Albums

This is a very big subject; this page was created relatively recently, and I have to say that it currently doesn't even scratch the surface. However – the longest journey begins with a single step ...

Best–Selling Albums of the 2010s

The best–selling album of the 2010s, worldwide, and the best–selling album of the 21st century to date (June 2020 – 31 million sales)		21 (Adele)
Second and fifth ditto (2nd–best seller in the 2010s, and 5th–best of the century – 27 million sales)		25 (Adele)

UK Best Sellers: by year

The UK's best–selling albums, year by year since 2010, were:

2020s

Year		Artist		Title	Sales (est.)
2024		Taylor Swift		The Tortured Poets Department	783,800
2023		The Weeknd		The Highlights	391,000
2022		Harry Styles		Harry's House	460,000
2021		Adele		30	600,000
2020		Lewis Capaldi		Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent	456,000

2020s

2019		Lewis Capaldi		Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent	641,000
2018		Various artists		The Greatest Showman (OST)	2,130,000
2017		Ed Sheeran		÷ (a.k.a. Divide)	3,400,000
2016		Adele		25	753,000
2015		Adele		25	2,496,000
2014		Ed Sheeran		x (a.k.a. Multiply)	2,134,000
2013		One Direction		Midnight Memories	829,000
2012		Emily Sandé		Our Version of Events	2,208,000
2011		Adele		21	4,751,000
2010		Take That		Progress	2,374,000

Note that the sales figures are for the year in question only.

UK Best Sellers: by decade

The UK's best–selling albums of each decade, since the 1950s, were:

Year		Artist		Title	Year	Sales (est.)
2010s		Adele		21	2011	5,170,000
2000s		James Blunt		Back to Bedlam	2004	3,191,393
1990s		Oasis		(What's the Story) Morning Glory	1995	4,160,000
1980s		Dire Straits		Brothers in Arms	1985
1970s		Simon & Garfunkel		Bridge Over Troubled Water	1970
1960s		The Beatles		Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band	1967
1950s		OST		South Pacific	1958

Note that where sales figures are given, they're for the decade of release only.

Album Titles

Fairport Convention album (1971): named after a popular instant pudding (also inspired by the name of the pub local to the house that the band shared)		Angel Delight
AC/DC album, 1980: the first to feature Brian Johnson on lead vocals; the joint second best–selling album of all time (see here and here)		Back in Black
Michael Parkinson, John Conteh, James Coburn, Kenny Lynch, Clement Freud and Christopher Lee all appear (along with the three band members) on the front cover of		Band on the Run (Wings)
1992 film soundtrack, credited to Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston: the joint second best–selling album of all time (Wikipedia estimates 50 million sales worldwide, up to 2025) – first soundtrack to outsell Saturday Night Fever (see here and here)		The Bodyguard
Bruce Springsteen's first UK No. 1 album, released in 1984: also produced two of his three Top Ten hits – Dancing in the Dark, and I'm on Fire, backed with the title track		Born in the USA
Supertramp's most successful album (1979): included their biggest hit singles, The Logical Song and the title track; sold over 20 million copies		Breakfast in America
Dire Straits' biggest–selling album (1985): first (by any artist or group) to sell a million copies on CD and the first to outsell its vinyl version		Brothers in Arms
Oasis's first album (1994)		Definitely Maybe
1994 Pink Floyd album: named after the means by which members are called to vote in the House of Commons		The Division Bell
John Lennon's last album (Yoko Ono was co–credited) – released three weeks before his assassination – he signed a copy for assassin Mark Chapman, shortly before the fatal incident. Poorly received at first, it became a massive worldwide hit after the assassination and won a Grammy for Album of the Year in 1981		Double Fantasy
David Bowie album (1971): immediately before Ziggy Stardust, included the songs Changes, Oh You Pretty Things, Life on Mars, Andy Warhol, and Song for Bob Dylan		Hunky Dory
Iconic, self–titled debut album, 1969: opening words "In the days of my youth I was told what it means to be a man"		Led Zeppelin
Nirvana's first album (1990)		Nevermind
Pink Floyd's first album (1967) – title is a chapter title from The Wind in the Willows (by Kenneth Grahame)		Piper at the Gates of Dawn
The Who's second rock opera (after Tommy): released as a double album in 1973, and filmed in 1979 starring Phil Daniels in the central role (a young Mod named Jimmy Cooper)		Quadrophenia
Fleetwood Mac's first UK No. 1 album: released in 1977, it became one of the best–selling albums of all time; produced the theme tune to the BBC's Formula 1 coverage, and four singles – none of which, surprisingly, made the Top 20 in the UK (everyone must have had the album)		Rumours
The Pogues' second album: cover features a slightly altered version of Gericault's The Raft of the Medusa; title comes from a quotation attributed to Winston Churchill: "Don't talk to me about naval tradition. It's nothing but ... "		Rum, Sodomy and the Lash
The UK's two best–selling albums of 1978 – both soundtracks (and both featuring John Travolta); the first was the best–selling soundtrack album of all time, until 1992 (see above)		Saturday Night Fever
		Grease
Elbow's 4th studio album (2008): title is the nickname of a character in Damon Runyan's stories of New York gangsters		The Seldom Seen Kid
U2's 13th studio album (2014): controversially released to all iTunes customers at no cost		Songs of Innocence
The UK's best–selling album of 1965, 1966 and 1968; and the best–selling album of the 1960s, worldwide (OST)		The Sound of Music
Rolling Stones, 1971: cover featured a working zip		Sticky Fingers
1988 debut album by Californian hip hop group N.W.A.: gave its title to the 2015 film depicting the rise and fall of the group (and its members)		Straight Outta Compton
The best–selling album ever, worldwide: Wikipedia estimates 70 million sales up to 2025 (Michael Jackson)		Thriller
The Faces' third album, second to be released in 1971, and regarded by many as their best – includes Stay With Me: A Nod's as Good as a Wink ...		To a Blind Horse
First LP on the Virgin label (catalogue number V2001)		Tubular Bells
Joy Division's 1979 debut album: iconic cover artwork by Peter Saville is based on an image of radio waves from the first pulsar to be discovered, created at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico		Unknown Pleasures

