similar.

She's still got a stonker of a voice, can't go as high as she used to, but having a huge range in the first place makes that less of an issue.

So many missteps through that career though, her management must've been really poor back in the 80s as almost none of her successes seem to've been capitalised on.

Posted by: King Rollo 6th May 2017, 04:06 PM

Cyndi Lauper has done some great songs like Time After Time,All Through The Night and True Colours and cover versions of I Drove All Night and What's Going On.

ONJ's biggest hit is Xanadu,not Zanadu.

Great thread,Gezza.

Posted by: Drpepper 7th May 2017, 12:00 PM

Olivia Newton-John really impacted by the 1980 start date. Would be interesting to know where she would place if her pre-1980 singles were included. Very high I suspect....but rules is rules.....

Posted by: Gezza 7th May 2017, 12:43 PM

65. CHAKA KHAN (1,700,000)



16 HITS 1984-2000

BIGGEST HIT: I FEEL FOR YOU

Former Rufus frontwoman who struck out on her own in the late 70s, her two biggest spells of sales came firstly in 1984 when her Prince Cover “I Feel For You” went to No 1, and secondly in 1989 when remixes of her previous hits were top 10 singles all over again. Her connection to Prince was strengthened in 1998 when she signed to NPG records for 2 years though it produced no hits.

Discography



Personal highlight:

Posted by: Gezza 7th May 2017, 12:47 PM

64. MYA (1,731,000)



7 HITS 1998- 2003

BIGGEST HIT: GHETTO SUPERSTAR

Her UK chart career started with three top 10 hits including her personal best seller “Ghetto Superstar” which spent a fortnight at No 2 behind Billie and Another Level. She came good in 2001 when her collaboration “Lady Marmalade” finally gifted her a No 1, subsequent releases failed to impress and she hasn’t been seen chartside for over 10 years now.

Discography




Personal highlight

Posted by: Gezza 7th May 2017, 12:53 PM

63. KIM APPLEBY (1,743,000)



11 HITS 1987-1994

BEST SELLER: RESPECTABLE

Benefitting from the quirk of this thread Kim Appleby gets the benefit of her solo sales and those of Mel & Kim as she’s named individually. She launched her solo career after the death of her sister in 1990 and saw her debut “Don’t Worry” make No 2 narrowly failing to match the peak of “Respectable” back in 1987. Her then boyfriend and ex Bros bassist Craig Logan helped write “Don’t Worry” and also managed her at the time.

Discography



personal highlight

Posted by: vibe 7th May 2017, 06:02 PM

To think Billie beat Ghetto Superstar

Case of The Ex is still a tune !!!

Posted by: Gezza 8th May 2017, 04:58 PM

62. NATALIE IMBRUGLIA (1,751,000)



10 HITS 1997-2007

BIGGEST SELLER: TORN

Not the first star to make the transition from Ramsey Street to the charts, Imbruglia’s cover of Ednaswaps “Torn” eventually became a million seller with its promo featuring a pre-fame Jeremy Sheffield. She trod a path of respectable if MOR pop for a decade with only occasional gems in her discography though “Shiver” remains a highlight.

Discography



Personal highlight

Posted by: Gezza 8th May 2017, 05:02 PM

61. CHRISTINA PERRI (1,752,000)



2 HITS 2011

BIGGEST HIT: JAR OF HEARTS

Perri’s two hits make up the vast amount of sales here with “Jar Of Hearts” a million seller. Perri’s break came when her song was used on “So You Think You Can Dance” in the US even though she was unsigned and went from strength to strength with follow up “A Thousand Years” which had some help from the “Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1” film.

Posted by: Gezza 8th May 2017, 05:08 PM

60. CARLY RAE JEPSEN (1,772,000)



4 HITS 2012-2013

BIGGEST HIT: CALL ME MAYBE

From “Canadian Idol” to having her song promoted by Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez via twitter and youtube, yes Jepsen’s career got off to pretty much the ideal start. Whilst her first album saw little international success “Call Me Maybe” being picked up and promoted by Bieber et al saw the song become an internet sensation, helped no doubt by the high earworm factor, it topped the charts in 18 countries including the UK where it sold a million. A duet with Owl City helped her avoid the one hit wonder tag before 2012 ended.

Discography



Personal highlight

Posted by: vibe 8th May 2017, 05:22 PM

Natalie Imbriglia had a decent set of singles , cool pop I would call it haha .

Posted by: Jamie Barkley 8th May 2017, 09:13 PM

Run Away With Me is one of, if not the, best pop track of the decade. The only ones I can think that really rival it are Robyn's 'Dancing On My Own' or Katy B's 'Crying For No Reason'.

Posted by: cqmerqn 8th May 2017, 09:17 PM

Run Away With Me is incredible

Posted by: Riser 9th May 2017, 01:57 AM

Amazing result for Christina to be this high with just two hits! Same with Carly really, since only two of her four were that big. So much love for both of them.

Posted by: Gezza 9th May 2017, 05:03 PM

59. KIRSTY MACCOLL (1,801,000)



10 HITS 1981-1995

BIGGEST HIT: FAIRYTALE OF NEW YORK

She’s only on this list thanks to the above named hit let’s be honest, but she should be here anyway in all fairness. First single “They Don’t Know” failed to be hit only because of a distribution strike (and was picked up by Tracey Ullman years later) but the hits started once she moved to a major label. Before her death in 2000 only “Fairytale” and “A New England” made the top 10 but the former hit returns every year to the charts and secured its millionth sale 25 years after release.

Posted by: Gezza 9th May 2017, 05:07 PM

58. WHIGFIELD (1,808,000)



6 HITS 1994-1998

BIGGEST HIT: SATURDAY NIGHT

Along with “Macarena” surely only “Saturday Night” can rival it in the canon of 90s dance crazes. A summer hit over Europe it came back in holiday makers bags and became a million seller here as it finally toppled the Wet wet wet juggernaut of 1994, carbon copy hits followed with diminishing returns as the formula ran dry, can’t help but like “Close To You” though, at least it was different!

Posted by: Gezza 9th May 2017, 05:15 PM

57. RITA ORA (1,831,000)



7 HITS 2012-2013

BIGGEST HIT: HOT RIGHT NOW

“Louder” was, allegedly, the UK’s first dubstep chart topper and for the follow up DJ Fresh picked up and coming singer Rita Ora who had featured on “Eurovision Your Country Needs You” in 2009 but withdrew her application before the final stages. Apparently it would hinder her career her manager thought, probably wise as she started out with the far more hip DJ Fresh before seeing her first three releases top the charts.

Discography



Personal highlight:

Posted by: GTH 9th May 2017, 05:33 PM

Still wondering if we will ever get album #2 from Rita Ora.

Posted by: 360Jupiter 9th May 2017, 06:21 PM

They really pushed Rita Ora hard for a while - although it always felt like the public weren't quite sold on her. You'd think she'd be able to fund a second bite at the cherry just off the back of her existing success though.

Posted by: Dmdr 9th May 2017, 10:17 PM

Rita is literally just about to drop new music. She has had label issues which has tied her up, she tried to sue them and they tried to sue her back, she is with a new label now and apparently releasing a new single very soon.

Posted by: cqmerqn 9th May 2017, 10:20 PM

Rita has left it too long. It may not be her fault but I doubt people even see her as a singer now, what with being a judge on The X Factor and generally appearing on TV for non-musical career reasons if that makes sense. Even I see her as a TV personality now.

She needs a huge pop smash to get the public back on board, but even then I think she'll struggle.

Posted by: vibe 10th May 2017, 01:18 PM

Completely forgot about Whigfield , i sadly bought 'another day'.

Posted by: Gezza 10th May 2017, 05:02 PM

56. LEANN RIMES (1,860,000)



16 HITS 1998-2007

BIGGEST HIT: HOW DO I LIVE

A country star since she was 14 her crossover into the mainstream internationally came with “How Do I Live” which, despite never climbing higher than No 7, sold over 700,000 copies and made No 6 on the Y/E charts for 1998, the first instance where a song finished higher on the YE listings than it did in the weekly charts. Her only chart topper came 3 years later when “Can’t Fight The Moonlight” leapt from the “Ugly Coyote” soundtrack to No 1.

Discography:



Personal highlight

Posted by: Gezza 10th May 2017, 05:09 PM

55. DONNA SUMMER (1,861,000)



25 HITS 1980-1999

BIGGEST HIT: THIS TIME I KNOW IT’S FOR REAL

The disco star sold more than this in the 70s alone but come the 80s she suffered the fate of many disco acts by seeing a downturn in popularity. Some ill advised remarks about the gay community in the early 80s sealed the deal and her career was only revived by hooking up with S/A/W in 1989 which gave her her first top 10 singles in a decade. With time she’s regained her crown of the disco age before her untimely death in 2012.

Discography



Personal highlight

Posted by: Gezza 10th May 2017, 05:17 PM

54. BILLIE PIPER (1,875,000)



8 HITS 1998-2000

BIGGEST HIT: BECAUSE WE WANT TO

At 15 Billie was the youngest act ever to debut at No 1 when “Because We Want To” swept all opposition aside. It launched a pop career which only lasted three years but saw her grab a hat trick of chart toppers and 4 more top five hits. She quit music for marriage to Chris Evans and acting due to threats from fans of her then boyfriend Richie Nevill from Five, but with her final release faltering at No 25 the time was probably right.

Posted by: Dmdr 10th May 2017, 05:29 PM

I think she'll be alright, she has been announced as a performer on Radio 1's Big Weekend so will have their support majorly for the new song.

Posted by: SamJudd 10th May 2017, 10:32 PM

Leann Rimes, a fantastic singer and ranks as one of my mum's favourite singers. She's had some great songs 'How Do I Live' is still breathtaking to this day and quite shocked to see that it never climbed higher than #7 as it was everywhere at the time. But still you can't deny that incredible vocal, shame that we don't hear from her anymore. Other great songs from her 'Can't Fight The Moonlight' (well deserved #1), 'I Need You', 'Written In The Stars' with Elton John and the criminally underrated 'Life Goes On'.

Donna Summer = Yeah another great alltime diva, but her best stuff was in the 1970's with so many classics 'Love To Love You Baby', 'I Feel Love', 'Love's Unkind', 'Last Dance', 'Heaven Knows', 'Hot Stuff', 'Bad Girls' & 'No More Tears' all classics.

She did have some great tunes in the 80's such as 'The Wanderer', 'Love Is In Control (Finger On The Trigger)', 'She Works Hard For The Money' and let's not forget her SAW revival with the brilliant 'This Time I Know Its For Real' and the amazing 'I Don't Wanna Get Hurt'.

Billie Piper = Wow her music really brings back memories, I remember 'Because We Want To' topping the charts and becoming a talking point at school, and even owned her first album which had the brilliant follow up singles 'Girlfriend' & 'She Wants You' which are both incredibly dated and cheesy and 'Honey To The B' which was also great. Another great track on that album was 'I Dream' which was gonna be the 5th single, but didn't which was shame.

Her 2nd album wasn't as good, but did enjoy the first 2 singles 'Day And Night' & 'Something Deep Inside', which again both cheesy and dated, but in a good way, although didn't enjoy the title track 'Walk Of Life' very much, found it quite dull at the time. Even enjoyed her version of 'The Tide Is High' which was fun and ended up being given to Atomic Kitten a year later.

Posted by: vibe 11th May 2017, 05:57 AM

Billies version of The Tide Is High is better than AK.
I loved her back in the day 🙈 Pop was so huge back then !!! She may have even of had the first number 1 produced by stargate with Day and Night.

Leanne has a great voice but I only know two songs from her .

Posted by: Gezza 11th May 2017, 07:26 PM

53. BARBRA STREISAND (1,881,000)



12 HITS 1980-1999

BIGGEST HIT: WOMAN IN LOVE

Truly proving that she is “Evergreen” Streisand is still a chart topper as she proved last year by scoring a 7th No 1 album marking her as runner up in terms of chart topping albums by a female solo act. Her singles success has been rather more muted not having graced the charts in 18 years now with her last top 10 hit back in 1997 with Celine Dion. Still she’s selling under the radar rather nicely.

Discography



Personal highlight

Posted by: Gezza 11th May 2017, 07:32 PM

52. TONI BRAXTON (1,892,000)



11 HITS 1993-2010

BIGGEST HIT: UNBREAK MY HEART

Starting out with her sisters in the Braxtons, she went solo in 1993 and scored immediate success with “Breathe Again” which was only stopped by D:Ream. She went dangerously close again in 1996 with “Unbreak My Heart” which again went to No 2 this time denied first by Dunblane then by The Spice Girls and was her last brush with the top spot. Since 2000 she’s been more often in the courts thanks to lawsuits against her record companies and becoming bankrupt twice (though the first time was in 1996).

Discography



Discography

Posted by: Gezza 11th May 2017, 07:40 PM

51. SHEENA EASTON (1,915,000)



15 HITS 1980-2000

BIGGEST HIT: 9 TO 5

Brought to fame via the TV show “The Big Time” Easton placed her first two singles in the top 10 simultaneously and got the bond theme all within her first 2 years as a chart star. For the remainder of the 80s and 90s Easton was a bigger star in the US then she was here even becoming just the third British female soloist to hit the top in the US, with 1989’s “The Lover In Me” giving her a final top 20 single in the UK.

