August 18, 2024Aug 18 Author #2 Band Aid - Do They Know It's Christmas? The second most purchased single of all time, and still a perennial streamer despite all the other versions that have followed. Estimated sales: 5.98 million including 3.85 million purchases Year: 1984 Chart run: (1)-1-1-1-1-2-9-17-30-38-37-57-71-/-24-6-3-3-4-13-47-/-38-27-24-57-/-64-54-58-72-/-65-53-61-50-/-62-54-58-58–/-62-34-42-41-/-37-42-51-/-62-57-63-/-61-/-59-61-40-56-/-71-59-38-/-41-43-35-29-/-16-12-12-7-/-26-15-13-6-/-23-15-17-7-/-38-15-8-7-9-7-/-66-23-14-13-14-12-/-63-34-18-16-17-11-/-65-35-16-17-15-15 (94 weeks) j3fSknbR7Y4
August 18, 2024Aug 18 Author #1 Ed Sheeran - Shape Of You One of the double lead singles from "Divide", and the most streamed song worldwide on Spotify until "Blinding Lights" overtook recently. Estimated sales: 6.33 million Year: 2017 Chart run: (1)-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-2-1-2-3-4-5-7-9-10-11-17-11-23-22-19-26-25-26-23-25-28-28-33-34-38-37-41-35-35-35-40-36-36-38-43-53-52-47-21-35-39-45-47-45-46-41-48-52-54-57-57-52-58-57-70-72-66-/-69-56-64-71-/-73 (75 weeks) JGwWNGJdvx8
August 18, 2024Aug 18 Author The full list (sorry I know there are some inconsistencies with the years but can’t be bothered to sort right now ;) ): 1 Ed Sheeran – SHAPE OF YOU (2017) 6.33m 2 Band Aid - DO THEY KNOW IT'S CHRISTMAS (1984) 5.98m 3 Killers - MR BRIGHTSIDE (2004) 5.76m 4 Lewis Capaldi – SOMEONE YOU LOVED (2019) 5.64m 5 Wham! - LAST CHRISTMAS/EVERYTHING SHE WANTS (1984) 5.56m 6 Ed Sheeran – PERFECT (2017) 5.44m 7 Queen - BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY/THESE ARE THE DAYS OF OUR LIVES (1975/1991) 5.23m 8 Mariah Carey - ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOU (1994) 5.00m 9 Elton John - SOMETHING ABOUT THE WAY YOU LOOK TONIGHT/CANDLE IN THE WIND 1997 (1997) 4.96m 10 Ed Sheeran – THINKING OUT LOUD (2014) 4.72m 11 Oasis - WONDERWALL (1995) 4.58m 12 Weeknd - BLINDING LIGHTS (2020) 4.51m 13 George Ezra – SHOTGUN (2018) 4.45m 14 Drake featuring Wizkid & Kyla – ONE DANCE (2016) 4.41m 15 Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars – lUPTOWN FUNK (2014) 4.38m 16 Adele - SOMEONE LIKE YOU (2011) 4.22m 17 Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee, Justin Bieber – DESPACITO (REMIX) (2017) 4.18m 18 John Legend – ALL OF ME (2014) 4.14m 19 Hozier – TAKE ME TO CHURCH (2014) 4.13m 20 Tones & I – DANCE MONKEY (2019) 4.10m 21 Pogues feat Kirsty MacColl - FAIRYTALE OF NEW YORK (1987) 4.06m 22 Vance Joy – RIPTIDE (2014) 3.98m 23 Ed Sheeran – CASTLE ON THE HILL (2017) 3.97m 24 Pharrell Williams - HAPPY (2014) 3.87m 25 James Arthur – SAY YOU WON’T LET GO (2016) 3.83m 26 Bastille - POMPEII (2013) 3.82m 27 Ed Sheeran - BAD HABITS (2021) 3.76m 28 Avicii - WAKE ME UP (2013) 3.75m 29 Passenger - LET HER GO (2013) 3.74m 30 Kings of Leon - SEX ON FIRE (2008) 3.72m 31 George Ezra – BUDAPEST (2014) 3.59m 32 Goo Goo Dolls - IRIS (1998) 