Photo: Mirrorpix
Queen has made U.K. chart history becoming the first artist to have an album exceed 7 million sales in the country.
Queen's 1981 Greatest Hits compilation was already the best-selling album of all time, having passed 6 million sales in 2014. The record has spent over 1,000 weeks on the U.K. charts and recently passed the 7 million sales equivalent threshold, combining physical sales, downloads and streams.
On streaming platforms alone, Greatest Hits has registered 1.26 billion streams from the U.K., with the band's iconic mid-'70s hit "Bohemian Rhapsody" leading all other tracks.
“The British public and their infinitely-great taste have made this the biggest-selling album in history," said drummer Roger Taylor. "Thank you very much; we’re humbled and honored. We salute you!”
Martin Talbot of the Official Charts Company added that Queen's Greatest Hits "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."
In March of 2021, Queen became the first British artist in history to have a song reach diamond sales certification by the RIAA when "Bohemian Rhapsody" surpassed 10 million sales/streams in the United States.
"This is incredible news," guitarist Brian May said. "At times like this I have to pinch myself to be sure it's real. All those wild dreams we had — this is beyond any of them. Huge thanks to all who have believed in us over the years."