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Personal highlight

Posted by: Gezza 11th May 2017, 07:42 PM

And here's a recap of the bottom half of the rundown

100. SAM FOX (1,073,000)
99. CIARA (1,102,800)
98. BARBARA DICKSON (1,106,000)
97. TIFFANY (1,112,000)
96. SINEAD O’CONNOR (1,128,000)
95. TRACEY ULLMAN (1,129,000)
94. ANNIE LENNOX (1,132,000)
93. KATY B (1,149,000)
92. SONIQUE (1,154,000)
91. DINA CARROLL (1,190,400)

90. RANDY CRAWFORD (1,224,000)
89. SOPHIE ELLIS BEXTOR (1,252,000)
88. ELAINE PAIGE (1,256,000)
87. DUFFY (1,264,000)
86. MARTINE MCCUTCHEON (1,274,000)
85. GINA G (1,325,000)
84. FERGIE (1,363,000)
83. BJORK (1,370,100)
82.KERI HILSON (1,388,000)
81. ARETHA FRANKLIN (1,405,000)

80.BRANDY (1,507,000)
79.LOUISE (1,515,000)
78. JENNIFER RUSH (1,517,000)
77. YAZZ (1,522,000)
76. DANNII MINOGUE (1,562,000)
75. NENEH CHERRY (1,594,000)
74. AVRIL LAVIGNE (1,598,000)
73. BONNIE TYLER (1,615,000)
72. SINITTA (1,617,000)
71. GWEN STEFANI (1,623,000)

70. IRENE CARA (1,629,000)
69. LANA DEL REY (1,642,000)
68. OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN (1,653,000)
67. SARAH BRIGHTMAN (1,675,000)
66. CYNDI LAUPER (1,697,000)
65. CHAKA KHAN (1,700,000)
64. MYA (1,731,000)
63. KIM APPLEBY (1,743,000)
62. NATALIE IMBRUGLIA (1,751,000)
61. CHRISTINA PERRI (1,752,000)

60. CARLY RAE JEPSEN (1,772,000)
59. KIRSTY MACCOLL (1,801,000)
58. WHIGFIELD (1,808,000)
57. RITA ORA (1,831,000)
56. LEANN RIMES (1,860,000)
55. DONNA SUMMER (1,861,000)
54. BILLIE PIPER (1,875,000)
53. BARBRA STREISAND (1,881,000)
52. TONI BRAXTON (1,892,000)
51. SHEENA EASTON (1,915,000)

Posted by: Jamie Barkley 11th May 2017, 09:07 PM

Damn, never knew Streisand's chart history went all the way back to 1966! Always assumed she'd only started a chart career in the mid-70s.

Posted by: SamJudd 12th May 2017, 02:09 AM

Barbara Streisand = Great singer, but to be honest I've never been into her music, and only know a couple of her songs such as 'Woman In Love'', 'The Way We Were'.' 'No More Tears' & 'Tell Him', fantastic vocals and an amazing actress as well, definitely 'What's Up Doc' one of my fave movies.

Toni Braxton = 'Breathe Again' a truly sad and beautiful song, 'Unbreak My Heart' another brilliant tune, and plus the dance remix was awesome & 'He Wasn't Man Enough' is also a great piece of early 00's R&B , the last good song she ever did sadly and even have a soft spot for 'Spanish Guitar' in it's remixed form though. I remember reading somewhere that she had a massive fall out with Jay Z, coz he used the same Tupac sample for '03 Bonnie & Clyde' as she did with 'Me and My Boyfriend' a track on one of her albums and he released his song first and became a big hit and she was set to release her song, but the label said no, coz they couldn't release 2 songs with the same sample at the same time, she said that he stole her idea and her career never got back on track after that, she was basically done.

Sheena Easton = I've always liked her and enjoyed several of her hits, and it was such a shame that the British public turned their backs on her after 1981, because she had some great stuff during the 80's that failed here in the UK, but became big in America 'Telefone (Long Distance Love Affair)', 'Strut' & Sugar Walls', plus 'The Lover In Me' thankfully put her back in the charts and deserved to be a much bigger success than it's #15 peak. Yeah she was a great and very underrated singer with a fantastic voice that can adapt to any genre of music. Still love 'Modern Girl' and '9 To 5, both cracking tunes.

Posted by: Gezza 12th May 2017, 04:59 PM

50. ALISON MOYET (1,944,000)



16 HITS 1984-1995

BIGGEST HIT: THAT OLE DEVIL CALLED LOVE

All six of Moyet’s top 10 singles occurred in the 84-87 period in the immediate aftermath of her Yazoo period. Her singles career was virtually brought to an end with the release of her “Greatest Hits” album in 1995 which is a shame for one of the greatest voices of the last 30 years.

Posted by: Gezza 12th May 2017, 05:05 PM

49. LISA STANSFIELD (1,972,000)



19 HITS 1989-2001

BIGGEST HIT: ALL AROUND THE WORLD

Releasing singles since she was 16, Stansfield was 22 before her feature on Coldcut’s “People Hold On” brought her to fame. At the time she was a member of Blue Zone who took the decision to push Stansfield as a solo act with the band writing her songs, it worked perfectly and by the end of 1989 “All Around The World” topped the charts. For the rest of the 90s she became a chart regular scoring 7 more top 10 hits before petering out.

Discography



personal highlight

Posted by: Gezza 12th May 2017, 05:11 PM

48. BELINDA CARLISLE (2,017,000)



23 HITS 1987-1999

BIGGEST HIT: HEAVEN IS A PLACE ON EARTH

Without a doubt the most successful solo Go-Go, she started her UK chart career with the No 1 “Heaven Is A Place On Earth”. 6 more top 10 singles followed in the next decade but Belinda then reunited with the Go-Go’s in the early 00s to mixed results and her first album in 10 years in 2007 failed to generate hits or sales and she’s been missing in action ever since.

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Personal highlight

Posted by: SamJudd 12th May 2017, 06:17 PM

Alison Moyet = Great vocalist and enjoy many of her songs 'Is This Love' is my personal fave from her, along with 'That Ole Devil Called Love', 'Invisible', 'Love Letters' & 'Whispering Your Name', another artist whose fallen victim to lack of record label support as they didn't promote her 3rd album 'Hoodoo' very well or it's singles deeming them not commercial enough, and even her follow up album 'Essex' had to have several of it's tracks re-recorded including 'Whispering Your Name' which was originally an acoustic balled but remixed into a dance track for it's single release and became her final top 20 hit. I know her singles success ended after her Greatest Hits, but since moving to another label her albums still chart pretty well.

Lisa Stansfield = Another singer I've always liked and recently bought her 'Greatest Hits' album and she's had some fantastic singles 'All Around The World', 'Is This The Right Time', 'Live Together', 'So Natural', 'All Woman' & 'Little Bit Of Heaven', great songs and she did have a pretty strong run during the 90's, it's a shame her 2001 album 'Face Up' didn't do very well as it did have some decent songs and '8-3-1' was planned as the 2nd single, but got cancelled due to the underperformance of the lead single, it should have been the lead as it's definitely one of her best tracks.

Belinda Carlisle = 'Heaven's A Place On Earth' is an outright classic and it's gladly still fondly remembered today, but her other songs are also great such as 'I Get Weak' which is just brilliant and her vocals sound amazing on it, 'Circle In The Sand', 'Leave A Light On', 'Summer Rain', '(We Want) The Same Thing', 'Do You Feel Like I Feel' & 'In Too Deep' all classics. Even her stuff with the Go-Go's are amazing and why they didn't make it big in the UK is a crime against nature.

Posted by: GTH 12th May 2017, 11:10 PM

Belinda Carlisle is so underrated. So many great singles.

Posted by: Gezza 13th May 2017, 12:14 PM

47. GERI HALLIWELL (2,060,000)



9 HITS 1999-2005

BIGGEST HIT: IT’S RAINING MEN

Everything about Halliwell’s career has been a media circus, from the shock departure from the Spice Girls in 1998, the promo for “Look At Me” in which “ginger Spice” is buried, or emerging from between huge Styrofoam legs at the BRITS she’s always been one for pop iconography. Add to that 4 consecutive No 1 hits and it’s easy to see why she’s on our list, but for all that she’s always been seen as someone who wants fame perhaps more than she has the talent for gaining it and when the press became hostile the chart positions slipped..

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Personal highlight

Posted by: Gezza 13th May 2017, 12:20 PM

46. MEL C (2,081,000)



13 HITS 1999- 2013

BIGGEST SELLER: WHEN YOU’RE GONE

Just pipping Halliwell to the crown of biggest solo spice career is Mel C who only overtook ginger spice in the final year of this survey (2013). Whilst she’s never topper the sales of her first solo adventure with Bryan Adams she did bag herself a couple of No 1’s in 2000 before going off the commercial boil shortly after as she sought to make less pop sounding singles. She has however lasted a lot longer than Halliwell as a singles act thanks in part to her track with Matt Cardle in 2013.

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Personal highlight

Posted by: Gezza 13th May 2017, 12:26 PM

45. SHANIA TWAIN (2,091,000)



13 HITS 1998-2005

BIGGEST HIT: THAT DON’T IMPRESS ME MUCH

27 by the time she was signed and 33 by the time she got her first UK hit Twain certainly came to chart fame late in life for a female solo act, but when “Come On Over” took off it certainly did generating sales of 3 million in the UK alone. It spawned 6 top 20 singles and made her a major act, and whilst follow up album “Up” did give her another 5 hit singles she then took a decade off to star in her own reality TV show and being up her children.

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Personal highlight

Posted by: vibe 13th May 2017, 02:23 PM

Belinda Carlisle has so many hits ? I couldn't name another ?

Lisa Stansfield's 'The Real Thing' was a fav off mine.

I am a massive Mel C fan and there is always an argument between spice fans who is the biggest sellar from the group .
Mel C also has so many singles that never made the top 40 sadly so she would be further ahead .

I am loving this thread

Can't wait now to see where Gabrielle is .

Posted by: Rob Spears 13th May 2017, 03:05 PM

Mel C had a song with Matt Cardle? I don't remember that all...

Posted by: vibe 13th May 2017, 04:08 PM

^ yes it's called Loving You , ire very good 👍🏻

Posted by: 360Jupiter 13th May 2017, 04:11 PM

People always seem to remember Shania for her upbeats, but she has some great ballads.

Only two of the solo Spices made it in then?

Sometimes I wish I'd been a pop fan around the time of their split and solo careers' drama. Wasn't Geri seen as the leader before she left, too?

Posted by: Voodoo 13th May 2017, 04:41 PM

Educate yourself ASAP!

Posted by: Jamie Barkley 13th May 2017, 05:03 PM

You're Still The One is a gorgeous track. Come On Over was one of the first albums I can remember my Mum and Dad having when I was younger so I'm very familiar with it, though not overly fond.

Lovin' You is the best song both Matt and Mel have ever done.

Geri is awful. I don't think there's one single of hers I can abide, maybe Mi Chico Latino at a massive push.

Posted by: Jamie Barkley 13th May 2017, 05:07 PM

I'm playing a little game of bingo with myself now, as I think I've guessed a majority of the next 44, though I'm sure I'll have missed someone really obvious

Posted by: cqmerqn 13th May 2017, 05:12 PM

Do collaborations count?

Edit - oops I can't read lol

Posted by: Rob Spears 13th May 2017, 05:16 PM

Yep!

Posted by: SamJudd 13th May 2017, 08:02 PM

Shania Twain = Fantastic and guaranteed to always deliver some cracking tunes, been a fan of her since 'You're Still The One' which deserved higher than it's #10 peak, such a beautiful and moving song and you can tell in her stunning voice that she means every word. Her breakthrough was well deserved as 'Come On Over' was a fantastic album with some amazing singles 'From This Moment On', 'That Don't Impress Me Much' & 'Man I Feel Like A Woman', all classics and her follow up album 'Up' was also brilliant with 'I'm Gonna Gethca Good', 'Up', 'Forever and For Always' & 'When You Kiss Me'. She's making a comeback this year and am very excited to hear her new stuff, hope it will be great and maybe add a lot more to her current sales.

Melanie C = Never been that big a fan of hers, not since her first album which was great and her duet with Bryan Adams was hell of an anthem, and it was going so well for her in the UK up until her 2nd album which didn't sell half as much and public interest waned, I think that waiting 4 years to release the album wasn't a smart move and that was the reason her career suffered. 'On The Horizon' is my fave song of hers and it's highly underrated, deserved a higher chart placing.

Geri Halliwell = Really loved her at the time, the singles from her first album were great 'Look At Me', 'Lift Me Up' & 'Bag It Up', 'Mi Chico Latino' was okay as well, and found her 2nd album even better than the first, and dunno why she released the title track as the follow up single, coz it just wasn't very good, 'Feels Like Sex' would have done a whole lot better and why wasn't 'Strength Of A Woman' released, that would have definitely showed the public a different side to the album. Her 3rd album was a total letdown though, although did enjoy the lead single 'Ride It', 'Loved Never Loved Me' should have been the follow up instead of the awful 'Desire' which tanked as well as the album did. She was fun at the time, but find her songs now have aged badly, but still enjoyable in a camp sort of way.

Posted by: The Hit Parade 13th May 2017, 10:54 PM

Thanks, now I feel about 200 years old!