3.50m 33 Journey - DON’T STOP BELIEVIN’ (1982) 3.49m 34 Oasis - DON’T LOOK BACK IN ANGER (1996) 3.48m 35 Snow Patrol - CHASING CARS (2006) 3.47m 36 Walk The Moon – SHUT UP AND DANCE (2015) 3.46m 37 Calvin Harris & Dua Lipa – ONE KISS (2018) 3.44m 38 French Montana featuring Swae Lee – UNFORGETTABLE (2017) 3.43m 39 Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper – SHALLOW (2018) 3.42m 40 Justin Bieber – SORRY (2015) 3.41m 41 Eminem - LOSE YOURSELF (2002) 3.40m 42 Arctic Monkeys – DO I WANNA KNOW? (2014) 3.39m 43 Justin Bieber – LOVE YOURSELF (2015) 3.38m 44 Queen – DON’T STOP ME NOW (1978) 3.37m 45 Coldplay - VIVA LA VIDA (2008) 3.36m 46 Ed Sheeran - THE A TEAM (2011) 3.35m 47 Clean Bandit featuring Jess Glynne – RATHER BE (2014) 3.34m 48 Fleetwood Mac – EVERYWHERE (1988) 3.33m 49 One Republic - COUNTING STARS (2013) 3.28m 50 Sia featuring Sean Paul – CHEAP THRILLS (2016) 3.27m 51 Lukas Graham – 7 YEARS (2016) 3.24m 52 Whitney Houston - I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY (WHO LOVES ME) (1987) 3.23m 53 Justin Timberlake – CANT STOP THE FEELING (2016) 3.22m 54 Survivor - EYE OF THE TIGER (1982) 3.21m 55 Sam Smith – STAY WITH ME (2014) 3.19m 56 Dua Lipa – NEW RULES (2017) 3.18m 57 Eminem feat Rihanna - LOVE THE WAY YOU LIE (2010) 3.18m 58 David Guetta featuring Sia - TITANIUM (2012) 3.17m 59 Tom Odell - ANOTHER LOVE (2013) 3.16m 60 A-Ha – TAKE ON ME (1985) 3.15m 61 Toto – AFRICA (1982) 3.14m 62 Calum Scott – DANCING ON MY OWN (2016) 3.13m 63 Macklemore featuring Ryan Lewis and Ray Dalton - CANT HOLD US (2013) 3.12m 64 Omi – CHEERLEADER (Felix Jaehn Remix) (2015) 3.12m 65 Keala Settle and the Greatest Showman Ensemble – THIS IS ME (2017) 3.11m 66 Adele – HELLO (2015) 3.10m 67 Ed Sheeran – PHOTOGRAPH (2015) 3.09m 68 Gotye featuring Kimbra - SOMEBODY THAT I USED TO KNOW (2012) 3.08m 69 Rihanna featuring Calvin Harris - WE FOUND LOVE (2011) 3.07m 70 Shakin’ Stevens - MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE (1985) 3.06m 71 Michael Jackson - BILLIE JEAN (1983) 3.05m 72 Taylor Swift – SHAKE IT OFF (2014) 3.05m 73 Kooks – NAÏVE (2006) 3.04m 74 Fleetwood Mac - DREAMS (1977) 3.03m 75 Guns n Roses - SWEET CHILD O’ MINE (1987) 3.02m 76 Post Malone featuring Swae Lee – SUNFLOWER (2018) 3.01m 77 Adele - ROLLING IN THE DEEP (2011) 2.99m 78 Glass Animals - HEAT WAVES (2019) 2.99m 79 Ed Sheeran – GALWAY GIRL (2017) 2.98m 80 Coldplay – YELLOW (2004) 2.98m 81 Toploader – DANCING IN THE MOONLIGHT (2000) 2.98m 82 Soft Cell - TAINTED LOVE (1981) 2.97m 83 Chainsmokers featuring Halsey – CLOSER (2016) 2.97m 84 Weeknd featuring Daft Punk – STARBOY (2016) 2.97m 85 Sia – CHANDELIER (2014) 2.96m 86 Chainsmokers & Coldplay – SOMETHING JUST LIKE THIS (2017) 2.96m 87 Abba - DANCING QUEEN (1976/1992) 2.95m 88 Rag ‘n’ Bone Man – HUMAN (2017) 2.94m 89 Electric Light Orchestra – MR BLUE SKY (1977) 2.94m 90 Billie Eilish – BAD GUY (2019) 2.93m 91 Slade - MERRY XMAS