The Beatles
The countdown was part of the BBC's programming in celebration of Queen Elizabeth's Golden Jubilee. The first official singles chart was released just five months after she took the throne.
Twelve of those artists, known as the Golden Dozen, have sold over ten million singles, led by the Beatles with 21.9 million. 300,000 behind is Elvis Presley with Cliff Richard a scant 100,000 in sales behind him. Sales figures then start to drop off down to Kylie Minogue at number 12 with sales of 10.1 million.
In total, the top 60 were announced without a lot of surprises, although Americans might not have expected Minogue, who has only had one U.S. hit, to be so high, nor might they recognize a few of the names such as Take That, Boyzone and Westlife.
Here are the top 60 with sales for the Golden Dozen.
Beatles (21,900,000)
Elvis Presley (21,600,000)
Cliff Richard (21,500,000)
Madonna (17,600,000)
Michael Jackson (15,300,000)
Elton John (14,800,000)
Queen (12,600,000)
ABBA (11,200,000)
David Bowie (10,600,000)
Rihanna (10,400,000)
Paul McCartney (10,200,000)
Kylie Minogue (10,100,000)
Rolling Stones
Rod Stewart
Take That
Stevie Wonder
Oasis
Eminem
Whitney Houston
Spice Girls
George Michael
Robbie Williams
Bee Gees
U2
Shakin' Stevens
Britney Spears
Status Quo
Lady Gaga
Boyzone
Blondie
Slade
Black Eyed Peas
Boney M
Westlife
Celine Dion
Beyonce
UB40
Olivia Newton John
Mariah Carey
Tom Jones
Madness
Police
Wham!
Phil Collins
Diana Ross
Jam
Bryan Adams
Pet Shop Boys
David Guetta
Adam Ant
Duran Duran
Frank Sinatra
Frankie Goes To Hollywood
Prince
Katy Perry
Wet Wet Wet
Everly Brothers
Shadows
Pink
Coldplay
Tagged in Beatles