Every interesting I can't wait to see what this does for her back catalogue.

 

According to British Phonographic Industry (BPI), Madonna is the most certified artist of all time in United Kingdom, with 45 awards

From the OCC:

We show the Queen of Pop’s 1986 hit from the True Blue album some Pop Gem love.

 

There’s not a lot to say about Madonna that hasn’t been said already. Master of reinvention, Queen of Pop, ambitious Material Girl – she’s been called them all. When you’re talking about a star as huge as Madonna, so globally hyper-mega-famous and instantly recognisable to any music fan, it can be easy to forget why she became such a massive icon in the first place: she is very good at being a popstar and has all the tunes.

 

13 Number 1 singles in the UK

 

Her track record speaks for itself. She’s reached the peak of the Official Singles Chart 13 times – her first was Into The Groove in 1985 – and has enjoyed 12 Official Albums Chart Number 1s. Hit after hit after hit in a career spanning almost 30 years, from that very first UK chart entry in January 1984 (Holiday, which peaked at Number 6) to her most recent Top 40 entry Give Me All Your Luvin’.

 

Birthday girl

 

So in celebration of Madonna’s 55th birthday today, we thought it was about to time we showed a bit of love for the lady who paved the way for Kylie, Britney, Rihanna, Lady Gaga and a host of other female solo stars. Throughout her career she’s been unapologetic about expressing her sexuality and is always ready to get frank when necessary (and quite often when not, but that’s our Madge).

 

The Pop Gem problem

 

But which of Madonna’s track to pick as a Pop Gem? There are so many. We decided to cut out the Number 1s straightaway – as much as we love Into The Groove, Vogue, Music, Hung Up and the rest, they’ve had their time in the spotlight. So what about the classic tracks that didn’t make it to the top? We threw it out to our followers on Facebook and Twitter. Most of the suggestions were absolute corkers and we debated long and hard at Official Charts HQ, but the honour had to go to Open Your Heart, which made Number 4 at the end of 1986. The track was picked by Facebook follower James Masterton, a man of impeccable taste.

 

The Number 1 that should’ve been?

 

Open Your Heart suffered, in a way, from following the mega smashes Papa Don’t Preach and True Blue in 1986. Its parent album – also called True Blue – was an essential in every pop lover’s Christmas stocking that year and selling like rather warm baked goods, so Open Your Heart may have been overlooked simply because all the other tracks were so huge.

 

1986 was a stellar year for Madonna. The four singles she had in the Top 200 of the year sold just over 1.7 million copies combined in 1986. Papa Don’t Preach was the big one, coming in 8th for 1986 and shifting 583,000 copies that year. True Blue comes in next, selling 495,000 copies in ’86, the 11th best seller of the year. Open Your Heart settled for 170,000 sales in 1986 – not bad to say it was released in December. It managed to sell another 40,000 in 1987.

 

That notorious video

 

Its video caused quite a stir when first released, and featured Madonna playing the role of what you might call an exotic dancer if you were describing it to your gran. The video was also the first look the world got at Felix Howard – the rosy-cheeked 13-year-old who went on to be a magazine cover star and even co-wrote tracks for Sugababes and Amy Winehouse when he grew up.

 

We’re not quite sure how Madonna feels about Open Your Heart. While it was a staple of her first three tours, it was pretty much ignored in Madonna’s live sets for 22 years, before reappearing in 2012’s MDNA tour. We, however, love it, like a favourite cardigan (cashmere) or extra scoop of ice cream. It always makes us feel good.

A staple of her first 3 tours ?

From the OCC:

We show the Queen of Pop’s 1986 hit from the True Blue album some Pop Gem love.

 

 

1986 was a stellar year for Madonna. The four singles she had in the Top 200 of the year sold just over 1.7 million copies combined in 1986. Papa Don’t Preach was the big one, coming in 8th for 1986 and shifting 583,000 copies that year. True Blue comes in next, selling 495,000 copies in ’86, the 11th best seller of the year. Open Your Heart settled for 170,000 sales in 1986 – not bad to say it was released in December. It managed to sell another 40,000 in 1987.

This is the interesting bit from my point of view and again (as with so much of the OCC's stuff) differs from the Gallup figures on these hits (though not by much). They gave sales of 593k, 518k and 157k respectively :(

New Madonna BPI certifications! :cheer:

 

Singles

4 Minutes (ft. Justin Timberlake & Timbaland) [Gold]

Hung Up [Platinum]

Sorry [silver]

You'll See [silver]

 

Albums

MDNA [Gold]

The Confessions Tour [silver]

 

Videos

Drowned World Tour 2001 [Platinum]

I'm Going to Tell You a Secret [Gold]

In Bed With Madonna [Gold]

Music [Gold]

The Girlie Show: Down Under [Platinum]

The Immaculate Collection [Platinum]

The Ultimate Collection [Gold]

The Video Collection 93-99 [2x Platinum]

Thanks so much for posting Liam so great to see Hung Up finally platinum!! And all the others updated.