EVERYBODY (1973) 2.92m 92 Bryan Adams – SUMMER OF ’69 (1984) 2.91m 93 Bon Jovi - LIVIN’ ON A PRAYER (1986) 2.90m 94 Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams - GET LUCKY (2013) 2.89m 95 Jason Mraz - I’M YOURS (2009) 2.88m 96 Christina Perri - A THOUSAND YEARS (2011) 2.87m 97 Rudimental featuring Jess Glynne & Macklemore – THESE DAYS (2018) 2.86m 98 Harry Styles – AS IT WAS (2022) 2.86m 99 Dexy's Midnight Runners - COME ON EILEEN (1982) 2.95m 100 Frankie Goes To Hollywood - RELAX (1983) 2.85m 101 Bruno Mars - JUST THE WAY YOU ARE (AMAZING) (2010) 2.84m 102 Lil Nas X – OLD TOWN ROAD (2019) 2.84m 103 Nirvana – SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT (1991) 2.84m 104 Carly Rae Jepson - CALL ME MAYBE 2.83m 105 Mr Probz – WAVES (Robin Schulz remix) (2014) 2.83m 106 Camila Cabello featuring Young Thug - HAVANA 2.83m 107 George Michael - CARELESS WHISPER (1984) 2.83m 108 Lewis Capaldi - BRUISES 2.82m 109 Post Malone featuring 21 Savage – ROCKSTAR (2017) 2.82m 110 Joel Corry featuring MNEK - HEAD & HEART (2020) 2.82m 111 Eminem – WITHOUT ME (2002) 2.81m 112 Whitney Houston - I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU (1992) 2.81m 113 Drake – GOD’S PLAN (2018) 2.80m 114 Black Eyed Peas - I GOTTA FEELING (2009) 2.80m 115 Ed Sheeran & Justin Bieber – I DON’T CARE (2019) 2.79m 116 Dave featuring BurnaBoy – LOCATION (2019) 2.79m 117 Coolio ft LV - GANGSTA'S PARADISE (1995) 2.78m 118 Katy Perry - ROAR (2013) 2.78m 119 Lewis Capaldi - BEFORE YOU GO (2019) 2.77m 120 Human League - DON'T YOU WANT ME (1981) 2.77m 121 Shawn Mendes – STITCHES (2016) 2.76m 122 Pinkfong - BABY SHARK (2018) 2.76m 123 Boney M - MARY'S BOY CHILD/OH MY LORD (1978) 2.76m 124 Florence and the Machine - YOU'VE GOT THE LOVE (2009) 2.75m 125 James Bay – LET IT GO (2014) 2.75m 126 Clean Bandit featuring Zara Larsson – SYMPHONY (2017) 2.75m 127 Major Lazer featuring MO & DJ Snake – LEAN ON (2015) 2.74m 128 Florence and the Machine – DOG DAYS ARE OVER (2009) 2.73m 129 Ed Sheeran - SHIVERS (2021) 2.73m 130 Idina Menzel – LET IT GO (2013) 2.72m 131 Cher - BELIEVE (1998) 2.72m 132 Imagine Dragons – RADIOACTIVE (2013) 2.71m 133 Tears For Fears - EVERYBODY WANTS TO RULE THE WORLD (2.71m) 134 Justin Bieber – WHAT DO YOU MEAN? (2015) 2.70m 135 Maroon 5 featuring Christina Aguilera - MOVES LIKE JAGGER (2011) 2.70m 136 Mike Posner – I TOOK A PILL IN IBIZA (2016) 2.69m 137 James Bay - HOLD BACK THE RIVER (2014) 2.68m 138 Imagine Dragons - BELIEVER (2018) 2.68m 139 Ava Max – SWEET BUT PSYCHO (2018) 2.67m 140 TLC – NO SCRUBS (1999) 2.67m 141 John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John - YOU'RE THE ONE THAT I WANT (1978/1998) 2.67m 142 Fleetwood Mac – THE CHAIN (1977) 2.66m 143 Fleetwood Mac – GO YOUR OWN WAY (1977) 2.65m 144 Tracy Chapman - FAST CAR (1988) 2.64m 145 Spice Girls - WANNABE (1996) 2.63m 146 Calvin Harris featuring Rihanna – THIS IS WHAT YOU CAME FOR (2016) 2.63m 147 