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Best-Selling British Musical Acts

Try to name the best-selling British bands and solo artists of all time, according to Wikipedia.
Quiz idea: relessness
To make it easier, we give you one of the albums they released.
Based on worldwide sales of singles, albums, compilations, etc... Numbers are probably inflated.
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Featured Quiz
Last updated: December 10, 2019
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First submittedAugust 30, 2013
Times taken38,650
Average score42.1%
Rating4.49
Quiz and answer stats >>
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Sales
Album
Artist
600 mil
Rubber Soul
The Beatles
350 mil
Goodbye Yellow
Brick Road
Elton John
300 mil
Houses of the Holy
Led Zeppelin
260 mil
Me and My Shadows
Cliff Richard
200 mil
A Night at the Opera
Queen
200 mil
The Dark Side
of the Moon
Pink Floyd
200 mil
Beggars Banquet
The Rolling Stones
150 mil
Invisible Touch
Genesis
150 mil
No Jacket Required
Phil Collins
135 mil
Diamonds Are Forever
Shirley Bassey
130 mil
Blue for You
Status Quo
103 mil
Brothers in Arms
Dire Straits
100 mil
Mylo Xyloto
Coldplay
100 mil
Catch Us If You Can
The Dave Clark Five
100 mil
Space Oddity
David Bowie
100 mil
Machine Head
Deep Purple
100 mil
21
Adele
100 mil
Violator
Depeche Mode
100 mil
Rumours
Fleetwood Mac
Sales
Album
Artist
100 mil
Faith
George Michael
100 mil
Number of the Beast
Iron Maiden
100 mil
Band on the Run
Paul McCartney /
Wings
100 mil
Very
Pet Shop Boys
100 mil
Tommy
The Who
100 mil
Blondes Have
More Fun
Rod Stewart
98 mil
Definitely Maybe
Oasis
85 mil
Forever
The Spice Girls
75 mil
Sweet Dreams
(Are Made of This)
Eurythmics
75 mil
Synchronicity
The Police
75 mil
Life thru a Lens
Robbie Williams
70 mil
Rio
Duran Duran
70 mil
Labour of Love
UB40
65 mil
Hysteria
Def Leppard
60 mil
Aqualung
Jethro Tull
60 mil
Breakfast in America
Supertramp
58 mil
Electric Warrior
T. Rex
50 mil
Paranoid
Black Sabbath
50 mil
Colour by Numbers
Culture Club
1029384756
+2
Level 22
Sep 23, 2013
100%! ...I did have the help of my elder brother with the older ones though :')
nettybet
+1
Level 75
Nov 28, 2013
Managed to get 28. Thought Adele would have been on there.
wolfcat95
+1
Level 67
Nov 28, 2013
Adele is way too new and not a small portion of new material is obtained illegally, ergo not counted for sales.
Quizmaster
+3
Level ∞
May 5, 2016
Adele is on the list now! It's very difficult for new artists to enter the list because record sales are so low now.
Ash1
+1
Level 10
May 21, 2015
Excuse me nut I think your blind. One Direction were bigger than even the Beatles, do you not watch the news? And they have over selling number 1s since 2010, and still going.
Quizmaster
+19
Level ∞
May 5, 2016
And the Beatles were bigger than Jesus so by the transitive property...
ChaosQuizzer
+2
Level 22
Jun 14, 2016
Does that mean that riots are going to start?
ChaosQuizzer
+3
Level 22
Jun 14, 2016
If so, I'd be glad for all of One Direction's CDs to be destroyed.
francesisk
+1
Level 44
Jan 31, 2024
ohhhh burn
stubart409
+3
Level 67
Feb 15, 2017
I hope that you are being sarcastic. Obviously though, listening to One Excretion is not helping the development of your English.
JackintheBox
+1
Level 79
Feb 20, 2021
you're*
sg1rob
+2
Level 78
Jul 10, 2015
I have no idea who Cliff Richard is and he has more sales than The Who, Wings, and The Police combined. Amazing.
Freestatebear
+4
Level 85
Jun 17, 2016
His career started in the 50's, and he's still performing! Biggest hits in the US were Devil Woman and We Don't Talk Anymore, in the 70's. Look up his discography on Wikipedia - it's like the Energizer Bunny!
camus
+4
Level 78
Dec 12, 2019
Cliff Richard is one of those musicians who is big in Europe but never really made it in the US. Other examples include Robbie Williams, Status Quo, The Sweet and Slade.
Freestatebear
+2
Level 85
Jul 27, 2015
Fleetwood Mac is (approximately) half British, half American - and Stevie Nicks, by far their most famous member, is from the American camp.
TheWombat
+2
Level 74
May 25, 2016
I think Mick Fleetwood may take umbrage with this...
jmellor13
+4
Level 67
Jun 14, 2016
He can take all the umbrage he wants. Stevie Nicks is definitely the most famous member. I've always thought of the band as half-UK, half-US though, and I think it's fair to include them here.
NJR
+3
Level 60
Dec 14, 2018
Well it was 100% English upon formation wasn't it? The american inclusion of buckingham and nicks came later (true it was their biggest phase), incidentally, they've got a New Zealander now.
Cooldrive
+1
Level 63
Dec 11, 2019
And the question is about "best-selling," not greatest because that would be opinion, and the right opinion is that they have stunk since they stopped being bluesy.

