#61

Toto - Africa

 

 

A US #1 which until recently was the most streamed song from the 1980s in the UK.

 

Estimated sales: 3.14 million

Year: 1982

Chart run: 39-19-6-(3)-4-5-7-23-35-48-/-67 (11 weeks)

 

^ the streams for this song is so baffling to me !!

#60

A-Ha - Take On Me

 

 

The 1984 version only charted at #137, but the track evolved into a new wave classic showcasing Morten Harket's vocal range.

 

Estimated sales: 3.15 million

Year: 1985

Chart run: 55-36-14-5-(2)-2-2-3-5-12-14-23-34-37-33-32-38-44-68-/-75 (20 weeks)

 

#59

Tom Odell - Another Love

 

 

This famously held an even more streamed song out of the Top 10 when it peaked at #10 peak in 2013, a position it would reach again 10 years later.

 

Estimated sales: 3.16 million

Year: 2013

Chart run: 56-73-/-(10)-12-16-23-29-34-38-45-57-58-/-45-/-68-63-/-67-69-60-63-67-/-69-/-74-72-/-70-56-20-16-17-18-18-13-13-16-20-17-12-12-14-29-39-/-10-12-13-15-15-13-51-50-44-40-45-49-53-52-57-58-64-61-70-/-73-/-74-61-58-67-59-60-60-51-55-71 (70 weeks)

 

#58

David Guetta featuring Sia - Titanium

 

 

At the time Sia was a songwriter rather than a performer, and was not expecting her demo of this track to be the version released.

 

Estimated sales: 3.17 million

Year: 2011

Chart run: 16-31-53-/-61-8-3-2-(1)-2-4-5-7-8-6-7-8-7-11-19-19-15-21-26-32-39-39-43-39-31-30-35-36-43-50-55-/-59-56-57-69-63-61-48-56-57-39-48-63-75-/-47-60-/-47-38-37-66-/-71-/-58-59-61-65-/-60-74 (61 weeks)

 

#57

Eminem featuring Rihanna - Love The Way You Lie

 

 

Influenced by both artists' difficult past relationships and the biggest selling single of 2010 despite never topping the charts.

 

Estimated sales: 3.18 million including 1.28 million purchases

Year: 2010

Chart run: 7-6-4-3-(2)-4-4-2-2-2-4-7–6-6-11-14-21-28-29-30-30-29-36-40-30-39-37-27-30-37-43-53-57-55-56-55-58-72-73-/-75-/-58-52-66-/-65–/-48-51-/-56-45 (48 weeks)

 

#56

Dua Lipa - New Rules

 

 

Only the seventh single from her eponymous album, and apparently it was rejected by numerous artists before becoming a global smash for Dua.

 

Estimated sales: 3.18 million

Year: 2017

Chart run: 75-36-19-9-5-(1)-1-2-2-2-2-3-4-4-16-16-17-16-25-25-21-25-28-34-37-13-25-30-34-34-36-34-31-26-35-37-38-41-37-43-43-50-50-50-52-60-56-57-66-/-54-63-64 (51 weeks)

 

#55

Sam Smith - Stay With Me

 

 

A gospel inspired song from the hugely successful album "In The Lonely Hour".

 

Estimated sales: 3.19 million

Year: 2014

Chart run: (1)-2-2-4-5-6-7-10-10-13-16-13-13-16-15-16-15-12-16-23-27-23-15-17-18-16-21-29-28-25-19-22-23-27-24-27-31-33-23-25-25-30-33-31-34-41-42-50-50-52-57-52-56-59-63-63-65-74 (58 weeks)

 

#54

Survivor - Eye Of The Tiger

 

 

Written for the film "Rocky III" and the second biggest seller of 1982 behind "Come On Eileen".

 

Estimated sales: 3.21 million including 1.68 million purchases

Year: 1982

Chart run: 54-29-6-2-2-(1)-1-1-1-4-11-19-32-45-63-/-51-47-60-67-/-65 (20 weeks)

 

#53

Justin Timberlake - Can't Stop The Feeling

 

 

The biggest seller of 2016 in the US, from the soundtrack to the film "Trolls".

 

Estimated sales: 3.22 million

Year: 2016

Chart run: 3-(2)-2-2-2-3-3-5-6-9-11-11-11-15-13-18-18-23-28-29-27-26-28-29-29-30-32-32-38-44-54-56-55-39-21-40-44-47-52-50-47-52-57-59-59-/-71-68-73-/-71-71-/-71-68-/-74-71-71 (55 weeks)

 

#52

Whitney Houston - I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)

 

 

This New Year's party favourite has nowhere near the paid for sales of "I Will Always Love You" but is well ahead in total units.