Zara Larsson – LUSH LIFE (2016) 2.63m 148 Bryan Adams - EVERYTHING I DO (I DO IT FOR YOU) (1991) 2.62m 149 Arctic Monkeys – I BET YOU LOOK GOOD ON THE DANCEFLOOR (2006) 2.62m 150 Eminem feat Dido - STAN (2000) 2.62m 151 Kings of Leon - USE SOMEBODY (2008) 2.61m 152 Dua Lipa - DONT START NOW (2020) 2.61m 153 Earth, Wind And Fire - SEPTEMBER (1978) 2.61m 154 Ellie Goulding - LOVE ME LIKE YOU DO (2015) 2.60m 155 Harry Styles - WATERMELON SUGAR (2019) 2.60m 156 Weeknd - THE HILLS (2015) 2.60m 157 Adele - MAKE YOU FEEL MY LOVE (2008) 2.59m 158 Beyonce - HALO (2008) 2.59m 159 Lana Del Rey vs Cedric Gervais - SUMMERTIME SADNESS (2012) 2.59m 160 Robin Thicke featuring T.I. & Pharrell - BLURRED LINES (2013) 2.58m 161 Weeknd - SAVE YOUR TEARS (2020) 2.58m 162 Lumineers- HO HEY (2013) 2.58m 163 Shaggy ft RikRok - IT WASN'T ME (2002) 2.57m 164 Wizzard - I WISH IT COULD BE CHRISTMAS EVERYDAY (1973) 2.57m 165 Clean Bandit featuring Anne-Marie & Sean Paul – ROCKABYE (2016) 2.56m 166 Aqua - BARBIE GIRL (1997) 2.56m 167 Wheatus - TEENAGE DIRTBAG (2001) 2.55m 168 Eminem – THE REAL SLIM SHADY (2004) 2.54m 169 Wiz Khalifa featuring Charlie Puth – SEE YOU AGAIN (2015) 2.53m 170 Beyoncé featuring Jay Z - CRAZY IN LOVE (2003) 2.52m 171 The Fray - HOW TO SAVE A LIFE (2007) 2.50m 172 Coldplay – FIX YOU (2005) 2.50m 173 Benny Blanco, Halsey, Khalid – EASTSIDE (2018) 2.49m 174 Puff Daddy & Faith Evans - I'LL BE MISSING YOU (1997) 2.49m 175 Eagles - HOTEL CALIFORNIA 2.48m 176 Lewis Capaldi– HOLD ME WHILE YOU WAIT (2019) 2.48m 177 White Stripes - SEVEN NATION ARMY (2004) 2.48m 178 Shakira featuring Wyclef Jean - HIPS DON’T LIE (2006) 2.47m 179 Olivia Rodrigo – GOOD 4 U (2021) 2.47m 180 George Ezra – PARADISE (2018) 2.47m 181 Ariana Grande – ONE LAST TIME (2014) 2.46m 182 Kanye West featuring Jamie Foxx – GOLD DIGGER (2005) 2.46m 183 James Arthur - IMPOSSIBLE (2012) 246m 184 Anne-Marie – 2002 (2018) 2.45m 185 Portugal. The Man – FEEL IT STILL (2017) 2.45m 186 fun featuring Janelle Monae - WE ARE YOUNG (2012) 2.45m 187 Arctic Monkeys - FLUORESCENT ADOLESCENT 2.44m 188 Dua Lipa - LEVITATING (2020) 2.44m 189 Kate Bush - RUNNING UP THAT HILL (1985) 2.44m 190 John Lennon - IMAGINE (1975/1980/1999) 2.43m 191 Foster The People – PUMPED UP KICKS (2010) 2.43m 192 Swedish House Mafia featuring John Martin - DON’T YOU WORRY CHILD (2012) 2.43m 193 New Order - BLUE MONDAY (1983) 2.42m 194 Gnarls Barkley - CRAZY (2006) 2.42m 195 Verve – BITTERSWEET SYMPHONY (1997) 2.42m 196 Eurythmics - SWEET DREAMS (ARE MADE OF THIS) (1983) 2.41m 197 Estelle featuring Kanye West – AMERICAN BOY (2008) 2.41m 198 Brenda Lee - ROCKIN’ AROUND THE CHRISTMAS TREE (1962) 2.41m 190 John Lennon & Yoko Ono - HAPPY XMAS (WAR IS OVER) (1972) 2.40m 200 UB40 - RED RED WINE (1983) 2.40m
August 18, 2024Aug 18 Great thread Hopefully there will be lots of movement in this chart for the real legendary classics that were not released in the streaming era!!
