What was the best-selling UK single the year you were born?

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What you need to know about the Official Singles Chart

Over the last seven decades, the music industry has continued to evolve with new songs, albums and artists bursting onto the scene. But one thing has been consistent throughout that time, and that’s the Official Singles Chart.

From singles sales or streams, music fans love to find out what the biggest song of the week is – and we’ve all had our favourites through the years. But what was the biggest song the year you were born?

Here, BBC Bitesize takes a look back at the history of the charts, every best-selling UK single since its inception according to the Official Singles Chart and what life was like through the decades.

A hand with red painted nails and wearing a green shirt puts a cassette tape into a silver stereo music player. It sits on a yellow table with a CD and a vinyl placed next to it
There have been so many hits through the decades
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What was the best-selling UK single the year you were born?

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History of the Official Singles Chart

The history of the Official Charts dates back over 70 years, with the creation of the UK’s first singles charts in November 1952. At the time, Percy Dickins, co-founder of music newspaper NME (New Musical Express), compiled the very first charts after contacting various record shops to ask them what their best-selling songs were.

Prior to that, a song’s popularity was determined by the sales of its sheet music. The first chart listed the twelve best-selling singles of the week and Al Martino’s Here in My Heart was the first-ever number one, staying in the top spot for nine consecutive weeks.

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Biggest selling UK singles of the 1950s

A black and white photo of a young boy in the 1950s wearing a shirt and trousers sitting on a couch smiling as he turns the volume up on a dial on a radio. The photo is slightly blurred as the focus of the image is text reading '1950s'
The 50s saw the birth of the first UK Singles Chart

As mentioned, the 50s saw the birth of the first UK Singles Chart – so this is where we kick off our biggest selling singles lists. But life also saw a lot of change in the UK post war.

Queen Elizabeth II was crowned, children now had to attend school until the age of 15 and families saw the end of food rationing. In the music industry, famous UK artists like Cliff Richard and Lonnie Donegan burst onto the scene.

  • 1952: ‘Auf Wiederseh’n (Sweetheart) by Vera Lynn
  • 1953: ‘I Believe’ by Frankie Laine
  • 1954: ‘Secret Love’ by Doris Day
  • 1955: ‘Rose Marie’ by Slim Whitman
  • 1956: ‘I’ll Be Home’ by Pat Boone
  • 1957: ‘Diana’ by Paul Anka
  • 1958: ‘Jailhouse Rock’ by Elvis Presley
  • 1959: ‘Living Doll’ by Cliff Richard
A black and white photo of a young boy in the 1950s wearing a shirt and trousers sitting on a couch smiling as he turns the volume up on a dial on a radio. The photo is slightly blurred as the focus of the image is text reading '1950s'
The 50s saw the birth of the first UK Singles Chart
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Biggest selling UK singles of the 1960s

A black and white of The Beatles performing on stage with instruments, all wearing black suits and ties The photo is slightly blurred as the focus of the image is text reading '1960s'
The 60s saw lots of new acts emerge

A transformative decade - so much happened back in the swinging sixties. Both the first man and first woman went to space, the domestic microwave became commercially widespread, author Roald Dahl published much-loved children's books James and the Giant Peach and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and in 1966 England won the football World Cup.

Supermarkets became more popular places to shop and there was a wave of new fashions, from new wave designs from Mary Quant to the mods and the rockers. Liverpool band The Beatles also rose to fame and became known across the world for hits like Hey Jude, Let It Be and Yesterday.

  • 1960: ‘It’s Now Or Never’ by Elvis Presley
  • 1961: ‘Wooden Heart’ by Elvis Presley
  • 1962: ‘I Remember You’ by Frank Ifield
  • 1963: ‘She Loves You’ by The Beatles
  • 1964: ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’ by The Beatles
  • 1965: ‘Tears’ by Ken Dodd
  • 1966: ‘Green Green Grass of Home’ by Tom Jones
  • 1967: ‘Release Me’ by Engelbert Humperdink
  • 1968: ‘Hey Jude’ by The Beatles
  • 1969: ‘Sugar, Sugar’ by The Archies
A black and white of The Beatles performing on stage with instruments, all wearing black suits and ties The photo is slightly blurred as the focus of the image is text reading '1960s'
The 60s saw lots of new acts emerge
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Biggest selling UK singles of the 1970s

Two dancers, one male and one female, stand on a colourful lit up dancefloor in the 1970s. The man wears a black and white suit with flared pants and the woman has curly hair and a long burgundy dress. The image is blurred as the text '1970s' is the focus of the image
It's now been over 50 years since the decade started

Children of the 70s will remember the decade for more televisions being in colour, the first Star Wars film hitting cinemas and flared trousers and flowery shirts being in fashion. There was a surge in fast food restaurants popping up around the country and the end of the decade saw Margaret Thatcher as the first female UK Prime Minister.

