And finally, the all time top 70 best sellers:

POS	TITLE	ARTIST	YEAR	PEAK
1	GREATEST HITS (7.8M units)	QUEEN	1981	1
2	GOLD - GREATEST HITS (7.1M units)	ABBA	1992	1
3	WHAT'S THE STORY MORNING GLORY (6.2M units)	OASIS	1995	1
4	21 (5.7M units)	ADELE	2011	1
5	SGT PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND (5.6M units)	BEATLES	1967	1
6	RUMOURS	FLEETWOOD MAC	1977	1
7	THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON (5M units)	PINK FLOYD	1973	2
8	THRILLER	MICHAEL JACKSON	1982	1
9	LEGEND	BOB MARLEY & THE WAILERS	1984	1
10	BROTHERS IN ARMS (4.6M units)	DIRE STRAITS	1985	1
11	BACK TO BLACK (4.6M units)	AMY WINEHOUSE	2006	1
12	BAD	MICHAEL JACKSON	1987	1
13	DIVIDE (4.5M units)	ED SHEERAN	2017	1
14	GREATEST HITS II	QUEEN	1991	1
15	25	ADELE	2015	1
16	X	ED SHEERAN	2014	1
17	1	BEATLES	2000	1
18	THE IMMACULATE COLLECTION (3.9M units)	MADONNA	1990	1
19	BAT OUT OF HELL	MEAT LOAF	1977	9
20	THE FAME	LADY GAGA	2008	1
21	COME ON OVER	SHANIA TWAIN	1997	1
22	CURTAIN CALL - THE HITS	EMINEM	2005	1
23	STARS	SIMPLY RED	1991	1
24	URBAN HYMNS	VERVE	1997	1
25	CHRISTMAS	MICHAEL BUBLE	2011	1
26	BACK TO BEDLAM	JAMES BLUNT	2004	1
27	BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER	SIMON & GARFUNKEL	1970	1
28	SPIRIT	LEONA LEWIS	2007	1
29	DIRTY DANCING	ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK	1987	4
30	ONLY BY THE NIGHT	KINGS OF LEON	2008	1
31	CRAZY LOVE	MICHAEL BUBLE	2009	1
32	IN THE LONELY HOUR	SAM SMITH	2014	1
33	WHITE LADDER	DAVID GRAY	1998	1
34	NUMBER ONES	MICHAEL JACKSON	2003	1
35	NO ANGEL	DIDO	2000	1
36	A RUSH OF BLOOD TO THE HEAD	COLDPLAY	2002	1
37	THE JOSHUA TREE	U2	1987	1
38	SPICE	SPICE GIRLS	1996	1
39	DEFINITELY MAYBE	OASIS	1994	1
40	THE GREATEST SHOWMAN	MOTION PICTURE CAST RECORDING	2017	1
41	NEVERMIND	NIRVANA	1991	5
42	HOPES AND FEARS	KEANE	2004	1
43	JAGGED LITTLE PILL	ALANIS MORISSETTE	1995	1
44	TALK ON CORNERS	CORRS	1997	1
45	BEAUTIFUL WORLD	TAKE THAT	2006	1
46	THE WAR OF THE WORLDS	JEFF WAYNE	1978	5
47	LIFE FOR RENT	DIDO	2003	1
48	PARACHUTES	COLDPLAY	2000	1
49	X&Y	COLDPLAY	2005	1
50	THE MARSHALL MATHERS LP	EMINEM	2000	1
51	TRACY CHAPMAN	TRACY CHAPMAN	1988	1
52	GREASE	ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK	1977	1
53	+	ED SHEERAN	2011	1
54	BUT SERIOUSLY	PHIL COLLINS	1989	1
55	SCISSOR SISTERS	SCISSOR SISTERS	2004	1
56	LADIES & GENTLEMEN - THE BEST OF	GEORGE MICHAEL	1998	1
57	TUBULAR BELLS	MIKE OLDFIELD	1973	1
58	THE MAN WHO	TRAVIS	1999	1
59	TANGO IN THE NIGHT	FLEETWOOD MAC	1987	1
60	APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION	GUNS N' ROSES	1987	5
61	GRACELAND	PAUL SIMON	1986	1
62	COME AWAY WITH ME	NORAH JONES	2002	1
63	19	ADELE	2008	1
64	GREATEST HITS	ROBBIE WILLIAMS	2004	1
65	AMERICAN IDIOT	GREEN DAY	2004	1
66	ABBEY ROAD	BEATLES	1969	1
67	GREATEST HITS	GUNS N' ROSES	2004	1
68	I'VE BEEN EXPECTING YOU	ROBBIE WILLIAMS	1998	1
69	GREATEST HITS	ABBA	1975	1
70	HOT FUSS	KILLERS	2004	1

https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/biggest-albums-all-time-uk/