August 18, 2024Aug 18 Author RIP 'Mull Of Kintyre'. 'Rivers Of Babylon' is the only other one I think? Unless you mean the top 100 ('You're The One That I Want' is at #141). Sorry yes so two 2 million plus purchased singles missed the Top 200 entirely (“Mull Of Kintyre” and “Rivers Of Babylon” / “Brown Girl In The Ring”), and one was outside the Top 100 (“You’re The One That I Want”).
August 18, 2024Aug 18 Thank you so much for this! Some super mid singer-songwriter stuff in top 40 but also true classics.
August 18, 2024Aug 18 You put in the Naive section that She Moves in Her Own way was very close to the top 200. Do you have a rough position estimate?
August 18, 2024Aug 18 Author You put in the Naive section that She Moves in Her Own way was very close to the top 200. Do you have a rough position estimate? Oh it went 4 x platinum the week after I fixed the numbers so pretty much #201 haha. We’ve also had “Torn” and Umbrella” going 4x platinum since. “Leave A Light On” and “Set Fire To The Rain” should be there very soon. A few other oldies I think must be close are “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)”, “Under Pressure” “I Just Called To Say I Love You”, “Love Is All Around” and “Rivers Of Babylon” / “Brown Girl In The Ring”.
August 18, 2024Aug 18 Oh it went 4 x platinum the week after I fixed the numbers so #201 haha. Ah that’s a shame. One of my favourite songs, would’ve been cool to see it on the list. Thanks so much for compiling!
August 19, 2024Aug 19 I find it interesting how a select group of older songs really benefit from streaming - glad that Africa and Take On Me are two of them. Will Mr Brightside overtake Shape of You do you think? Or I guess Last Christmas could well do so at some point.
August 19, 2024Aug 19 Author Will Mr Brightside overtake Shape of You do you think? Or I guess Last Christmas could well do so at some point. I think it’s highly likely “Mr Brightside” and “Last Christmas” will be #1 and #2 before long. It’s hard to say which will end up higher in the long term at the moment - “Last Christmas” outdid “Mr Brightside” in 2023 but the latter is having a very strong 2024 so will be hard to match at the end of the year. "Shape Of You" probably has the weakest ongoing sales in the whole Top 8 now.
August 20, 2024Aug 20 I think it’s highly likely “Mr Brightside” and “Last Christmas” will be #1 and #2 before long. It’s hard to say which will end up higher in the long term at the moment - “Last Christmas” outdid “Mr Brightside” in 2023 but the latter is having a very strong 2024 so will be hard to match at the end of the year. But - it may well be the case that the both take turns at the top - bearing in mind they keep leapfrogging each other each year.
August 21, 2024Aug 21 Shape Of You, for the biggest song of all-time, has definitely dropped off in the last few years after basically being ubiquitous until Covid. It does feel like Mr Brightside is a better reflection of the UK's favourite song, even if it did only peak at No.10 back in the day (and probably got lucky to even do that as it was such a low sales era). Obviously Last Christmas and Do They Know It's Christmas are a different kettle of fish altogether but they do put up a very good fight in what used to be the four weeks (now more like six to eight) they sell in big quantities for each year. Edited August 21, 2024Aug 21 by gooddelta
August 21, 2024Aug 21 ^Ed Sheeran's entire discography seems to have fallen a lot in recurrent streams the past year or so I've noticed. It's nice the songs at the top of the list are all so close! I remember when there was almost no movement in the all-time list for years on end.
August 21, 2024Aug 21 The idea of 'Shape Of You' actually being the biggest song of all-time seems absolutely ridiculous to me. It more feels like the circumstances allowed for it to be so.
August 22, 2024Aug 22 Considering how biased the list is towards more recent songs (or at least 2010s onwards), it's remarkable to see some of the older songs actually competing. But others, such as Relax for example (or indeed Two Tribes which is totally absent now) are now underrepresented in terms of the comparative impact they had at the time. But it is what it is - and whilst I don't personally think Shape of You would have done well enough to be the #1 of all time, it definitely would have likely been top 20 at least so it is a reasonably representative enough track to be #1 here. I do find it weird seeing songs like Sunflower anywhere near the top 100 though... And things like 'Shut Up and Dance' which, whilst popular, strikes me as something that would have sold about 500K maybe in the physical era but commercial radio continued to hammer for years after. I still feel like it would be better to just cut off the physical era and leave it be, accept that people don't buy singles any longer and have a different chart for the streaming era since they're just not at all comparable in this way.
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