Posted by: Gezza 14th May 2017, 09:10 AM

44. KELLY CLARKSON (2,138,000)



16 HITS 2003-2013

BIGGEST HIT: STRONGER (WHAT DOESN’T KILL YOU)

Thrust into the limelight after winning “American Idol” in 2002 Clarkson has gone on to rack up an impressive 8 top 10 hits in the timeframe covered and her career seems able to withstand the occasional flop. Her only chart topper came in 2009 with “My Life Would Suck Without You” but you can never discount her topping the charts again.

Discography



Personal highlight

Posted by: Gezza 14th May 2017, 09:18 AM

43. MILEY CYRUS (2,175,000)



12 HITS 2008-2013

BIGGEST HIT: WE CAN’T STOP

It’s a long way from “Hannah Montana” to twerking with Robin Thicke at the MTV Awards but then Cyrus did her growing up in public so we have to forgive her somethings. Her 2013 album “Bangerz” saw her elevated to major league here in the UK with a couple of chart toppers and much more sexual image to boot, at 24 she should have some mileage left in her yet to climb a lot further on this list!

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Personal highlight

Posted by: Gezza 14th May 2017, 09:38 AM

42. MARY J BLIGE (2,216,000)



41 HITS 1992-2013

BIGGEST HIT: FAMILY AFFAIR

When she first appeared on the music scene in 1992 Blige was hailed as the queen of hip hop soul racking up far more hits than most on this list. Her biggest hits all came from collaborations with George Michael, U2, Wyclef Jean and Method Man though her biggest seller is all her own work thankfully (albeit she’s only a co-writer with Dr Dre among others).

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Personal highlight

Posted by: vibe 14th May 2017, 09:47 AM

I'm pleased FA is Mary's biggest sellar .

I would have predicted it was 'One'. She has release so many amazing songs , what's the 411 is my fav album of hers.

Posted by: Jamie Barkley 14th May 2017, 11:47 AM

Well that's 3/40 I guessed were still to come

Love Kelly. Very consistent artist with only a few missteps in her singles discography (Never Again, Stronger) and the fact she already managed a big top ten hit in the streaming era gives me hope she'll still be around for a while.

I struggle with Miley as a person, but she's released some good stuff. I definitely felt like Bangerz was a low point for her (bar Wrecking Ball) but the new songs quite good so there's hope for her yet.

Mary's an icon who's never quite been given her due on these shores. That her highest charting single is a cover speaks to that, though I'm pleased Family Affair is her biggest track overall. Real Love is a stone cold classic.

Posted by: SamJudd 14th May 2017, 03:48 PM

Kelly Clarkson = She's had some great tunes, been a fan ever since the 'Breakaway' era which had by far the best run of singles [Breakaway>Since U Been Gone>Behind These Hazel Eyes>Because Of You>Walk Away] all fantastic, however she has had a few dud choices namely 'I Do Not Hook Up' why that was chosen over 'If I Can't Have You', I'll never know, and 'Heartbeat Song' & 'Invincible' from 'Piece By Piece' where there were much better choices. But oh well she's still a cracking singer and the fact that she can still get hits in the streaming era is astounding.

Posted by: Riser 15th May 2017, 03:44 AM

Miley beating Kelly with two #1s and no other top 10s, compared to 8 top 10s for Kelly, is pretty impressive. Obviously Miley benefits from the 2013 sales climate whereas Kelly's harmed by her peak being in 05-06. I'm very impressed with how high Mary J. Blige is! Guessing that 2.2 million is without any gold singles?

Posted by: SamJudd 15th May 2017, 11:12 AM

Miley Cyrus: She's okay both 'We Can't Stop' & 'Wrecking Ball' are really good and she should have brought out 'FU' to follow them instead of 'Adore You' which was just limp. But yeah some of her other songs are okay 'See You Again', '7 Things' & 'The Climb' are all decent and even have a soft spot for 'Fall Down' with Will I Am.

Mary J Blige = Never really been into her, but she has got a cracking voice, 'Family Affair' is definitely her best, and some others of hers I like 'Give Me You', 'Dance For Me' & 'No More Drama', she is will and truly a legend in her own right.

Posted by: sammy01 15th May 2017, 12:48 PM

This thread is the first time I have ever bothered to listen to any of Dannii Minogue's early 90's stuff and it is truly awful. It isn't even cheesy and fun, it is absolutely dreadful.

Posted by: Rob Spears 15th May 2017, 01:25 PM

Stronger, a misstep? It's her highest selling single.

Posted by: Jamie Barkley 15th May 2017, 05:25 PM

Misstep quality wise (IMO) but clearly not in a commercial sense obviously

Posted by: Gezza 15th May 2017, 05:37 PM

41. KELIS (2,263,000)



20 HITS 2000-2011

BIGGEST HIT: BOUNCE

Despite her debut album spawning the top 5 single “Caught Out There” by 2003 it looked as though it wasn’t going to happen for Kelis with largely diminishing returns between 00-03. A guest spot on Richard X’s “Finest Dreams” however improved matters and 2004’s “Tasty” era saw her score four straight top 10 singles, since then she’s had sporadic big hits and was last seen in the charts peaking at No 2 with Calvin Harris with “Bounce” which outsold all her previous singles.

Posted by: Gezza 15th May 2017, 05:50 PM

40. SIA (2,290,000)



7 HITS 2000-2013

BIGGEST HIT: TITANIUM

Another act who first struck big in 2000 then looked down the dumper (as “Smash Hits” used to say), Sia was so disenchanted at her relative failure as a singer that she stopped being a performer and concentrated on writing songs for others, including a song called “Titanium” which was destined for Alicia Keys. It never made it to her and instead she sent it to David Guetta who kept her demoed vocals and released it without Sia’s knowledge, despite her annoyance (as she’d retired as a performer) it re-launched her as a major star and sold a million to prove it. The hits racked up thereafter, and she even had time to write chart toppers for Rhianna and Ne-Yo during a very hectic 2012.

Discography



Personal highlight

Posted by: Gezza 15th May 2017, 05:59 PM

39. GLORIA ESTEFAN (2,314,000)



30 HITS 1988-2000

BIGGEST HIT: DON’T WANNA LOSE YOU

She doesn’t any individual massive sellers (over 500,000) but Estefan was still having top 20 singles a decade into her career and indeed lost out on some sales being allocated to her on the premise that she wasn’t individually credited on early Miami Sound Machine tracks (only from 1988 onwards). Regardless she’s one of the biggest stars to emanate from Latin America ever.

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Personal highlight

Posted by: Jamie Barkley 15th May 2017, 08:17 PM

I'm surprised Kelis managed to get such high figures considering the bulk of her success came in 04

Posted by: vibe 16th May 2017, 12:34 PM

I'm suprosed too about Kelis .

Posted by: Gezza 16th May 2017, 12:40 PM

Kelis had the advantage of scoring sizeable hits in the download era "Lil star" and "acapella " for example, combined with the 600k "bounce " see her higher than expected.

Posted by: Gezza 16th May 2017, 04:48 PM

38. KATE BUSH (2,331,000)



24 HITS 1980-2012

BIGGEST HIT: RUNNING UP THAT HILL

Always one to forge her own way musically, Kate Bush was the first UK female soloist to reach No 1 on the album charts and the first to achieve three album No 1’s. Singles wise she only reached the top 10 on 5 occasions (if you count the two versions of “Running Up That Hill” separately) in our time frame, but is still undoubtedly one of the most eccentric and unique artists in this list.

Discography



Personal highlight

Posted by: Gezza 16th May 2017, 04:56 PM

37. PIXIE LOTT (2,555,000)



12 HITS 2009- 2012

BIGGEST HIT: ALL ABOUT TONIGHT

What better way to follow Kate Bush than with Pixie Lott! A hat trick of chart toppers are the highlight here with “Boys & Girls” creating some chart history with a 73-1 leap on the charts, a record climb from within the “official charts” which only covered the top 75 at that point. Things have cooled now with Lott not being seen in the charts for the last 3 years as she’s moved into other areas.

Discography



Personal highlight

Posted by: Gezza 16th May 2017, 05:02 PM

36. NICOLE SCHERZINGER (2,576,000)



12 HITS 2006-2013

BIGGEST HIT: JAI HO (YOU ARE MY DESTINY)

Scherzinger benefits on this list from getting her own name on some of those Pussycat Dolls hits but she’s been fortunate in her duets and has conducted a fairly consistent if unspectacular chart career as a soloist from 2010 onwards. Her version of “Don’t Hold Your Breath” became her only solo chart topper before she abandoned the charts for X Factor and TV shows it would appear.

Discography



Personal highlight:

Posted by: danG 16th May 2017, 05:20 PM

hard to believe the likes of Pixie Lott and Nicole Scherzinger have sold more singles than Kate Bush, although Kate would be ahead if her 70s stuff counted presumably.

Posted by: Gezza 16th May 2017, 05:25 PM

Yes she would be quite easily.

Posted by: Jamie Barkley 16th May 2017, 05:30 PM

Pixie Lott and Kate Bush are two I didn't guess when I tried to come up with the 44 remaining acts last weekend. Pixie was a genuine oversight, but Kate's sporadic chart appearances and lower peaks made me think she wouldn't have even made the Top 100.

I knew Nicole would be in, though not this high.

Posted by: T Boy in Weeyals 16th May 2017, 05:39 PM

i can't believe that some amazing female singers can't even get top 100 and yet Pixie is 37th...

Posted by: vibe 16th May 2017, 06:11 PM

Totally forgot about Pixie .

Was not expecting her at all.

I do love 'cry me out' tho.

Posted by: Zárate 16th May 2017, 09:14 PM

I'm extremely surprised to see anything from Pixie Lott between 'Kiss the Stars' and the new one! I thought she was vanished completely.

Posted by: Yeasty Clutch 16th May 2017, 09:23 PM

'Moved into other areas' lmao!!

And Titanium had demo vocals! That explains her screeching then.

Posted by: SamJudd 17th May 2017, 12:16 AM

Kelis = I do like a couple of her songs 'Milkshake', 'Trick Me' and 'Lil' Star', and always liked her unique style, but despite a couple of successful singles she never did make it that big, I'd dare say that 'Milkshake' was her peak and she never really experienced that level of fame ever again. Always found her more of a singles artist.

Sia = Never been into her, find her rather overrated, but do like 'Titanium', that was a well deserved hit.

Gloria Estefan = Yes glad she's made this list, so very underrated, her stuff with Miami Sound Machine was and still is extremely fun such as 'Dr Beat', 'Conga' & 'Bad Boy'. Even love her solo stuff, she has such a great voice and sound that always makes you get up and dance. '1,2,3' is my fave from her, as well as 'Rhythm Is Gonna Get You'. and even her slower moments 'Anything For You', 'Don't Wanna Lose You' & 'Can't Stay Away From You' are all fantastic. Other brilliant songs from her 'Get On Your Feet', 'Coming Out Of The Dark' & 'Heaven's What I Feel'

Posted by: SamJudd 17th May 2017, 12:49 AM

Kate Bush = One of the most unique and talented artists out there with a career spanning a whopping 40 years, someone whose always been true to herself and never jumped on the latest trends or sounds and always did her own thing, which is great and have had some great success through the years. 'Wuthering Heights' is one of the most adventurous chart toppers in existence and sadly was her only chart topper, she deserved more and should have had a lot more top 10 hits, especially with songs like 'Wow', 'Hounds Of Love', 'Rubberband Girl' and the criminally underrated 'This Woman's Work'. But she has had a career that anyone would be proud off and her biggest hits such as 'WH', ''The Man With The Child In His Eyes', 'Babooshka', 'Running Up That Hill' & 'Don't Give Up' are all fantastic bodies of work.

Pixie Lott = Actually surprised her see her this high, but obviously taking advantage of the high sales boom of the late 00's, She has had a couple of decent songs 'Boys And Girls', 'Cry Me Out', 'Turn It Up' & 'All About Tonight', but always found her very flash in the pan, a very average singer with a not very long shelf life (in charting hits wise), well she did have an okay 5 year run on the charts, but doubt she'll ever trouble the top 10 ever again though.

Nicole Scherzinger = Her best stuff was definitely with The Pussycat Dolls and really loved them back in the day, their first album had some fantastic singles, their follow up was ok, but only the singles on that were any good though. As for her solo stuff, found her very hit and miss, to be honest It was a good call that her first album was shelved, especially after hearing some of the awful songs on it ('Baby Love' with Will.i.Am) for instance. Thankfully she did rebound with her first proper album 'Killer Love' which had some great stuff on there 'Poison', 'Don't Hold Your Breath' & 'Wet' and even some of the tracks were pretty awesome as well. But after 2013 her stuff kinda went downhill and her 2nd album 'Big Fat Lie' was awful and didn't enjoy any of the bland singles from it such as 'Your Love' or 'On The Rocks'.

Posted by: Gezza 17th May 2017, 05:19 PM

35. SHAKIRA (2,831,000)



11 HITS 2002-2012

BIGGEST HIT: HIPS DON’T LIE

Gyrating her way to international success in the early 00s, Shakira had been a major star in Latin America by the end of the 90s but her decision to record in English really broke the UK market with debut “Whenever Wherever” unlucky to hit No 2 behind Will Young’s Pop Idol coronation single. She finally got a chart topper in 2006 with “Hips Don’t Lie” which was one of the songs of the year and teaming up with Beyonce saw her back at the top within a year.

