As part of the celebration of the Bank Holiday in the U.K. on Monday, BBC2 brought in legendary DJ Tony Blackburn to count down the forty biggest selling albums of all-time.
The chart, compiled by Britain's Official Chart Company, is topped by Queen's Greatest Hits, which has sold 5.8 million copies since its release in 1981. Second is the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band with 5 million sold.
Blackburn said of the list, "This chart is a real mixed bag and I think listeners will be quite surprised. There are artists in there you would expect to see in a countdown of this nature but not necessarily at the positions that they are. I was really surprised to see who hadn't made it in. No sign of the massively successful acts like The Rolling Stones, Elvis, Diana Ross or Marvin Gaye."
The top forty (with veteran artists in bold):
Greatest Hits - Queen
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - Beatles
Gold - ABBA
(What's the Story) Morning Glory - Oasis
Thriller - Michael Jackson
21 - Adele
Brothers in Arms - Dire Straits
Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd
Bad - Michael Jackson
Greatest Hits II - Queen
The Immaculate Collection - Madonna
Back to Black - Amy Winehouse
Stars - Simply Red
Rumours - Fleetwood Mac
Come On Over - Shania Twain
Back to Bedlam - James Blunt
Urban Hymns - Verve
Bridge Over Troubled Waters - Simon & Garfunkel
No Angel - Dido
Spirit - Leona Lewis
Legend - Bob Marley & the Wailers
Bat Out of Hell - Meat Loaf
Dirty Dancing - Soundtrack
1 - Beatles
Talk on Corners - Corrs
White Ladder - David Gray
Spice - Spice Girls
Crazy Love - Michael Buble
Life For Rent - Dido
Beautiful World - Take That
The Fame - Lady Gaga
A Rush of Blood to the Head - Coldplay
Hopes and Fears - Keane
The Joshua Tree - U2
But Seriously - Phil Collins
Scissor Sisters - Scissor Sisters
Only By the Night - Kings of Leon
The War of the Worlds - Jeff Wayne
The Man Who - Travis
x&y - Coldplay