 

Estimated sales: 3.23 million

Year: 1987

Chart run: 10-2-(1)-1-2-2-4-8-12-18-21-33-42-50-62-75-/-20-62-/-73-/-70-/-71-72-74-/-72 (24 weeks)

 

#51

Lukas Graham - 7 Years

 

 

A huge international hit for this Danish band about the life so far of frontman Lukas Forchhammer.

 

Estimated sales: 3.24 million

Year: 2016

Chart run: 24-6-(1)-1-1-1-1-2-2-3-4-6-8-10-13-15-16-17-20-22-27-32-33-34-36-44-49-49-58-59-63-64-72-74-64-70-74-/-73 (38 weeks)

 

#50

Sia featuring Sean Paul - Cheap Thrills

 

 

Originally intended for Rihanna, this is Sia's biggest hit as lead artist and a US #1.

 

Estimated sales: 3.27 million

Year: 2016

Chart run: 41-36-32-20-16-8-4-(2)-2-2-2-3-4-4-4-5-7-8-8-9-9-12-12-13-14-17-18-15-19-18-23-30-30-32-33-35-36-38-37-43-43-48-50-60-57-60-37-51-52-54-61-65-65-64 (54 weeks)

 

#49

OneRepublic - Counting Stars

 

 

Their only UK #1 to date, and the video has more than 4 billion YouTube views putting it in that platform's all time Top 20.

 

Estimated sales: 3.28 million including 1.16 million purchases

Year: 2013

Chart run: 43-30-20-17-13-2-4-3-(1)-3-1-3-5-6-11-12-16-17-19-22-10-10-10-13-14-17-24-23-26-34-36-32-30-22-19-30-42-44-45-50-51-58-49-50-53-57-59-70-61-50-43-42-54-51-51-62-63-63-66-74-/-59-/-68-/-70-54-67 (64 weeks)

 

#48

Fleetwood Mac - Everywhere

 

 

They have many heavily streamed hits but this receives the most and is currently in the Top 40 of 2024.

 

Estimated sales: 3.33 million

Year: 1988

Chart run: 29-13-5-(4)-10-16-21-32-50-66-/-15-29-54-65-/-75–/-74-65-69–75–/-66-72-61-72-/-66-/-70-/-75-75 (27 weeks)

 

#47

Clean Bandit featuring Jess Glynne - Rather Be

 

 

The fourth single from the group's debut album "New Eyes", and the breakthrough hit for both them and Jess Glynne.

 

Estimated sales: 3.34 million

Year: 2014

Chart run: (1)-1-1-1-3-3-3-5-7-8-8-9-12-16-16-18-22-21-23-23-25-28-32-24-28-27-29-29-26-26-30-34-31-29-30-32-35-39-43-40-35-43-48-56-60-58-50-46-50-28-30-39-40-49-51-49-50-44-45-39-44-46-44-48-52-57-57-65-66-72-73-70-74-/-63-66-/-68-72-72-/-70 (78 weeks)

 

#46

Ed Sheeran - The A Team

 

 

The first single from his debut album "+", and an acoustic ballad with hard hitting lyrics.

 

Estimated sales: 3.35 million including 1.13 million purchases

Year: 2011

Chart run: (3)-5-6-3-3-3-4-4-7-6-9-13-18-14-7-11-13-9-14-20-22-28-26-30-34-40-44-45-17-33-42-51-48-48-52-65-33-48-64-72-/-67-/-46-/-69-/-67-/-67-/-52 (46 weeks)

 

#45

Coldplay - Viva La Vida

 

 

Their long awaited first #1 in both the UK and US, though in the UK it achieved that feat with a meagre 23,212 sales.

 

Estimated sales: 3.36 million

Year: 2008

Chart run: (1)-2-7-11-14-16-18-14-10-11-13-13-17-25-27-32-29-39-41-46-53-51-41-51-42-55-68-68-44-33-44-33-44-55-55-53-58-45-27-29-41-49-59-70-/-75-74-/-42-68-/-51–/-63–/-45-43-57-/-75-/-63-68 (53 weeks)

 

#44

Queen - Don't Stop Me Now

 

 

A fairly modest hit at the time but with a huge legacy, and it has been named the happiest song of all time.

 

Estimated sales: 3.37 million

Year: 1978

Chart run: 44-38-31-28-22-22-13-(9)-13-16-32-49-/-74-54-47-58-57-55-56-59-51-58-64-72-70 (25 weeks)

 

#43

Justin Bieber - Love Yourself

 

 

The third straight UK #1 from the "Purpose" album, with writing help from Ed Sheeran.

 

Estimated sales: 3.38 million

Year: 2015

Chart run: 3-2-(1)-1-1-2-1-1-1-2-2-5-6-7-5-6-7-5-8-7-11-13-14-15-19-19-27-25-27-32-31-30-35-37-42-47-45-53-58-60-60-62-63-60-66-66-66-70-73 (46 weeks)