Bubble-gum pop-tops.

tschutzer
+1
Level 91
May 6, 2016
How are John Lennon and George Harrison nowhere to be found on this list? And how in the heck did Iron Maiden sell 100M units?
Corrode
+1
Level 60
Jun 14, 2016
Maiden have been going for about 30 years and they are absolutely enormous in the metal world. They're one of about three bands (along with Metallica and Black Sabbath) that most people can name even if they know nothing else about heavy metal.
jmellor13
+1
Level 67
Jun 14, 2016
I think this is the answer. I am not a metalhead, but I dabble just a little, and one of the first metal albums I bought was Iron Maiden just because I know they're a big deal. I should also say that, now that I'm familiar with them, I imagine they are much, much more agreeable to the average listener than most metal acts. There's a lot of melody, and the singer has a clear, strong voice. It's not just angry noise. So I think they, like Garth Brooks, Green Day, Adele, etc. appeal beyond their genre to people who otherwise wouldn't listen to that kind of music.
mikeb
+1
Level 66
Jun 14, 2016
Surprised Humperdinck is so high, but no Tom Jones. I think Jones was much "bigger" in the USA.
jmellor13
+2
Level 67
Jun 14, 2016
I don't know. Sherlock is a really popular show over here.
jedgeco
+2
Level 55
Jun 14, 2016
TIL that UB40 has sold more records that Def Leppard.
queenfanfran
+1
Level 40
Apr 29, 2021
im not red red whining about it ;)
Carry
+1
Level 63
Jun 15, 2016
I know most of these but I got only a few. I was focusing way too much on the album clues and I didn't know many of those.
walterwhite
+1
Level 45
Sep 19, 2016
I always thought Dire Straits were from Australia
blinky
+3
Level 58
Jan 6, 2017
I heard that Chris Rea was joining Dire Straits. They are changing the name to Dire-Rea.
LVSAS
+2
Level 43
Oct 20, 2017
Where is the Clash?! Ugh
ruftytufty
+1
Level 79
Apr 26, 2018
No Clash, and no Jam. Oh dear...
DonTheLamplighter
+5
Level 84
Dec 7, 2019
Very surprised Jeff Lynne's E.L.O. didn't make this list. Absolutely loved their incorporation of classical instruments in rock.
IsleAuHaulte
+1
Level 89
Dec 10, 2019
The crossover appeal between American and British Isles bands is strange. I'm always surprised to hear about bands like The Pet Shop Boys being enormously successful when they're remembered in the U.S. for an '80s song by people who are of a narrow age bracket. Morrissey, Brian Eno, Oasis never made a big dent in the U.S. Not like they're singing in German or some other barrier.
jmellor13
+2
Level 67
Jan 3, 2020
Oasis was huge in the U.S. for like two years in the 90's. I was just getting into music then, and every musician I know (and even most casual listeners around my age) owned What's the Story, Morning Glory. So many people know Wonderwall by heart that it's become a cliche. Don't Look Back in Anger too.