Discography



Personal highlight

Posted by: Gezza 17th May 2017, 05:23 PM

34. KELLY ROWLAND (2,851,000)



17 HITS 2002-13

BIGGEST HIT: DILEMMA

Not the highest placed former Destiny’s Child singer (Michelle Williams fab career is yet to feature) but Rowland was the first one to grab a chart topper (“Dilemma”) and a No 1 album “Simply Deep” but was soon eclipsed. It took seven years for her to return to the top courtesy of David Guetta though her move into dance music had begun prior to that. “Dilemma” remains however the best selling release by a former band member for all that.

Discography



Personal highlight

Posted by: cqmerqn 17th May 2017, 05:25 PM

Surprised shakira is only 35

Posted by: Gezza 17th May 2017, 05:30 PM

33. NELLY FURTADO (2,937,000)



17 HITS 2001-2012

BIGGEST HIT: BROKEN STRINGS

Starting out in a world music/ country/pop vein Furtado’s career was looking like it was on the slide before getting a Timbaland overall in 2006 revitalised it and chart toppers followed on both sides of the Atlantic. Teaming up with James Morrison gave her the biggest selling single of her career but her 2012 comeback met with a cooler response.

Discography



Personal highlight

Posted by: GTH 17th May 2017, 06:39 PM

3 of my favourites artists (though still surprised to see Kelly so high).

Shakira was really unlucky to get stuck behind Will Young with Whenever, Wherever.

Its a shame things just haven't gone well for Nelly since the Loose era, not that she has really helped herself keep the momentum going. Really love Mi Plan and The Spirit Indestructible. The Ride is ok but not quite to the standard I expect from Nelly at this point in her career.

Posted by: FleetSeb 17th May 2017, 07:12 PM

Nice Michelle Williams reference (When Jesus Say Yes is an absolute jam if you can ignore the godliness of it )

Posted by: SamJudd 17th May 2017, 08:56 PM

Shakira = Definitely one of my fave artists 'Hips Don't Lie' was my song of 2006, and still ranks as her best and she's had some amazing stuff 'Whenever, Wherever', 'Underneath Your Clothes', 'Don't Bother', 'She Wolf', 'Gypsy' & 'Waka, Waka' are all fantastic, shame none of her Spanish stuff makes a dent on the UK charts, but she's still amazing and hope she starts doing English language again in the near future.

Kelly Rowland = She'll forever be in the shadow of Beyoncé, that's not to say that she hasn't had some decent songs, 'Dilemma', 'Stole', 'Work' & 'When Love Takes Over' are all great. But to me she's always seems to not know who she is as an artist, going from soulful diva to R&B diva, dance and now back to R&B. She's an okay artist, but never found her consistent enough.

Nelly Furtado = Really enjoyed her folksy stuff back in the day, her 2nd album 'Folklore' was incredibly underrated and had some fantastic stuff 'Powerless (Say What You Want)' & 'Try' both are fantastic, and even liked her transition phase with 'Loose' which was where she really made it big, with some fantastic songs 'Maneater' & 'Say It Right', but I think she made the mistake of taking too long to follow up on her massive success and switching gears again in 2012 with 'Spirit Indestructible' didn't help matters and plus coming back with that awful 'Big Hoops' song didn't do her any favours. It seems now that her time in the sun has passed and will never be on that level of success again.

Posted by: Ne Plus Ultra 18th May 2017, 01:10 AM

Shakira, Kelly Rowland (more dance than R&B), and Nelly are all great in their own ways.

Posted by: Envoirment 18th May 2017, 01:26 AM

Such a great list with so many amazing artists! Was susprised at how low some were, but then realised the 1980 start date. Will be interesting to see who makes up the top 10.

Posted by: vibe 18th May 2017, 06:41 AM

Kelly Rowland has a great catalogue , very happy for her .
Stole may have even have been a number 1 jt if released earlier ? Was in the charts for weeks on import sales alone.

Posted by: Gezza 18th May 2017, 08:17 PM

32. ALEXANDRA BURKE (3,042,000)



8 HITS 2008-2012

BIGGEST HIT: HALLELUJAH

You rarely match the high or the sales of your coronation X Factor winning single, and certainly it proved so for Alexandra Burke who sold 576k in her first week and a million copies in total of “Hallelujah”. Two more chart toppers followed in quick succession but a flop of a second album pretty much killed her career dead.

Posted by: Gezza 18th May 2017, 08:25 PM

31. LILY ALLEN (3,063,000)



16 HITS 2006-2013

BIGGEST HIT: THE FEAR

Remember when Myspace could launch pop careers? That’s what happened back in 2006 when Allen became a chart topper with “Smile”, her mix of forthright opinions and catchy tunes made her ideal fodder for the press and a second album proved just as popular with “The Fear” spending a month at the top. Four years later her version of “Somewhere Only We Know” gave her a third No 1 before she was back to controversy with “Hard Out There”.

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Personal highlight

Posted by: Gezza 18th May 2017, 08:31 PM

30. KE$HA (3,143,000)




12 HITS 2009-2013

BIGGEST HIT: TIK TOK

It started out so well, signed by Dr Luke at 18 she broke as a feature artist on Flo Rida’s 2009 No 1 “Right Round” before the mighty “Tik Tok” became a massive hit. Her overtly sexual and let’s be honest, slightly trashy, image didn’t endear her to everyone but 4 more top 10 singles before the end of 2013 don’t lie. In early 2014 she went into rehab and then promptly filed a lawsuit against Dr Luke making various allegations that were eventually dismissed by the courts.

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Personal highlight

Posted by: Ne Plus Ultra 18th May 2017, 08:54 PM

Gezza, out of curiosity's sake, are you planning a girl group list anytime soon (though it probably won't be 100)?

Posted by: Gezza 18th May 2017, 09:02 PM

Not at present no- there are a few things I'm working on though!

Posted by: cqmerqn 18th May 2017, 10:01 PM

Thought Lily Allen would be higher

Posted by: Gezza 19th May 2017, 04:49 PM

29. GABRIELLE (3,177,000)



18 HITS 1993-2007

BIGGEST HIT: IF YOU EVER

Who thought Gabrielle would be in the top 30? Creating chart history when “Dreams” became the first debut single to debut as high as No 2 and she spent the rest of the 90s accumulating another 9 top 30 hits. Come the new decade and her Bob Dylan sampling “Rise” returned her to the top and was followed in 2001 by a million selling GH compilation and then it went downhill rather rapidly.

Posted by: Gezza 19th May 2017, 05:07 PM

28. TAYLOR SWIFT (3,282,000)



18 HITS 2009-2013

BIGGEST HIT: I KNEW YOU WERE TROUBLE

She’s gone on to sell another couple of million since 2013 obviously, but without the whole “1989” era Swift still makes the top 30 on our list. From country star to international popstar her transformation has been remarkable and she’s probably the biggest female popstar at the moment. The album “Red” was the album that broke her as a major star here in the UK where a high profile relationship with a certain Harry Styles helped her to become tabloid fodder.


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Personal highlight

Posted by: Gezza 19th May 2017, 05:16 PM

27. TINA TURNER (3,285,000)



38 HITS 1983-2010

BIGGEST HIT: WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT

From the theme to “Mad Max” to a bond theme, a perennial favourite in “The Best”, and even a dance overall in the late 90s, Turner’s career has it all. After charting with husband Ike in the 60s and 70s Turner went solo picking herself up after walking out on Ike and her existing career after suffering domestic violence. She proved she could do it all on her own with a string of highly successful singles and albums well into the 90s.

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personal highlight

Posted by: SamJudd 19th May 2017, 05:35 PM

Alexandra Burke = So much potential and if it wasn't for that major falling out with Simon Cowell and switching labels, then her career would have lasted longer (or at least got past her 2nd album), Plus it didn't help that 'HOH' was awful, doubt she'll ever comeback now, career totally dead in the water. But she did have some decent tunes back in the day 'Bad Boys' & 'All Night Long' are both still great.

Lily Allen = Her first 2 albums were amazing and loved the singles such as 'Smile', 'LDN', 'The Fear' & 'Who'd Have Known' are some of my faves from her, and always liked her quirky style that made her stand out amongst the rest. It was a shame things went wrong with the 3rd album 'Sheezus' and it's awful singles choices apart from the criminally underrated 'Hard Out There' which was awesome. I know it was down to record label meddling as to why the better tracks didn't get released as they were deemed not commercial enough. But gladly she's making a comeback this year and hopefully it will be great.

Kesha = I actually like her 'Tik Tok' was and still is awesome and her 2nd album 'Warrior' was really underrated as there were much better tracks that could have been made singles, but again label meddling stunted her potential and that whole terrible business with the court case that's hindered her career for the time being. Hope she can bounce back from all this and make something great again.

Posted by: SamJudd 19th May 2017, 05:47 PM

Gabrielle = She's had some great stuff back in the day and still enjoy listening to her greatest hits from time to time 'Dreams', 'Going Nowhere', 'Give Me A Little More Time', 'Sunshine', 'Rise', 'When A Woman' & 'Out Of Reach' are to name a few, such an amazing singer whose had a great career, shame we don't hear from her anymore.

Tina Turner = Another fantastic singer with an amazing voice and really enjoyed 'What's Love Got To Do With It' the movie about her life and always admired her strength and how she pulled herself through and made one of the most successful comebacks in music history and really showed that you don't have to be 20 something to get big hits, those were the days. 'Private Dancer', 'The Best', 'What's Love Got To Do With It', 'Steamy Windows' & 'Typical Male', all fantastic.

Posted by: Jordan Lee 19th May 2017, 06:11 PM

Random post but definitely think some of my personal
00's favourites have missed out now. Dido

Posted by: GTH 19th May 2017, 10:45 PM

Glad to not see Janet and Leona yet.

Posted by: cqmerqn 20th May 2017, 08:38 AM

Ellie still to come

Posted by: Gezza 20th May 2017, 12:10 PM

26. KIM WILDE (3,293,000)



30 HITS 1981-1996

BIGGEST HIT: KIDS IN AMERICA

Her debut hit remains her biggest but oddly Wilde remains one of the highest females on this list never to hit the top of our charts. Odder still that she went to No 1 in the US, but as the daughter of 60s pop star Marty Wilde she was the 4th best selling female act of the 80s with eight top 10 singles, her highest peaking tracks both made No 2 held off by Shakin Stevens in 1981 and Berlin in 1986.

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Personal highlight

Posted by: cqmerqn 20th May 2017, 12:14 PM

Ellie top 25

Posted by: Gezza 20th May 2017, 12:20 PM

25. AMY WINEHOUSE (3,446,000)



14 HITS 2003-2011

BIGGEST HIT: VALERIE

Her death at age 27 ensured that Winehouse’s reputation as cultural icon would remain for some time to come. Of course shortly after “Back To Black” was released she became equally famous for her erratic personal life and her battles with drink and drugs which all played out in the public eye. The sales and the hits continued to accrue and of course post death she has continued to sell healthy amounts of her back catalogue.

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Personal highlight

Posted by: Gezza 20th May 2017, 12:25 PM

24. CHERYL COLE (3,483,000)



8 HITS 2008-2012

BIGGEST HIT: FIGHT FOR THIS LOVE

After shifting over 3 million singles with Girls Aloud, Cole went solo with a feature on Will.i.am’s “Heartbreaker” before going fully solo with “Fight For This Love”. Helped by her judge status on “X Factor” (then at its height really) it was a golden time for her when she became the “Nation’s sweetheart” apparently and sold a million singles in both 2009 and 2010 while the tabloids filled with her failed marriage to Ashley Cole and various dalliances since. Still you can’t argue with a million seller.

Discography



Personal Highlight

Posted by: cqmerqn 20th May 2017, 12:28 PM

Cheryl has some tunes

Posted by: 360Jupiter 20th May 2017, 12:52 PM

Cheryl, for all the criticism she gets, has always done safe, on-trend pop pretty well with few missteps.

Not many ex-group members have that kind of consistency. (with certain very obvious exceptions, but then they were top-tier from the off)

Posted by: Jamie Barkley 20th May 2017, 01:40 PM

Fight For This Love, Parachute, Promise This, Call My Name, Under The Sun and Crazy Stupid Love are all darn fine pop records. Cheryl's got her limitations as a singer, yes, but she's a hell of a performer and with such consistent output (though never reaching Girls Aloud's heights in my view) it's no surprise she turned into such a successful solo act.

Posted by: Dmdr 20th May 2017, 06:20 PM

Be interesting to see how Cheryl fairs when she comes back with new music in the streaming age.

Posted by: cqmerqn 20th May 2017, 09:22 PM

I can't really see radio eating up a new Cheryl single.

She'll never get a hit ever again.

Posted by: Rob Spears 20th May 2017, 09:27 PM

She's a mom now.

Posted by: Dmdr 20th May 2017, 09:30 PM

I actually think she'll get the usual support from Radio 1 and Capital when she returns, but if the song isn't up to scratch then I can see them dropping her pretty quickly. She is still a big name draw and there will be 'hype' around her return as it will be her first release since becoming a mum, which the media will of course run with.

Posted by: cqmerqn 20th May 2017, 09:31 PM

I suppose Liam Payne fans will buy it too

Posted by: sammy01 20th May 2017, 10:49 PM

It will have some connection to him I bet, he will either write it, be featured on it or it be about him. Cheryl's career is about selling not about a passion for making music.

Posted by: vibe 21st May 2017, 07:55 AM

Really surprised that If You Ever has outsold dreams and rise.