Artists (including groups)

Greatest hits album (title Gold, released 1992) overtook Sgt. Pepper to become the UK's second best selling album of all time, in 2013		Abba
A Year of Songs (2015), Upon a Different Shore (2016) – better known as a comedian and TV quiz show presenter		Alexander Armstrong
British singer–songwriter: released three albums, 1998–2012, under the title Mermaid Avenue, of songs featuring previously unpublished lyrics by Woody Guthrie – after being given access to his personal archive		Billy Bragg
Album You Want it Darker released 17 days before his death, aged 82, in 2016, and a posthumous "continuation", Thanks for the Dance, three years later		Leonard Cohen
A Love Supreme (1965): classic album by		John Coltrane
Birth of the Cool (compilation of 1949 recordings, 1957), Kind of Blue (1959), Sketches of Spain (1960), In a Silent Way (1969), Bitches Brew (1970): classic albums by		Miles Davis
2021 album Certified Lover Boy produced a record ten Top 10 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, including Way 2 Sexy which reached No. 1		Drake
Third studio album (18 Months, 2012) produced a record eight Top Ten hits		Calvin Harris
Rapper whose 2018 album Damn won the Pulitzer Prize for Music – the first time it had been won by music from a genre other than classical or jazz		Kendrick Lamar
Fourth album was untitled, but became known as 'Four Symbols' because of its sleeve design		Led Zeppelin
The oldest living artist to have a UK No. 1 album (2009, aged 92, with We'll Meet Again – a Best Of compilation)		Vera Lynn
Irish singer: the first artist to have a different album in the UK charts in each of 25 consecutive years (1988–2012); record extended to 33 years as of 2021		Daniel O'Donnell
Greatest Hits album, released in 1981, is the UK's best–selling album of all time (5.9 million up to 2013)		Queen
Come On Over (1977) – one of the top ten best–selling album of all time, worldwide – is by		Shania Twain
The 12 Year Old Genius (1963) was a live album by		Stevie Wonder

Other

City where David Bowie lived for several years from 1976, and which gave its name to the 'trilogy' of albums Low (1977), Heroes (1977) and Lodger (1979) – although only Heroes was mainly recorded there		Berlin
The cake that appears on the cover of the Rolling Stones' Let It Bleed album (1969) was baked by		Delia Smith

© Haydn Thompson 2017–25