But they definitely faded from mainstream view pretty quickly after that, and they've stayed huge in the UK.

FlabberBapper
+2
Level 74
Dec 10, 2019
Damn I didn't realize The Dave Clark Five was this big, I love their song "Glad All Over", but yeesh didn't know they did so well.
AdamC0912
+4
Level 82
Dec 11, 2019
Surprised Radiohead isn't on the list, figured just by longevity they'd have sold enough.
jayrod
+1
Level 92
Oct 26, 2020
Me too. Just looked them up and only 30 million.

Guess their brand of rock just doesn't have that much widespread appeal, despite the critical and peer accolades.

Carry
+2
Level 63
Dec 17, 2019
Is it coincidental that Genesis and Phil Collins have the same number of sales?
ander217
+1
Level 75
Dec 22, 2019
I got Dave Clark Five but missed Queen. Time to go to bed.
luxint
+1
Level 65
Jan 3, 2020
Phil Effing Collins.How?
overtired
+1
Level 84
Jan 3, 2020
Scroll through 80s charts and you'll see him again and again, often at number one, with both albums and singles.
jmellor13
+4
Level 67
Jan 3, 2020
Guys like him, Neil Diamond, and Rod Stewart are huge among people of a certain age that only listen to music casually. Their songs are very catchy and the production is very clean. The music is not nearly as dumb or oppressive as current pop, but it's not as dissonant or challenging as something like Nirvana or Pink Floyd. Really hits a sweet spot for a lot of people. I know like six women in their 60's who worship Neil Diamond and Phil Collins, and that's pretty much all they listen to. The characteristics of Collins's music are a big reason why Collins is often tapped to write songs that need mass appeal: fundraisers, musicals, etc. They have a lot of personality, so they stand out, but they're also reliably catchy and easily digestible.
Comicone999
+2
Level 52
Jan 3, 2020
I find it very difficult to believe that Eric Clapton is not on this list
seabird
+2
Level 66
Jan 3, 2020
My coworker said "Why aren't the Kinks on this list?"
charchar711
+3
Level 68
Jan 3, 2020
How are the Bee Gees not on this list? They were born in Britain even though they emigrated for a few years to Australia.They've sold more than 200 million world wide and were in the top five until a few years ago.
grantdon
+1
Level 73
Feb 26, 2022
For consistency, if you claim Fleetwood Mac as British, then bands like the Bee Gees and AC/DC are Australian...and by the same logic U2 are Irish
HyddenRizz
+1
Level 66
Dec 20, 2023
You know nationality is not an exclusive? If someone has French-Spanish parents then their nationality is French-Spanish. And we're talking about groups of people in bands!

Go on Wiki and the Bee Gees are all individually listed as British.

bakainu
+3
Level 67
Jan 4, 2020
In what world has Shirley Bassey sold more records than Bowie, the Police or Fleetwood Mac?
ruudsje
+1
Level 69
Jan 4, 2020
missed sir cliff. he is in the effing picture.
PrettyTiedUp
+1
Level 68
Sep 8, 2020
Same.
TimFed
+2
Level 75
Sep 18, 2020
Sad not to see the Kinks make the cut
JackintheBox
+1
Level 79
Feb 20, 2021
Where is Bee Gees!!!!!!
AlexanderTheLarge
+1
Level 60
Jun 20, 2021
"Spice Girls" should be accepted for "The Spice Girls"
Bengus
+1
Level 58
Aug 18, 2021
Great quiz!
richiesyxx
+2
Level 72
Jan 16, 2022
Er, Clapton anyone? 280 million record sales should put him about 3rd, no?
WWEFan619
+1
Level 60
Oct 31, 2022
I can't believe Bring Me the Horizon isn't on here...what a shame.
Ripsnorter
+1
Level 37
Dec 21, 2022
just nice to see dire straits up here
Andrew169
+1
Level 73
Jan 23, 2023
Nice quiz. I got 29/38. Glad all Over!
guiztar73
+1
Level 72
Oct 17, 2023
Anybody not get Deep Purple, because you were convinced it was Bush?? Just me? Cool..
pike01
+1
Level 47
Feb 19, 2024
The Bee Gees are not listed!
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