Posted by: Gezza 21st May 2017, 08:20 AM

23. ALICIA KEYS (3,647,000)



17 HITS 2001-2012

BIGGEST HIT: EMPIRE STATE OF MIND

Always a bigger star in the US than she has been here (Her first single “Fallin” spent 6 weeks at No 1 there, making No 3 here), and whilst she had a middling career here until 08 until her duet with Jack White on “Another Way To Die” commenced her most consistently successful period. She scored 6 top 10 singles on the trot and a million selling album as the UK finally seemed to “get” her.

Discogaphy



personal highlight

Posted by: Gezza 21st May 2017, 08:26 AM

22. ELLIE GOULDING (3,869,000)



13 HITS 2009-2013

BIGGEST HIT: BURN

Another “Sound Of” winner who’s earned her accolade, surely Goulding will be up there with the best sellers of the decade in a few years’ time. In her first 4 years she’d scored eight top 20 hits, though only “Burn” had gone all the way, got the gig of performing the John Lewis advert song and performed the first dance at the royal wedding of Kate and William.

Discography



Personal highlight

Posted by: Gezza 21st May 2017, 08:30 AM

21. EMELI SANDE (4,303,000)



14 HITS 2009-2013

BIGGEST HIT: BENEATH YOUR BEAUTIFUL

Initial hits with Naughty Boy, Chipmunk and Wiley set her up in the credibility stakes but her career really went into overdrive when her debut album “Our Version Of Events” went stratospheric and she was everywhere for a while. Ironically she’s only made No 1 twice and on both occasions it took duets to do it namely with Labrinth and Professor Green.

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Personal highlight

Posted by: T Boy in Weeyals 21st May 2017, 08:40 AM

Seeing Ellie Goulding and her cheese grating voice higher than the amazing Alicia Keys is pretty vomit inducing.

I'm yet to hear anything else as good as Heaven from Emeli Sande.

Posted by: cqmerqn 21st May 2017, 09:11 AM

Ellie

She's probably at around 6 million now

Posted by: Scene 21st May 2017, 07:53 PM

Leona top 20!

Posted by: michaelkyliefan 21st May 2017, 10:04 PM

Kylie will no doubt be top 10 😀

Posted by: SamJudd 21st May 2017, 11:39 PM

Kim Wilde - Huh thought she would have sold more than that as she was pretty huge in the 80's and really enjoyed some of her hits 'Kids In America', 'Cambodia', 'You Came' & 'You Keep Me Hangin' On' which was an awesome cover and definitely stands as one of the best covers ever.

Amy Winehouse - An amazing talent that was taken away from us far too soon, 'Back To Black' was an incredible album that will stand the test of time for many years to come, it would have been interesting to see what she would have done next, but sadly we'll never get to see that. 'Rehab', 'You Know I'm No Good', 'Back To Black', 'Tears Dry On Their Own', 'Valerie' & 'Love Is A Losing Game', such an amazing run of singles from one album,

Cheryl = She's okay, always found her a bit hit and miss, 'Fight For This Love' was an amazing debut single, but weren't keen on '3 Words' single or the album itself, apart from the lead single & 'Parachute', to be honest I didn't like Will.i.am's production on it and he's plastered all over that album and it's a bit much. Plus always found her more of a singles artist and never found her albums enjoyable, especially her 2nd album 'Messy Little Raindrops' which was awful. Apart from a few enjoyable singles 'Call My Name' & 'Crazy Stupid Love', I find her rather overrated.

Posted by: SamJudd 22nd May 2017, 12:02 AM

Alicia Keys - Highly underrated over in the UK, she's such a great singer and her first 4 albums are fantastic, can't believe songs like 'You Don't Know My Name' & 'if I Ain't Got You' didn't make the top 10, but was glad that 'No One' became a big hit here and the album 'As I Am' is fantastic and deserved much bigger sales in the UK than it did. But glad that 'The Element Of Freedom' became a smash and had a decent run of top 10 hits which was totally deserved, 'Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart' remains my favourite song of hers and both versions of 'Empire (State Of Mind)' are fantastic. She should bring out a greatest hits album already and would love to hear songs like 'Fallin', 'A Woman's Worth', 'Teenage Love Affair', 'Like You'll Never See Me Again', 'Doesn't Mean Anything', as well as the songs I've mentioned all on one album.

Ellie Goulding = Another amazing singer and love her 2nd album 'Halcyon Days' is still fantastic and is what made me a fan of hers and she always continue to impress me with some brilliant songs like 'The Writer', 'Anything Could Happen', 'Burn', 'How Long Will I Love You', 'Goodness Gracious' & 'Love Me Like You Do'. She has such a unique voice and shows more versatively than a lot of female singers that are around at the moment. Shame her 3rd album 'Delirium' was as successful and we only got 3 singles, okay it wasn't as strong as her first 2 albums, but there was still some potential on there 'Lost And Found' should have been a single at least, as that would have been a much better choice than 'Army'.

Emeli Sande = She's got a great voice and everything, but honestly I never saw the huge fuss with her as didn't really connect with her, however did enjoy some of her songs 'Next To Me', 'Beneath You're Beautiful' & 'Clown' they were all decent. It does seem however that she's another artists whose struggling since the new chart rules with streaming and that as her 2nd album doesn't seem to doing all that great and none of the singles have been that successful,, her last song tanking at #78 isn't a good sign is it.

Posted by: Gezza 22nd May 2017, 04:38 PM

A reminder before we start the top 20 that I use the old Gallup figures and the "Higher" figures for the 1994-96 period which do not tally the official OCC estimates for sales of artists pre 1996. As a consequence the older acts may have figures lower than the OCC provide as it had become clear in doing this that the official lists must contain shipment figures and/or official certifications for this period and not panel sales. This will become clear now we are in the top 20.

Posted by: Gezza 22nd May 2017, 04:46 PM

20.JENNIFER LOPEZ (4,328,000)



25 HITS 1999-2013

BIGGEST HIT: ON THE FLOOR

Certainly for a time the biggest female act in the world (around 2001-03 period), her first 17 singles all went top 20, she scored 4 US chart toppers and 2 UK No 1’s to boot. She also ran a commercially successful film career during the period and a high profile relationship with actor Ben Affleck led to the “original” portmanteau couple “Bennifer”. All of that whilst becoming the first woman to win FHM’s Sexiest Woman vote two years running.

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Personal highlight

Posted by: pippa 22nd May 2017, 04:48 PM

Pink, Celine Dion, Kylie and Madonna are safe top 10 placements on this list i would believe.

Posted by: Gezza 22nd May 2017, 04:59 PM

19. CHER (4,337,000)



27 HITS 1987-2013

BIGGEST HIT: BELIEVE

Famous as an actress for most of the 80s Cher’s return to music in 1988 heralded another decade in the top flight ending with her biggest hit ever, the 1.6 million selling “Believe” which set off a mini fad for the vocoder as an instrument in its own right and set the template for dance makeovers for other 60s singers like Diana Ross, Tina Turner and Lulu.

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Personal highlight

Posted by: vibe 22nd May 2017, 06:22 PM

I do love me some J.Lo but I do question if she has had any songs that will stand the test of time ?
Which cant be said for the other females in this top 20 (I predict) .

Posted by: 360Jupiter 22nd May 2017, 07:56 PM

To me the most surprising thing about Ellie Goulding is her inconsistency.

I've always imagined she has two fanbases, a fanbase that likes the more alternative stuff, and a fanbase that likes her ballads and slow work, because there's such a big contrast between the two types of tracks she releases. Pretty consistently, her tracks that do best are the most middle-of-the-road and pandering ones.

Same could be said for Emeli Sande. Heaven was a great track and everything she's done since has got increasingly beige. I remember when she did the Olympics all the comments from people who couldn't believe she was a modern artist and only in her 20s for the kind of songs she was doing.

JLo and Cher together is fitting; JLo being the only one of the ladies from her generation who's successfully reinvented herself as a 'cool grown woman'/'milf'/dancefloor queen like Cher did with Believe. I've always thought at some point Madonna should transition to that kind of image, although fair play to her for pushing boundaries even in this stage of her career.

Posted by: SamJudd 22nd May 2017, 08:18 PM

Jennifer Lopez = She was great back in the day and couldn't do no wrong, although again I've always found her more of a singles artist than albums artist. These days though she's more hit and miss (mainly miss). But she has had some great songs 'If You Had My Love' & 'Waiting For Tonight' are both still awesome and class them as modern classics and others I like from her 'Let's Let Loud' (why wasn't this given a UK release as it would have sure smashed), 'I'm Real' (the normal pop version, not the awful Ja Rule remix), 'Ain't It Funny' (both versions are great), 'I'm Gonna Be Alright', 'Get Right', 'On The Floor', 'Papi', & 'Live It Up'.

Cher = One the greatest Diva's of alltime and she's a fantastic actress as well to boot, her music in the 80's and 90's was probably some of her best with classics like 'I Found Someone', 'If I Could Turn Back Time', 'Shoop Shoop Song', 'One By One', 'Save Up All Your Tears' & of course the dancefloor classic 'Believe'.

Posted by: StephenN18 23rd May 2017, 10:44 AM

What sales do you have for Believe Gezza? Up to the end of 2013 the sales were 1.79 million so just wondering if you've included the download sales.

Posted by: Gezza 23rd May 2017, 04:44 PM

I probably just quoted the 90s figure- doh! Downloads are included

Posted by: Gezza 23rd May 2017, 04:53 PM

18. LEONA LEWIS (4,405,000)



17 HITS 2006-2013

BIGGEST HIT: BLEEDING LOVE

Her debut single became the fastest selling debut ever by a female soloist, then the album became the fastest selling debut by a woman as well, yes the X Factor found its most successful female winner all the way back in 2006. “Bleeding Love” hammered home the message as it topped charts on both sides of the Atlantic and by the end of 2013 she scored an 8th top 5 single- a record for a UK Female act.

Discography



Personal highlight

Posted by: Gezza 23rd May 2017, 05:00 PM

17. DIANA ROSS (4,424,000)



41 HITS 1980-2005

BIGGEST HIT: CHAIN REACTION

For an act that transcended chart fads for much of her career it seems odd that we’ve not seen Ms Ross in the charts for fast approaching 20 years now (I’m ignoring THAT Westlife duet obviously). I can’t say anything new about her career that hasn’t been said before, she’s the oldest lady on our survey, after Barbra Streisand, at 73 years old now.

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Personal highlight

Posted by: 360Jupiter 23rd May 2017, 05:22 PM

Leona Lewis's career is the definition of hit and miss. Looking back I wonder why Syco ended up squandering her - fair enough to not be invested in your acts, but Leona was a ready-made cash cow just needing to be pointed in the direction of decent, middle of the road pop songs. Just a little positoning and she could've made them millions more instead of only having the few hit singles.

As for Diana Ross, wow she has a lot more tracks than I could've recalled out of my head. Diana Ross chart hit songs would be a great Pointless category.

Posted by: vibe 23rd May 2017, 06:27 PM

Leona what a voice but zero personality or star power. She's so hard to connect with , she was not a entertainer .

Posted by: pippa 23rd May 2017, 07:28 PM

I totally agree on Leona Lewis. She has released some wonderful songs but she has no presence about her. I dont think she ever managed to develop her personality on tv or in interviews which always weakened her star power. She appeared as nervous as she said when auditioning on X Factor.

Posted by: SamJudd 24th May 2017, 04:28 PM

Leona Lewis = I really liked her when she brought her first album 'Spirit' and it's singles, 'Bleeding Love' is a definite classic and thought that she would have had a huge career, but she seemed to steadily decline with each album, 'Echo' & 'Glassheart' had such potential and were packed with great potential hits that never saw the light of day, for instance why wasn't the title track from the latter made a single, it could have been huge. But now it seems that her time has passed and so much wasted potential.

Diana Ross = Now yes she's another great alltime diva and if her sales from the 70's were added to this, then she'd definitely be in the top 10. Her cover of 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough' is one of the best covers ever, and she's had so many great songs 'Surrender', 'I'm Still Waiting', 'Do You Know (Where You're Going To)', 'Love Hangover', 'The Boss', 'Upside Down', 'It's My Turn', 'I'm Coming Out' (The Ultimate gay anthem), 'Why Do Fools Fall In Love', 'Chain Reaction' & 'One Shining Moment' to name a few.

Posted by: Gezza 24th May 2017, 04:52 PM

16. JESSIE J (4,701,000)



16 HITS 2010-2013

BIGGEST HIT: PRICE TAG

Graduating from BRIT school in the same year as Adele and Leona Lewis she took slightly longer to graduate to the charts but did write “Party In The USA” for Miley Cyrus whilst she waited. Worth the wait though, in her first year she sold 2.4 million singles and scoring 8 top 10 singles including a couple of chart toppers, even her album sold a million. Since then she’s proved to be rather a marmite character to say the least.

Discography



personal highlight

Posted by: Gezza 24th May 2017, 05:00 PM

15. JANET JACKSON (4,756,000)



38 HITS 1986-2009

BIGGEST HIT: TOGETHER AGAIN

Another act who’s been far bigger in the States than here though she’s put in a none too shabby performance here either with 14 top 10 singles. Amazingly she’s never had a No 1 single and only one album “Janet” has gone all the way, “Nipplegate” finished her career really on both sides of the Atlantic- an inglorious end to a great career.

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Personal highlight

Posted by: vibe 24th May 2017, 05:09 PM

What a superstar Janet is her career finished for me after the All For You album.
Velvet Rope and Control are my fav albums .

