Queen’s ‘Greatest Hits’ Becomes First Album to Sell 7 Million In U.K.
Queen reigns in the U.K., where the legendary rock act’s Greatest Hits (via Polydor) passes seven million chart sales, becoming the first album to do so.
The hits compilation reaches the sales benchmark this month, having crossed the six million threshold back in 2014.
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The record-setting feat is made through a combination of physical sales, downloads and 1.26 billion total streams in the U.K., the OCC reports.
In an acceptance video posted to YouTube, founding members Brian May and Roger Taylor say they’re “humbled and honored” by the accolade.
The LP also recently celebrated its 1,000th week on the Official Albums Chart, with Queen becoming the first British act ever to reach the mark, and third overall after ABBA and Bob Marley, and it’s one of the rockers’ 10 U.K. No. 1s.
Originally released in 1981, Greatest Hits enjoyed four weeks at No. 1 and includes the Freddie Mercury-led hits “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Flash,” “Killer Queen,” “You’re My Best Friend,” “Somebody To Love,” “We Are The Champions,” “We Will Rock You,” and “Under Pressure,” their collaboration with David Bowie.
Its most-streamed track, according to the OCC, is “Bohemian Rhapsody” with upwards of 240 million U.K. plays.
On its release, notes Martin Talbot, CEO of the Official Charts Company, career-spanning packages such as Greatest Hits “were relatively rare, the preserve of only the very biggest acts.” The collection “can claim to be in more than one-in-four U.K. households’ record collections today, and there is no doubt that its massive success has done as much as any other release to turn hits packages into the omnipresent album concept that they are today.”
Queen + Adam Lambert performed a mini-set of “We Will Rock You,” “Don’t Stop Me Now” and “We Are the Champions” at Buckingham Palace last month to celebrate the Queen Elizabeth II’s 70 years on the throne.
Separately, a concert film, Rhapsody Over London, filmed at London’s O2 Arena during the band’s European tour, will premiere live Sunday (July 24) on Kiswe’s global streaming platform. The premiere will also feature a live Q&A with May, Taylor and Lambert.