It was 44 years ago this week that we had the first tie at the top of the album chart !

https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/albums-chart/19820718/7502/

Bat Out Of Hell now has a peak of #3 from 2022.

I take it The Greatest Showman is in the above table for sales / streams up to the end of 2019 only and not while it's been in the compilation chart.

Afraid not, the frst tie was February 16th 1957 for King and I and High Society.

https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/albums-chart/19570210/7502/

There were several others on the Record Mirror and Melody Maker charts, but that may be the first tie in Record Retailer/Music Week....

Edited Wednesday at 13:562 days by braindeadpj

6 minutes ago, braindeadpj said:

Afraid not, the frst tie was February 16th 1957 for King and I and High Society.

https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/albums-chart/19570210/7502/

There were several others on the Record Mirror and Melody Maker charts, but that may be the first tie in Record Retailer/Music Week....

Thank you for that.

I was quoting from Alan Jones in Record Mirror in 1982.

Back then the album chart only went back to 1958 in the Guinness Book Of Hit Albums when South Pacific was number 1.

It was many years later that they added album charts going back to July 1956.

That makes sense. For some reason the Record Mirror LP charts did remain hidden for a while but were 're-discovered' later and retconned as 'official' until Melody Maker started In October 1958 with South Pacific at No.1 continuously (though there are 6 weeks for a printer's strike in 1959 where the Melody Maker No. 1 LP is unknown (though probably was still South Pacific)). Of course if they'd kept with Melody Maker instead of reverting to Record Retailer in March 1960, the continous run at No.1 would've been 17 weeks longer (or if they'd used Record Mirror for longer it would've been slightly less continuous)!

Edited Wednesday at 14:192 days by braindeadpj

18 hours ago, Ne Plus Ultra said:

And finally, the all time top 70 best sellers:

POS	TITLE	ARTIST	YEAR	PEAK
1	GREATEST HITS (7.8M units)	QUEEN	1981	1
2	GOLD - GREATEST HITS (7.1M units)	ABBA	1992	1
3	WHAT'S THE STORY MORNING GLORY (6.2M units)	OASIS	1995	1
4	21 (5.7M units)	ADELE	2011	1
5	SGT PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND (5.6M units)	BEATLES	1967	1
6	RUMOURS	FLEETWOOD MAC	1977	1
7	THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON (5M units)	PINK FLOYD	1973	2
8	THRILLER	MICHAEL JACKSON	1982	1
9	LEGEND	BOB MARLEY & THE WAILERS	1984	1
10	BROTHERS IN ARMS (4.6M units)	DIRE STRAITS	1985	1
11	BACK TO BLACK (4.6M units)	AMY WINEHOUSE	2006	1
12	BAD	MICHAEL JACKSON	1987	1
13	DIVIDE (4.5M units)	ED SHEERAN	2017	1
14	GREATEST HITS II	QUEEN	1991	1
15	25	ADELE	2015	1
16	X	ED SHEERAN	2014	1
17	1	BEATLES	2000	1
18	THE IMMACULATE COLLECTION (3.9M units)	MADONNA	1990	1
19	BAT OUT OF HELL	MEAT LOAF	1977	9
20	THE FAME	LADY GAGA	2008	1
21	COME ON OVER	SHANIA TWAIN	1997	1
22	CURTAIN CALL - THE HITS	EMINEM	2005	1
23	STARS	SIMPLY RED	1991	1
24	URBAN HYMNS	VERVE	1997	1
25	CHRISTMAS	MICHAEL BUBLE	2011	1
26	BACK TO BEDLAM	JAMES BLUNT	2004	1
27	BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER	SIMON & GARFUNKEL	1970	1
28	SPIRIT	LEONA LEWIS	2007	1
29	DIRTY DANCING	ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK	1987	4
30	ONLY BY THE NIGHT	KINGS OF LEON	2008	1
31	CRAZY LOVE	MICHAEL BUBLE	2009	1
32	IN THE LONELY HOUR	SAM SMITH	2014	1
33	WHITE LADDER	DAVID GRAY	1998	1
34	NUMBER ONES	MICHAEL JACKSON	2003	1
35	NO ANGEL	DIDO	2000	1
36	A RUSH OF BLOOD TO THE HEAD	COLDPLAY	2002	1
37	THE JOSHUA TREE	U2	1987	1
38	SPICE	SPICE GIRLS	1996	1
39	DEFINITELY MAYBE	OASIS	1994	1
40	THE GREATEST SHOWMAN	MOTION PICTURE CAST RECORDING	2017	1
41	NEVERMIND	NIRVANA	1991	5
42	HOPES AND FEARS	KEANE	2004	1
43	JAGGED LITTLE PILL	ALANIS MORISSETTE	1995	1
44	TALK ON CORNERS	CORRS	1997	1
45	BEAUTIFUL WORLD	TAKE THAT	2006	1
46	THE WAR OF THE WORLDS	JEFF WAYNE	1978	5
47	LIFE FOR RENT	DIDO	2003	1
48	PARACHUTES	COLDPLAY	2000	1
49	X&Y	COLDPLAY	2005	1
50	THE MARSHALL MATHERS LP	EMINEM	2000	1
51	TRACY CHAPMAN	TRACY CHAPMAN	1988	1
52	GREASE	ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK	1977	1
53	+	ED SHEERAN	2011	1
54	BUT SERIOUSLY	PHIL COLLINS	1989	1
55	SCISSOR SISTERS	SCISSOR SISTERS	2004	1
56	LADIES & GENTLEMEN - THE BEST OF	GEORGE MICHAEL	1998	1
57	TUBULAR BELLS	MIKE OLDFIELD	1973	1
58	THE MAN WHO	TRAVIS	1999	1
59	TANGO IN THE NIGHT	FLEETWOOD MAC	1987	1
60	APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION	GUNS N' ROSES	1987	5
61	GRACELAND	PAUL SIMON	1986	1
62	COME AWAY WITH ME	NORAH JONES	2002	1
63	19	ADELE	2008	1
64	GREATEST HITS	ROBBIE WILLIAMS	2004	1
65	AMERICAN IDIOT	GREEN DAY	2004	1
66	ABBEY ROAD	BEATLES	1969	1
67	GREATEST HITS	GUNS N' ROSES	2004	1
68	I'VE BEEN EXPECTING YOU	ROBBIE WILLIAMS	1998	1
69	GREATEST HITS	ABBA	1975	1
70	HOT FUSS	KILLERS	2004	1

https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/biggest-albums-all-time-uk/

How can Oasis be on 6.2 million sales - it only passed 5.7 million a few weeks ago!

10 minutes ago, reissus123 said:

How can Oasis be on 6.2 million sales - it only passed 5.7 million a few weeks ago!

OCC are saying 6.2 in the article. Where did you see 5.7?

3 hours ago, lewistgreen said:

OCC are saying 6.2 in the article. Where did you see 5.7?

3 hours ago, lewistgreen said:

OCC are saying 6.2 in the article. Where did you see 5.7?

It was certified 19x platinum on 15th May 2026 for sales of 5.7 million

8 hours ago, braindeadpj said:

Afraid not, the frst tie was February 16th 1957 for King and I and High Society.

https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/albums-chart/19570210/7502/

There were several others on the Record Mirror and Melody Maker charts, but that may be the first tie in Record Retailer/Music Week....

If I'm right we only ever had 4 weeks with tied number 1's.

16 Feb 57, 8 Jun 57, 19 Apr 58 (All Record Mirror) and then 24 Jul 1982 which was the only BMRB compiled number 1 tie. It's not mentioned at all in Music Week....

On 22/07/2026 at 19:32, lewistgreen said:

OCC are saying 6.2 in the article. Where did you see 5.7?

Am more interested in pure physical vinyl, cassette and CD sales than streams.

Brothers In Arms was the album in the 80's and 90's to show people new hi-fis in shops. First album to sell a million CD's but it actually sold more in the 80's on cassette. Great album but some say a bit dated now...