Posted by: Rob Spears 24th May 2017, 05:48 PM

Surprised Christina Aguilera is still here, but then I remembered she featured on Moves Like Jagger and I presume Lady Marmalade and also Feel This Moment will count?

Posted by: BigMixer 24th May 2017, 05:52 PM

Is Gaga in the top 5? Can't wait to find out!

Posted by: T Boy in Weeyals 24th May 2017, 06:01 PM

Ugh at Jessie 'the Devil' J being this high.

I mean, really UK, what's the f***ing joke?

Posted by: Cremey 24th May 2017, 06:22 PM

Janet 😍

'The Velvet Rope' is one of my favourite albums of all time. 'Janet' would also be pretty high up there too, she's such a great artist. It's a shame she hasn't been popular for a long while now, 'Unbreakable' was pretty good! 'No Sleeep' in particular 👌🏼

Posted by: Rob Spears 24th May 2017, 06:32 PM

Not sure about Top 5. Maybe Britney, Madonna, Katy Perry, Rhianna and Beyoncé?

Posted by: Cremey 24th May 2017, 06:34 PM

Looking forward to seeing where Rihanna is. Surely top 3.

Posted by: Rob Spears 24th May 2017, 06:36 PM

I reckon #2 just behind Madonna

Posted by: Fruity 25th May 2017, 01:39 AM

Really?

Posted by: michaelkyliefan 25th May 2017, 05:53 AM

Kylie is surely top 10 or 5

Posted by: Rob Spears 25th May 2017, 08:46 AM

No need to roll your eyes.

Posted by: Gezza 25th May 2017, 05:27 PM

14. NICKI MINAJ (4,941,000)



23 HITS 2010-2013

BIGGEST HIT: STARSHIPS

No lady yet to feature on our list made her chart debut as recently as Ms Minaj, during that time though she’s racked up the hits with speed including 6 top 10 singles (though her only chart topper came after the cut off date for this survey). Since then she’s supported Britney Spears on tour, duetted with Madonna and become a judge on American Idol where her run-in’s with Mariah Carey became very high profile.

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Personal highlight

Posted by: Gezza 25th May 2017, 05:33 PM

13. ADELE (5,868,000)


11 HITS 2008-2012

BIGGEST HIT: SOMEONE LIKE YOU

Whilst “19” was a reasonably selling album generating the No 2 hit “Chasing Pavements” she was no more than just another BRIT school graduate with a couple of hits to her name. Of course “21” came along in 2011 with THAT performance on the BRITS and sent her stratospheric on both sides of the Atlantic and really started the sales rolling in including the million sellers “Someone Like You” and “Rolling In The Deep” and she rounded off the period with a James Bond theme. She is now, well and truly the biggest selling British female solo singer of all time.

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Personal highlight

Posted by: vibe 25th May 2017, 05:54 PM

Minaj has only had 23 top 40 hits ?
Thought she featured on more .

Minaj next to Adele

Love them both

Posted by: T Boy in Weeyals 25th May 2017, 08:42 PM

Would live to see Pink go top 10 here but I think she'll fall just short.

Posted by: 360Jupiter 25th May 2017, 10:08 PM

Adele much lower than I expected!

Minaj has done well to get so high. Although the copious features will've helped her out, as they will've for Rihanna when she pops up.

Jessie J is an example of someone who was given all the help she could get by the media. While at the same time... just having something to her that's a bit like marmite. I never can decide how I feel about her.

Posted by: BigMixer 25th May 2017, 10:44 PM

Weird seeing Adele this low considering she holds the record for most 2x Platinum singles by a female (Make You Feel My Love, Rolling in the Deep, Someone Like You & Hello).

Posted by: Dmdr 25th May 2017, 11:04 PM

The figures don't include Hello, these sales are only from 1980 until 2013.

Posted by: awardinary 25th May 2017, 11:06 PM

This is my predicted remaining 12 and where they will probably finish;

12. Celine Dion
11. P!nk
10. Katy Perry
9. Christina Aguilera
8. Kylie Minogue
7. Mariah Carey
6. Beyoncé
5. Whitney Houston
4. Lady Gaga
3. Britney Spears
2. Rihanna
1. Madonna

Posted by: 360Jupiter 25th May 2017, 11:55 PM

I get the feeling Kylie may end up higher than Gaga...surely she would have had more hits over time than Gaga's brief hugely successful period. I'm sure she has more #1s.

Although I guess the breadth of downloads would play to Gaga's favour.

Posted by: vibe 26th May 2017, 07:30 AM

Mariah must be soon she has not set our singles chart on fire like many of the divas left. Not in this country anyway.

Posted by: Jamie Barkley 26th May 2017, 07:34 AM

I wouldn't discount Celine too early. Two million sellers and quite a few Gold singles afterall.

Posted by: Gezza 26th May 2017, 03:01 PM

12. CHRISTINA AGUILERA (5,927,000)



25 HITS 1999-2013

BIGGEST HIT: MOVES LIKE JAGGER

1999 saw the debut of two ladies who both rank in the top 12 on this list, first up is Aguilera who writhed onto the charts with the chart topper “Genie In A Bottle”. Significant career revamps firstly in 2002 then 2006 saw her morph from pop princess to slutty Christina to 30s Jazz singer. Since then she’s been married and divorced become a mother and scored her biggest hit via Maroon 5 though solo success has been….patchy.

Discography



Personal highlight

Posted by: Gezza 26th May 2017, 03:09 PM

11. PINK (6,257,000)



28 HITS 2000-2013

BIGGEST HIT: JUST GIVE ME A REASON

OK so she’s never delivered that hit single that sweeps all before it and sells a million but for consistency she’s certainly one of the big players with 18 top 10 singles over 14 years. Pink took her name from the “Reservoir Dogs” character not her hair colour (which most thought when she first hit the charts).

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personal highlight

Posted by: aeroco 26th May 2017, 04:26 PM

Kylie has sold considerably more than the artists so far. Think she'll be top 5.

Posted by: Dannyboy 26th May 2017, 04:45 PM

Top 3 prediction -

1) Madonna
2) Rihanna
3) Kylie

Posted by: Rob Spears 26th May 2017, 04:49 PM

Agreed. I don't think anyone else (Britney, Whitney, Gaga) have sold enough to overtake Kylie. I expect Rhianna will be very close to Madonna though.

Posted by: T Boy in Weeyals 26th May 2017, 05:05 PM

I just knew Pink would be 11. What an amazing artist. She's been much more consistent than many on this list.

Posted by: sammy01 26th May 2017, 09:52 PM

Whether Rihanna is #1 or #2 in this she is surely #1 if we go to 2017 in pure sales and the most streamed female too.

Posted by: Gezza 27th May 2017, 10:44 AM

10. CELINE DION (6,545,000)



29 HITS 1992-2013

BIGGEST HIT: MY HEART WILL GO ON

Surely the second biggest selling act to win the Eurovision Song Contest (in terms of UK Single sales), Dion’s move into the Anglophile market in the early 90s marked the start of her career here. She soon became renown for easily delivering massive ballads which rivaled the other big balladier of the 90s, Mariah, she became the first female to score two million selling singles ever when “Think Twice” and “My Heart Will Go On” sailed past the mark on the way to making Dion the biggest selling female of the 90s.

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Personal highlight

Posted by: SamJudd 27th May 2017, 03:32 PM

Got some catching up to do

Jessie J = I do like her, but find her rather hit or miss in terms of singles, hated her first song 'Do It Like A Dude' but liked 'Price Tag' and the other singles from her first album, 'Domino' is still the best thing she's ever done in my opinion. Weren't keen on her 2nd album though the first 2 singles 'Wild' & 'It's My Party' didn't do anything for me, 'Thunder' I really liked though and why wasn't 'Sexy Lady' made a single it was surely the best track on the album. As for her 3rd album, didn't like it at all 'Bang Bang' just annoyed me after a bit and I just saw it as obvious trend jumping and only became successful because of the features on it.

Janet Jackson = Highly underrated over here in the UK and her albums up until 2004 were fantastic, especially 'Rhythm Nation' which had some cracking singles 'Miss You Much', the title track, 'Escapade' & 'Black Cat' and how none of them made the top 10 is criminal. 'The Velvet Rope', 'Control' & 'Janet' are also amazing and some of her other singles I love are 'What Have You Done For Me Lately', 'The Pleasure Principle', 'Again', 'Runaway', 'Together Again', 'Got Til' It's Gone', 'All For You' & 'Someone To Call My Lover' are all amazing.

Nicki Minaj = Never really been keen on her only like 'Super Bass' & 'Starships'.

Adele = An amazing singer and was quite surprised that she didn't get much notice when she first came out in 2008 and was overshadowed by Duffy. Funny how the tables have turned by their 2nd albums and look whose the bigger star now. '21' is definitely a modern classic with some of it's brilliant and well earned massive hits 'Rolling In The Deep', 'Someone Like You' & 'Set Fire To The Rain', as well as some of the album's other brilliant tracks 'Turning Tables' 'Don't You Remember' & 'Lovesong'. Her 3rd album '25' was also great although not as strong as '21', 'Hello', 'When We Were Young' & 'Water Under The Bridge' all amazing.

Posted by: SamJudd 27th May 2017, 03:39 PM

Christina Aguilera = Used to love her back in the day with her first 2 albums and singles 'Genie In A Bottle', 'Come On Over', 'Dirrty', 'Beautiful' & 'Fighter', but totally lost me with all that jazzy stuff she did with her 3rd album, then there was the awful 'Bionic' which she never bounced back from. She has an amazing voice, but find it all power and no substance.

Pink = Yes she's always been consistence and moving away from the R&B sound of her first album was a smart move and the pop rock stuff she does now is a million times better and she always makes brilliant albums 'Miszundastood', 'I'm Not Dead' & 'Funhouse' are all incredible and can't wait to see what she does next.

Celine Dion = Out of all the great divas out there, I've never really made a connection with her to be honest, but I do like some of her stuff 'It's All Coming Back To Me Now' is an amazing rock ballad and she totally nails the vocals, 'Because You Loved Me' & 'That's The Way It Is' are others I also like from her.

Posted by: aeroco 27th May 2017, 06:02 PM

I reckon...

3. Kylie - 10 million

2. Madonna - 17 million

1. Rihanna - ???

Posted by: Gezza 28th May 2017, 01:57 PM

09. MARIAH CAREY (6,924,000)



41 HITS 1990-2013

BIGGEST HIT: ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOU

Talking of Mariah……she’s had 18 US Chart toppers!! Much less here with a mere two to her name but she’s not done too badly as “New Whitney” as she was touted at the beginning. For much of the 90s she treated a pop path which established her as top 10 regular but her move into other genres met with mixed success and a very public breakdown in 2001 along with commercial flops harmed her bankability.

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personal highlight

Posted by: Jamie Barkley 28th May 2017, 02:41 PM

You know, with the exception of the Westlife collaboration and the rather by numbers Endless Love cover, I can't think of a single Mariah Carey release I haven't liked. No exaggeration.

Posted by: Gezza 29th May 2017, 10:06 AM

08. BEYONCE (7,550,000)



31 HITS 2002-2013

BIGGEST HIT: IF I WERE A BOY


After being pushed as a frontwoman in Destiny’s Child it was obvious that Beyonce would be a solo singer at some point and “Crazy In Love” didn’t disappoint with instant chart topping status. She scored 4 No 1’s in just 5 years as the sales racked up but the “I Am…Sasha Fierce” era saw her grab her biggest solo album and she remained a major draw throughout the 10’s though she hasn’t been at No 1 now for almost a decade.

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Posted by: BigMixer 29th May 2017, 10:30 AM

I guess this means Gaga is #7. Impressive that she managed to sell more than Beyonce in just 4 years (2009 - 2013)!

Posted by: vibe 29th May 2017, 12:49 PM

Beyoncé needs to release her best of compilation .
2 versions , single and double cd .

Posted by: Rob Spears 29th May 2017, 01:39 PM

I believe Gaga's sales were just ahead of Britney in 2012. I think Britney may come out ahead of her as her totals will include Scream & Shout, whereas Gaga only released Applause between 2012-2013.

Posted by: Gezza 29th May 2017, 01:54 PM

07. KATY PERRY (7,657,000)



17 HITS 2008-2013

BIGGEST HIT: FIREWORK

A woman who not only gave up Gospel music but ran away from it, Perry’s international arrival came with the faux lesbian “I Kissed A Girl” in 2008 a transatlantic chart topper (though you can catch her pre fame in the video for “Cupid’s Chokehold” by Gym Class Heroes as she was dated Travie McCoy at the time). She became the first woman to lift five US No 1 singles from an album during her “Teenage Dream” campaign with a sixth coming from the expanded album version though just two went all the way here.

Discography



personal highlight

Posted by: Zárate 29th May 2017, 11:53 PM

I really applause Katy Perry for seemingly being herself all the time and also not trying hard! I hope her current era goes back up after a hectic start.

Posted by: Fruity 30th May 2017, 12:46 AM

That's 5 years

Posted by: cqmerqn 30th May 2017, 06:28 AM

Katy really has messed it up this era.