I'm pleased about the updates too but surprised to see there wasn't more album updates

That's a good point actually.

I don't think they've finished updating yet - someone mentioned in the Sugababes AF that there's still some Sugababes ones which need updating despite them updating some. However, all of her albums appear to be correct aside Hard Candy which should be Platinum (remember pre-1994 albums won't be automatically updated). As for her singles, 'Don't Tell Me' must be close to Silver but I wouldn't have thought it would have passed 200k just yet.

I didn't know that about pre 1994

I didn't know that about pre 1994

Not too sure why this is the case though. I could understand it if it was excluding anything pre-1990 (when the certifications were higher), but not sure about the reasoning for pre-1994.

They won't be updating pre 1994 as they don't have the figures- Gallup took their data with them when they lost the chart contract so they simply don't know. Having said that it doesn't stop them giving sales for the Beatles, Pink Floyd etc.

 

We also have a new figure for MDNA- 131,924 :D

They won't be updating pre 1994 as they don't have the figures- Gallup took their data with them when they lost the chart contract so they simply don't know. Having said that it doesn't stop them giving sales for the Beatles, Pink Floyd etc.

 

We also have a new figure for MDNA- 131,924 :D

Presumably Gallup still have the sales data though, so perhaps they pass on sales for acts like The Beatles and Pink Floyd as their albums are among the best sellers?

 

So MDNA has sold 3,100 copies this year! :mansoncheer:

Presumably Gallup still have the sales data though, so perhaps they pass on sales for acts like The Beatles and Pink Floyd as their albums are among the best sellers?

 

So MDNA has sold 3,100 copies this year! :mansoncheer:

Maybe but then I know that Gallup didn't have any data pre 1983 when they took over so it remains a mystery for sales before that point which were easily corruptible as they relied on sales assistants making notes of what they were selling and the chart was hyped quite openly.

Latest Shireblogger from Haven estimates for Madonna's million selling albums:

 

3,670k The Immaculate Collection

2,015k True Blue

1,730k Ray of Light

1,680k Like a Virgin

1,640k Music

1,365k Confessions on a Dancefloor

1,295k Like a Prayer

1,045k Something to Remember

From the OCC:

Robbie Williams, JLS and Jake Bugg are battling it out to score the 1000th Number 1 album on the UK’s Official Albums Chart.

 

Lady Gaga yesterday secured the 999th Official Number 1 in the 57-and-a-half year history of the UK’s Official Albums Chart – meaning that a new Number 1 this Sunday (November 24) will be the historic 1000th Number 1.

 

The albums set to fight it out for the honour of the 1000th Official Number 1 are Robbie Williams’ new album Swing Both Ways, the JLS greatest hits Goodbye and Jake Bugg’s second album Shangri-la. All three albums are released today (Monday, November 18), with initial sales reports set to show who is setting the early pace tomorrow morning (Tuesday).

 

The very first Number 1 album back in July 1956 was Frank Sinatra’s classic Songs For Swingin’ Lovers – in the chart compiled and published in Record Mirror magazine.

 

Since then, there have almost 3,000 different album charts published – with a colourful history, including a 1971 postal strike which prevented a rundown being published for several weeks (with George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass retrospectively crowned as the ex-Beatle’s only Number 1 with a solo studio album).

 

Over the six decades, The Beatles are the undefeated kings of the Official Albums Chart, with 15 Number 1s and 174 weeks at the summit – with Elvis Presley totting up the second biggest total of weeks (63 weeks, across 11 chart toppers), and Madonna the second biggest albums tally (12 Number 1s in total, spanning 30 weeks).

 

In the three and half years after the chart was launched in July 1956, 17 albums hit Number 1 during the 1950s. In turn, 56 albums topped the album chart in the 1960s, 147 did so in the 1970s, 182 in the 1980s, 215 in the 1990s and 269 in the 2000s. The 1000th Number 1 of all time will be the 114th of this decade.

 

“This is a hugely significant landmark in the history of the music industry,” says Official Charts Company chief executive Martin Talbot. “While the Official Singles Chart is the fast-moving, barometer of pop music tastes, the Official Albums Chart reflects the broader tastes of British music fans and their attachment to outstanding song collections.