Posted by: Gezza 30th May 2017, 04:56 PM

06. WHITNEY HOUSTON (8,064,000)



35 HITS 1985-2009

BIGGEST HIT: I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU

Before Mariah, Leona and Christina there was Whitney, the original 80s diva with the voice! Houston still holds the record for 7 straight US chart toppers though again the UK was, comparatively, a lesser market where she’s had just 4 number one singles. She did however turn “I Will Always Love You” into a 10 week chart topper (still a record for a woman which though equaled is not surpassed) and also made the biggest selling single by a woman until Cher came along. Later years saw her struggle with drug addiction and some awful “live” appearances but let’s not dwell on those.

Discography



Personal highlight

Posted by: GTH 30th May 2017, 06:00 PM

Whitney is such an icon. So much great music. Such a tragic last few years.

Despite her voice not being what it once was, I really enjoyed her last album. I look to you gets me all emotional

Posted by: Rob Spears 30th May 2017, 07:25 PM

Britney, Gaga and Kylie my three faves in the Top 5!

Posted by: michaelkyliefan 30th May 2017, 08:29 PM

Assuming Madonna & Kylie will be top 2, the rest will be Britney, Rihanna & Gaga, question is in what order?

Posted by: Cremey 30th May 2017, 09:25 PM

I think Rihanna could be above Kylie to be honest!
Gaga out next, surely?

Posted by: aeroco 30th May 2017, 09:34 PM

It's a 2 horse race between Madonna and Rihanna, Rihanna's massive downloads 2008-2013 means she will win.

Britney 5th then Gaga 4th but it will be close.

Posted by: danG 30th May 2017, 10:07 PM

1 Madonna
2 Rihanna
3 Kylie
4 Britney
5 Gaga

I think it'll be that

Posted by: No Sleeep 30th May 2017, 11:09 PM

I'm late at this but I'm glad to see my faves Janet as high as #15 and Mariah #9, okay they might not have been as big here but they are in no way, shape or form "local" as some people like to pretend

I hope Madonna is #1 and not Rihanna! Also hope Britney finishes above Gaga

Posted by: Jonjo 30th May 2017, 11:34 PM

I reckon Britney is next, coz 2004-2007 were AWFUL years for sales! (that's where 2 of Britney's signature and best selling hits are!)

Obviously I hope I'm wrong!

Posted by: BigMixer 30th May 2017, 11:44 PM

Yaas Gaga in the top 5 !

Posted by: Feel_The_Fever 31st May 2017, 12:04 AM

Great to see Kylie will be top 5 and hopefully top 3.

Posted by: vibe 31st May 2017, 09:54 AM

Can't believe gaga has outsold Whitney 😱

Posted by: Scene 31st May 2017, 10:00 AM

I think:

1. Rihanna
2. Madonna
3. Kylie
4. GaGa
5. Britney

I'm shocked Britney is so high tbh. Single sales were the pits when she was in the middle of her success.

Posted by: aeroco 31st May 2017, 10:04 AM

Yes but Britney had major success in 1999....those first 5 singles probably shifted 2.5 million.

Even the singles from In The Zone would have sold over a million combined. And she will have sold plenty of downloads up to 2013.

Gaga being so high up is impressive...her chart beating reign coincided with a time when download sales were at their peak....what do we think her Fame and Fame Monster singles shifted? 5 million plus combined? Would have to be if she is over 8 million.

Posted by: 360Jupiter 31st May 2017, 12:04 PM

Britney was, above anything, consistently successful in the UK, far more so than in the US where she released a lot of tracks that stalled in the charts.

The same for Katy Perry I would say. I wouldn'tve expected her to be as high as she finally made it.

Gaga is more like Beyonce (right now) having had one flash in the pan period of being absolutely huge but more niche success since. Singles-wise, at least, which seems to continue to be how we judge pop success levels. Beyonce's just unlucky that hers came at a time when sales across the board were comparatively lower. (and more expensive? than downloads)

Posted by: pippa 31st May 2017, 01:23 PM

Each artist remaining on the list has had a huge career, full of ups and downs but have lasted the test of time.

Rihanna, is the one i feel wont be remembered as much as the others in the future. Rihanna has had the hits but as a person i find her reasonably forgettable, that said i know so many will differ on this opinion.

Britney, music material is very hit and miss, her earlier material was her best and she peaked in that era. Britney in comparision to the others peaked and never fully reached her peak again, it was her personal life that often kept her in the public eye more than her music.

Madonna and Kylie are the two i feel peaked, faded (Kylie to a larger extent) came back and had just as much success all over again and that is what i enjoyed about their career, you could never fully write them off.

Posted by: Gezza 31st May 2017, 05:16 PM

05. LADY GAGA (8,228,000)



18 HITS 2009-2013

BIGGEST HIT: POKER FACE

Who can forget the impact of Gaga through the 09/10 period, marrying electro pop to arresting visuals immediately prompted those Madonna comparisons with which we’re so familiar. Perhaps over familiarity bred a little contempt with each subsequent era have a lesser impact than the last though the tunes continued to come and it’s now been 4 years since her last top 10 single but she did score 4 No 1 hits in just over a year back in the day- quite an achievement.

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personal highlight

Posted by: Rob Spears 31st May 2017, 05:51 PM

Slay Britney!

Posted by: michaelkyliefan 31st May 2017, 06:21 PM

Kylie, Madonna & Britney 😀👍
Rihanna........ meh 😕

Posted by: aeroco 31st May 2017, 06:22 PM

Great rundown...so Britney next...

Posted by: dandy* 31st May 2017, 07:05 PM

Gosh gaga really was massive for those 2 years wasn't she! She finished way higher than I would have expected her to, would never have thought she would be ahead of the likes of Whitney.

Posted by: sammy01 31st May 2017, 11:27 PM

Rihanna is the only one of the top 8 who can still score a huge hit, she had 3 million selling singles last year alone. She is the only one who is having continued success and has effortlessly become a streaming force too.

To which the time frame on this is a bit misleading, because those last 4 years and the induction of streaming has completely transformed the charts and Rihanna is the only one who has moved with it.

Rihanna doesn't need to be remembered as she is very much the present still unlike most other artists in this thread.

Posted by: Gezza 1st June 2017, 07:33 AM

The time frame is not "Misleading" it is clearly stated in the title and my explanation as to why this is the time frame is contained in the first post. I don't want to reopen the "streaming VS sales" debate because the whole thread was designed to avoid it but we need to compare like for like.

I don't dispute that Rihanna can still produce big hit singles probably more than any other act in the top 10 at least, but everyone is "selling"less than before because sales are nosediving including hers though as you note she has successfully made the transition to streaming whilst others struggle.

Has she sold more than any other female act to date? yes is the almost definitely the answer but I don't know the breakdown of her most recent hits so that's why I avoided the last 3.5 years. Did she do enough to pass Madonna by 2013 we'll see by the weekend.

Posted by: slowdown73 1st June 2017, 07:50 AM

My prediction;

1. Rihanna ☹️
2. Madonna
3. Kylie
4. Britney

Rihanna has sold a lot of singles in last 10 years so would expect she has now overtaken Madonna although Madge is far more worthy of winning the title. Kylie is likely to be 3 followed by Britney.

Posted by: sammy01 1st June 2017, 12:16 PM

Well I think the cut off point is designed to make sure Rihanna is 2 behind Madonna. But we shall see.

Posted by: Rob Spears 1st June 2017, 12:34 PM

I think is possible. IIRC in 2012, Madonna was around 6 million sales ahead of Rhianna, so I'm not sure whether in just over a year she could have caught up...

Posted by: michaelkyliefan 1st June 2017, 12:35 PM

Kylie definitely top 3, can't see her being number 1. Fingers crossed Madonna beats Rihanna then I'll be happy.

Posted by: Gezza 1st June 2017, 01:51 PM

Yes I know you do. You've stated that before. My reason is stated in the first post so I'm sorry if you feel that it has all been orchestrated to deny an act the top spot which you clearly like.

If there was some way of definitively separating sales from streaming yet I STILL used 2013 as the cut off and things panned out the way you anticipate then your argument would have merit. If you know of a way then please let me know.

Posted by: T Boy in Weeyals 1st June 2017, 04:45 PM

2013 is the best cut off point. After that, it's difficult to separate streams from sales and streaming gives way too much of an advantage to newer artists and it must be difficult to measure any streaming for most of the women in this countdown. Personally I hope Rihanna isn't no.1 because I don't like her and find a lot of her music forgettable. I don't like Madonna either but she is more memorable to me.

Posted by: Gezza 1st June 2017, 05:52 PM

04. BRITNEY SPEARS (8,383,000)



31 HITS 1999-2013

BIGGEST HIT: BABY ONE MORE TIME

As debuts go “Baby One More Time” must count as one of the more memorable, schoolgirl lust raised a few eyebrows at the time but it wasted little time shifting 1.4 million at the time. Her career can be seen in two parts, firstly as pop princess 99-04 where only 2 singles missed the top 10 and she racked up 16 top 10 hits with 5 chart toppers then the 07- present which might be more varied but with just 7 top 10 singles and a No 1 (in tandem with Will.i.am) in between of course she was in the paper’s for all the wrong reasons with a rollercoaster private life.

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Personal highlight

Posted by: :up: 29. Sigrid 1st June 2017, 06:02 PM

I feel like Lady Gaga's next era will be massive

Posted by: dandy* 1st June 2017, 06:03 PM

This thread is just a feature to document the sales between a period that Gezza can be certain about as a resource. Who cares if Madonna or Rihanna is #1 or #2? Even if Gezza had, for some bizarre untold reason, decided to commit this atrocious hate crime to all Rihanna fans then it doesn't really make the slightest difference, her sales and streams after 2013 still exist.

Posted by: 360Jupiter 1st June 2017, 07:18 PM

Britneys discography was interesting...I completely forgot Pretty Girls with Iggy Azalea was ever a thing...that was a weird time for pop music.

Kylie up next perhaps?

And on that point, I wonder how high Rihanna would end up if her features didn't count. Getting her on so many was genius by her management for getting her name and voice out there in lots of different genres.

Posted by: Bjork 1st June 2017, 07:46 PM

that's also a good point, I actually think featured singles shouldn't count the same as lead singles in this list
in all of Madonna's singles she's the lead singer, same cannot be said about Rihanna

Posted by: pippa 1st June 2017, 08:55 PM

A lot of Rihanna's big hits were features which will account for a lot of sales which was a good structure in her management. Maybe her having so many features makes me feel like she had less stand alone hits like others on the high end of the list.

Posted by: aeroco 1st June 2017, 09:43 PM

Never rated Britney until Blackout. Fantastic album. Circus great too. The last three less so but Glory better than BRitney Jean- although Work Bitch is an iconic release.

Shame she has been medicated since 2006. Though she was exceptionally irritating as a performer prior to the meltdown/ prescriptions. Many of the big early hits have aged well.

Kylie definitely next, clear in third, way down on the top 2. Actually think Rihanna will be number 2, think she needs streams to beat our MADGESTY.

Posted by: 360Jupiter 1st June 2017, 09:57 PM

Of course, on the flipside, even excluding features, Rihanna's released 49 singles since 2005. That's pretty impressive for a 12-13 year period.

Posted by: Fruity 2nd June 2017, 11:44 AM

This is literally not true AT ALL though.

Until the end of 2013 Rihanna had 21 top 5 hits of which 17 she was the lead artist. ie. only 4 were collabs.
She also had 4 million sellers and LTWYL was the only collab in there.
Rihanna is easily the biggest hit maker of her generation/the 21st century.

Posted by: FleetSeb 2nd June 2017, 02:04 PM

However We Found Love is the most dubious lead artist crediting of all time. That song is Calvin's through and through.

Posted by: Gezza 2nd June 2017, 05:34 PM

03. KYLIE MINOGUE (9,596,000)



49 HITS 1988-2012

BIGGEST HIT: CAN’T GET YOU OUT OF MY HEAD

From poster girl of Stock Aitken Waterman in the 80s/ early 90s onto dance diva then back to her pop roots, Kylie has doubtless lasted longer than almost every critic gave her in 1988. Her first 13 singles made the top 10 (a record at the time) before mixed results in the mid 90s came from flirtations with dance and Indie music, chart rebirth was seen in 2000 when a return to pop saw her back in flavour. “Can’t Get You Out Of My Head” became her first million seller and set her up for another decade of chart hits and she’s scored 34 top 10 singles in total since abandoning Ramsey Street nearly 30 years ago.

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Personal highlight

Posted by: aeroco 2nd June 2017, 09:47 PM

Love Kylie, what an achievement

Posted by: Fruity 3rd June 2017, 03:26 AM

Sure you can give him credit for the awesome production, but she still made it the huge hit it was.
I mean, Rihanna was coming off the Loud era with with like 7 top 10s in the past year.

Let's just say if the song had gone to Leona Lewis (as originally intended) with the same production, it probably wouldn't be one of the defining songs of the 2010s.

Posted by: michaelkyliefan 3rd June 2017, 07:43 AM

Shame Kylie wasn't number 2 😕

Posted by: Gezza 3rd June 2017, 02:29 PM

02. MADONNA (17,153,000)



69 HITS 1984-2012

BIGGEST HIT: INTO THE GROOVE

With 60 (different) top 10 hits few can now doubt the profound effect and influence that Madonna has exerted over the female vocalist field since her debut back in 1984. She was the bestselling singles act of the 80s with a videography that is filled with classics of the medium which pushed boundaries at the time and with 6 chart toppers in the decade she already lead the female field by the time we entered 1990. Whilst the 90s proved more challenging with a raft of new comers she still grabbed another couple of number one singles and indeed upped her tally to 13 (still the record) by the time the noughties ended. In recent years she’s appeared trend chasing rather than trend making but I suppose this is an inevitable move once you hit your 50s but she’s more than earned her place on this list.

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Posted by: No Sleeep 3rd June 2017, 02:36 PM

NOOOOOO

Not that I don't like Rihanna but the fact that she's sold more than the Queen of Pop is disgraceful and unfair

Posted by: Sigrid(ft.Quavo) 3rd June 2017, 02:44 PM

Rihanna is the queen of pop

Posted by: Liаm 3rd June 2017, 02:47 PM

Obviously nobody can touch Madonna's legacy but it's a testament to Rihanna's impact that she has beaten them all in just 12 years of her career *.*

Posted by: 360Jupiter 3rd June 2017, 03:19 PM

Wow I am shocked that Madonna was beaten into 2nd, even with her career resurgences Ray of Light, Confessions and post-4 Minutes.

Posted by: Gezza 3rd June 2017, 04:18 PM

01 RIHANNA (18,475,000)



44 HITS 2005-2013

BIGGEST HIT: WE FOUND LOVE

A figure that we can be pretty sure of (MW gave her total sales of 18.7 million in April 2014) Rihanna became the biggest selling female in UK Chart history at some point in 2013, a lead which will only stretch out as the years go by judging by her ability to seemingly be able to remain popular regardless of trends. Her tally of 8 chart toppers is beaten only by Madonna (she’s also had 9 No 2 hits to 2017 which proves how near she came to double figures in chart toppers) but she has undoubtedly dominated the charts over the last decade with 25 top 10 hits and an unprecedented 4 million sellers, more than any other female soloist! Congrats Rihanna the ultimate female sales machine!

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Personal highlight

Posted by: T Boy in Weeyals 3rd June 2017, 04:23 PM

I'm sort of glad Rihanna is no.1 just to shut up that pressed poster from a few days ago who accused Gezza of having an agenda against her.

The countdown has been really enjoyable, thanks for all the work Gezza.

Posted by: Gezza 3rd June 2017, 04:55 PM

Alas Sammy will only say I changed the end of the thread to make him look bad!

Posted by: Gezza 3rd June 2017, 04:55 PM

Here's the full rundown for your pleasure

100. SAM FOX (1,073,000)
99. CIARA (1,102,800)
98. BARBARA DICKSON (1,106,000)
97. TIFFANY (1,112,000)
96. SINEAD O’CONNOR (1,128,000)
95. TRACEY ULLMAN (1,129,000)
94. ANNIE LENNOX (1,132,000)
93. KATY B (1,149,000)
92. SONIQUE (1,154,000)
91. DINA CARROLL (1,190,400)

90. RANDY CRAWFORD (1,224,000)
89. SOPHIE ELLIS BEXTOR (1,252,000)
88. ELAINE PAIGE (1,256,000)
87. DUFFY (1,264,000)
86. MARTINE MCCUTCHEON (1,274,000)
85. GINA G (1,325,000)
84. FERGIE (1,363,000)
83. BJORK (1,370,100)
82.KERI HILSON (1,388,000)
81. ARETHA FRANKLIN (1,405,000)

80.BRANDY (1,507,000)
79.LOUISE (1,515,000)
78. JENNIFER RUSH (1,517,000)
77. YAZZ (1,522,000)
76. DANNII MINOGUE (1,562,000)
75. NENEH CHERRY (1,594,000)
74. AVRIL LAVIGNE (1,598,000)
73. BONNIE TYLER (1,615,000)
72. SINITTA (1,617,000)
71. GWEN STEFANI (1,623,000)

70. IRENE CARA (1,629,000)
69. LANA DEL REY (1,642,000)
68. OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN (1,653,000)
67. SARAH BRIGHTMAN (1,675,000)
66. CYNDI LAUPER (1,697,000)
65. CHAKA KHAN (1,700,000)
64. MYA (1,731,000)
63. KIM APPLEBY (1,743,000)
62. NATALIE IMBRUGLIA (1,751,000)
61. CHRISTINA PERRI (1,752,000)

60. CARLY RAE JEPSEN (1,772,000)
59. KIRSTY MACCOLL (1,801,000)
58. WHIGFIELD (1,808,000)
57. RITA ORA (1,831,000)
56. LEANN RIMES (1,860,000)
55. DONNA SUMMER (1,861,000)
54. BILLIE PIPER (1,875,000)
53. BARBRA STREISAND (1,881,000)
52. TONI BRAXTON (1,892,000)
51. SHEENA EASTON (1,915,000)

50. ALISON MOYET (1,944,000)
49. LISA STANSFIELD (1,972,000)
48. BELINDA CARLISLE (2,017,000)
47. GERI HALLIWELL (2,060,000)
46. MEL C (2,081,000)
45. SHANIA TWAIN (2,091,000)
44. KELLY CLARKSON (2,138,000)
43. MILEY CYRUS (2,175,000)
42. MARY J BLIGE (2,216,000)
41. KELIS (2,263,000)

40. SIA (2,290,000)
39. GLORIA ESTEFAN (2,314,000)
38. KATE BUSH (2,331,000)
37. PIXIE LOTT (2,555,000)
36. NICOLE SCHERZINGER (2,576,000)
35. SHAKIRA (2,831,000)
34. KELLY ROWLAND (2,851,000)
33. NELLY FURTADO (2,937,000)
32. ALEXANDRA BURKE (3,042,000)
31. LILY ALLEN (3,063,000)

30. KE$HA (3,143,000)
29. GABRIELLE (3,177,000)
28. TAYLOR SWIFT (3,282,000)
27. TINA TURNER (3,285,000)
26. KIM WILDE (3,293,000)
25. AMY WINEHOUSE (3,446,000)
24. CHERYL COLE (3,483,000)
23. ALICIA KEYS (3,647,000)
22. ELLIE GOULDING (3,869,000)
21. EMELI SANDE (4,303,000)

20.JENNIFER LOPEZ (4,328,000)
19. CHER (4,337,000)
18. LEONA LEWIS (4,405,000)
17. DIANA ROSS (4,424,000)
16. JESSIE J (4,701,000)
15. JANET JACKSON (4,756,000)
14. NICKI MINAJ (4,941,000)
13. ADELE (5,868,000)
12. CHRISTINA AGUILERA (5,927,000)
11. PINK (6,257,000)

10. CELINE DION (6,545,000)
09. MARIAH CAREY (6,924,000)
08. BEYONCE (7,550,000)
07. KATY PERRY (7,657,000)
06. WHITNEY HOUSTON (8,064,000)
05. LADY GAGA (8,228,000)
04. BRITNEY SPEARS (8,383,000)
03. KYLIE MINOGUE (9,596,000)
02. MADONNA (17,153,000)
01 RIHANNA (18,475,000)

Posted by: Gezza 3rd June 2017, 04:55 PM

My thanks as always to all who contributed and made the thread!

Posted by: DASHER77 3rd June 2017, 06:13 PM

Great post, but I'm sorry, I totally DISPUTE this list, it's not correct.

MADONNA is still the #1 best selling singles artist. The sales figures you give are incorrect. For example, at the end of 2012, the OCC published a list of the UK's best selling singles artists:

1. Madonna - 17.8 million in 2012, that's 700,000 less than you have for her now - you're wrong. We have the figure for Madonna now at 18.6 million.
2. Rihanna - 11.4 million in 2012. Don't tell me in 4 years she's sold a further 7 million singles in 4 years - with only 1 album and granted some good featuress - it doesn't add up. We have her far less than this...
3. Kylie Minogue - 10.2 million
4. Whitney Houston - 8.5 million
5. Lady Gaga - 7.236 million


Check out bbc newsbeat/article/20108318/madonna-beats-rihanna-as-uks-top-female-single-seller from the end of 2012 from the OCC.

According to the Official Charts Company, Madonna in 2012 had combined single sales of 17.8 million. That's 700,000 MORE 4 years ago than you have for today, and she's had 4 years of sales since then to be added (granted not huge amounts). So as much as I like your efforts, I'm sorry to say, but it's wrong. Your list isn't accurate. Please see my link from the end of 2012 as source material. OCC have confirmed to me Madonna is still #1.

Posted by: Sigrid(ft.Quavo) 3rd June 2017, 06:15 PM

Great thread, thanks!

Rihanna has probably surpassed 20 million now.

Posted by: Atonement 3rd June 2017, 06:32 PM

Queen of everything Rihanna at #1, who knew ?.

Posted by: aeroco 3rd June 2017, 06:46 PM

Excellent countdown, well done Gezza.

Riri's massive sales since her breakthrough year has been outstanding. Nobody would have said she would catch Madonna so quickly. Just so many massive selling hits.

Posted by: aeroco 3rd June 2017, 06:51 PM

Excellent countdown, well done Gezza.

Riri's massive sales since her breakthrough year has been outstanding. Nobody would have said she would catch Madonna so quickly. Just so many massive selling hits.

Posted by: Rob Spears 3rd June 2017, 06:54 PM

Wow, could you been any more rude?

Posted by: Gezza 3rd June 2017, 06:57 PM

Hi There

Welcome to the forum firstly.

To take your points in turn:

1- Madonna, I am aware of the list you mention, as I mentioned at the start of the thread my figures will differ from the OCC list as in doing this I have come to the conclusion that for acts before the OCC era (i.e pre 1994) they have used either shipment figures or record company figures for acts before that period. In the 80s she sold 7.4 million we know this as Gallup gave us the figures yearly for her sales and this is what it adds up to, similarly in the 90s she sold just over 5 million (this is using the higher multiplier for 94-96) this is again pulled from year end charts so we know it to be true. Her 00s sales come to 3.1 million- again we know this from her position in the list of best selling acts for the decade (there is some scope for movement but not too much)- this makes it 15.5 million up to 2009.

This decade, as you know, she's had 4 hits which have charted for 9 weeks in total, and thanks to regular updates we know that she isn't selling huge amounts of her back catalogue so the question really is how could have sold another 3 million in 3 years by the end of 2012?

2- Rihanna- as I noted in my write up the OCC stated her sales in March 2014 as 18.7 million so if you find this troublesome then you may want to ask the OCC. Here's the link to the sales post that week http://www.buzzjack.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=163919&st=0&start=0 I believe the 2012 figure did not include any collaborations where she was not the lead act- this is how they usually operate but I include all sales.

3- Kylie- as with Madonna I can't get it to over the ten million mark- we can account for 8.1 million to the end of 2009. We know she sold 522k in 2010 which only leaves "Higher" plus some minor hits to consider.

4- Whitney- much the same- it all relates to pre-OCC information and where they obtain it from- she makes 6.9 million to 2009 which is available to "evidence"

5- Lady Gaga- MW gave us a figure of 7.6 million in August 2013.

Finally- this list goes up to the end of 2013- you may have misinterpreted the time frame in addition to your other points.

Posted by: Regina 3rd June 2017, 08:40 PM

Kylie storming the top 3 like....



Coming for #1 when she releases her woke and personal new music *.*

Posted by: Rob Spears 3rd June 2017, 09:42 PM

Posted by: danG 3rd June 2017, 09:54 PM

Queen RiRi at #1 She's got such an outstanding discography.

Posted by: Fruity 4th June 2017, 09:27 PM

Well explained So basically the list in question overestimated the pre OCC era for Madonna and Kylie.
And you are definitely right that they didnt include collab numbers for Rihanna.

Thanks for the countdown, really interesting!

Posted by: Feel_The_Fever 5th June 2017, 12:43 AM

Thank you for such a great thread. Really happy to see Kylie top 3, always a legend in my eyes.

Posted by: DASHER77 6th June 2017, 08:56 AM

Thankyou for your polite reply, I'm sorry if I came accross as hostile. But my comments, still stand. Essentially, you've come up with your own figures and not recognised official figures from The Official Chart company. We could all do that. The 'list' I mention is one that we must adhere to. It's the one that all 'official' chart records come from.

Madonna sold 17.8 million according to the OCC and other sources up until the END of 2012. Rhianna sold 11.4 million.

The OCC figures and subsequent press at the end of 2012 have Madonna almost 7 million sales ahead of Rhianna. Your chart goes only until the end of 2013, so in fact your saying Rhianna sold close to 7 million in a year? No way. Your list is really fun but it's not correct, in my opionion. My figures do closely match those of the OCC. Madonna is still way out in front, especially in the time frame this list covers. Still, thankyou, I loved reading it (said in a totally non patronising way, I promise ) xxx

For the record, Rhianna in 2017 may be very close to Madonna, but not in the timeframe covered in your list, far far from it :-)

Posted by: Gezza 6th June 2017, 04:42 PM

Naturally I respect your opinion on the matter and of course you can discount what you please. I do not work for the OCC so I don't have access to their database.

I don't dispute that the OCC is the recognised authority on the charts and the one that will be reflected in chart statistics, however it does not therefore follow that it is unequivocally and at all times right, indeed it has been demonstrated, many times and over the years, to be in error and indeed be inconsistent in itself when it produces the lists. I gave a detailed explanation so that you can see how I had arrived at my figures and to be as transparent as possible, I doubt you would get such a response from the OCC on the matter.

They have also, on more than one occasion, stated that they do not hold figures for pre 1994 so it's anyone's guess how they have arrived at the figures they have.

As I also stated, the Rihanna figure comes from the OCC themselves in April 2014, so your argument is not with me on that one.