 

“The list of albums which have topped the albums chart over the years underlines just how important it is, including iconic titles such as The Beatles’ Sgt Pepper… and Revolver, The Stones’ Exile On Main Street, David Bowie’s Aladdin Sane, Led Zepplin IV, Queen’s A Night At The Opera, Michael Jackson’s Thriller – right up to Amy Winehouse’s Back To Black, Adele’s 21 and Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories.”

 

The winner will be crowned this Sunday at 7pm, and the Official Albums Chart Top 100 will be posted in full, here.

 

TOP 10 ARTISTS BY WEEKS AT NUMBER 1

 

ACT WEEKS AT

NUMBER 1

1 THE BEATLES 174

2 ELVIS PRESLEY 63

3 ABBA 57

4 ROLLING STONES 45

5 SIMON & GARFUNKEL 40

6 CLIFF RICHARD (INC. CLIFF RICHARD & THE SHADOWS) 30

7 MADONNA (INC. MADONNA & VARIOUS ARTISTS’ EVITA OST) 30

8 MICHAEL JACKSON (INC. MICHAEL JACKSON PLUS THE JACKSON FIVE) 30

9 ROBBIE WILLIAMS 30

10 ELTON JOHN (INC. ELTON JOHN VS PNAU) 29

© 2013 Official Charts Company. All rights reserved.

 

TOP 10 ARTISTS BY NUMBER 1 ALBUMS

 

ACT NUMBER OF

NUMBER 1 ALBUMS

1 THE BEATLES 15

2 MADONNA (INC. MADONNA & VARIOUS ARTISTS’ EVITA OST) 12

3 ELVIS PRESLEY 11

4 ROBBIE WILLIAMS 10

5 ROLLING STONES 10

6 U2 10

7 MICHAEL JACKSON (INC. MICHAEL JACKSON PLUS THE JACKSON FIVE) 9

8 ABBA 9

9 BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN 9

10 DAVID BOWIE 9

© 2013 Official Charts Company. All rights reserved.

 

1000 OFFICIAL NUMBER 1 ALBUMS

 

1ST JULY 1956 SONGS FOR SWINGIN' LOVERS FRANK SINATRA

100TH OCT 1971 IMAGINE JOHN LENNON & THE PLASTIC

ONO BAND WITH THE FLUX FIDDLERS

200TH SEPT 1978 NIGHT FLIGHT TO VENUS BONEY M

300TH AUG 1984 NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL MUSIC III VARIOUS ARTISTS

400TH OCT 1989 WILD! ERASURE

500TH MAY 1994 OUR TOWN, THE GREATEST HITS OF DEACON BLUE DEACON BLUE

600TH NOV 1998 I'VE BEEN EXPECTING YOU ROBBIE WILLIAMS

700TH AUG 2003 MAGIC AND MEDICINE CORAL

800TH FEB 2007 NOT TOO LATE NORAH JONES

900TH JUNE 2010 TIME FLIES - 1994-2009 OASIS

© 2013 Official Charts Company. All rights reserved.

 

Notes: For the purposes of this analysis, the Official Albums Chart are the following rundowns: July 1956 to Nov 1958, Record Mirror Album Chart; Nov 1958 to March 1960, Melody Maker Album Chart; March 1960 to 1969, Record Retailer Album Chart; February 1969 to date – Official Album Chart. The statistics outlined in this release reflect the contemporary chart rules (as laid out by the music industry) at the time of chart publication. For instance, various artist compilations were admitted to the Official Albums Chart until January 1989, when they were excluded and appeared in their own Official Compilation Chart.

Quite impressive for Madonna to be the only female act in both of those given Top 10s. I have no idea which female soloist is closet to making the Top 10 of Most Number One Albums - I count 5 for Celine Dion and 6 for Barbra Streisand but they haven't got much chance of getting 9+. Even Rihanna and Lady Gaga are on 4 and 3 respectively.

How many as Kylie had ?.

She has 5 too - I forgot about Greatest Hits from 1992. If she releases her new album in the Spring when The Voice UK is on, she could potentially receive her sixth.

The OCC have revealed a list of artists by the amount of their #1 albums which allows me to work out a females only list:

 

01. Madonna : 12 (this list gives 11 so probably not counting Evita)

02. Barbra Streisand : 6

03. Celine Dion : 5

04. Kylie Minogue : 5

05. Rihanna : 4

06. Amy Winehouse : 3

07. Avril Lavigne : 3

08. Eva Cassidy : 3

09. Kate Bush : 3

10. Lady Gaga : 3

11. Norah Jones : 3

12. Susan Boyle : 3

 

Then it goes into artists with just one or two. Seems Rihanna has the best chance of overtaking but it will take many years, even though she seems to release an album every 5 minutes!