In 1976, UK entrant Brotherhood of Man won the Eurovision Song Contest with their song Save Your Kisses for Me. In the decade, the world also said goodbye to music legends Jimi Hendrix and Elvis Presley.

  • 1970: ‘In the Summertime’ by Mungo Jerry
  • 1971: ‘My Sweet Lord’ by George Harrison
  • 1972: ‘Amazing Grace’ by Royal Scots Dragoon Guards
  • 1973: ‘Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree’ by Dawn feat. Tony Orlando
  • 1974: ‘Tiger Feet’ by Mud
  • 1975: ‘Bye Bye Baby’ by Bay City Rollers
  • 1976: ‘Save Your Kisses for Me’ by Brotherhood of Man
  • 1977: ‘Mull of Kintyre’ by Wings
  • 1978: ‘Rivers of Babylon/Brown Girl in the Ring’ by Boney M
  • 1979: ‘Bright Eyes’ by Art Garfunkel
Two dancers, one male and one female, stand on a colourful lit up dancefloor in the 1970s. The man wears a black and white suit with flared pants and the woman has curly hair and a long burgundy dress. The image is blurred as the text '1970s' is the focus of the image
It's now been over 50 years since the decade started
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Biggest selling UK singles of the 1980s

Against a purple background, a woman in the 1980s, with long blonde hair, a sweat head band and a colourful leotard holds a giant silver boombox. The image is slightly blurred as the focus is the text '1980s'
The 1980s was a big decade for music, film, TV and tech

It’s now been over 40 years since the 80s. It was the decade that saw the first BBC Children in Need telethon broadcast, the first Red Nose Day campaign launched, people became obsessed with the Rubik’s Cube and music was listened to on a Sony Walkman cassette player.

When it comes to film, there are so many iconic 80s movies to name – from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off to The Goonies, Dirty Dancing and more. In recent years, you may have also noticed a number of 80s hits make it back into the charts, like Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill and Madonna’s Material Girl, after appearing in popular TV shows or trending on TikTok.

  • 1980: ‘Don’t Stand So Close To Me’ by The Police
  • 1981: ‘Don't You Want Me’ by The Human League
  • 1982: ‘Come On Eileen’ by Dexy’s Midnight Runners
  • 1983: ‘Karma Chameleon’ by Culture Club
  • 1984: ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ by Band Aid
  • 1985: ‘The Power of Love’ by Jennifer Rush
  • 1986: ‘Don’t Leave Me This Way’ by The Communards
  • 1987: ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ by Rick Astley
  • 1988: ‘Mistletoe and Wine’ by Cliff Richard
  • 1989: ‘Ride On Time’ by Black Box
Against a purple background, a woman in the 1980s, with long blonde hair, a sweat head band and a colourful leotard holds a giant silver boombox. The image is slightly blurred as the focus is the text '1980s'
The 1980s was a big decade for music, film, TV and tech
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Biggest selling UK singles of the 1990s

The Spice Girls perform on stage at the Brit Awards, all holding and singing into microphones. Left to right is Mel C with brown mid-length hair, black trousers and a one shoulder striped green top, Emma - wearing her blonde hair in a messy bun hairstyle and wearing white trainers with a halter black sparkly dress, Mel B - has curly afro brown hair and wears a leopard print jumpsuit, Geri - has fiery ginger hair and wears red boots with a dress with the Union Jack flag on it and Victoria has short brown hair and wears white heels, a white mini skirt and a white triangle bikini top. The images is blurred as the focus is on the text that reads '1990s'
The 1990s saw a lot of boy bands and girl bands top the charts

Back in the 90s, BBC Bitesize was officially launched and people were listening to music by the likes of Oasis and The Spice Girls on compact discs, known as CDs, or cassette tapes. The World Wide Web (www) became available to the public, top phones included the Nokia 3110 and Nokia 3210 and iconic films like Clueless wowed audiences.

In the music industry, Bryan Adams achieved the record for the longest consecutive run at number 1 on the UK singles chart - 16 weeks - with (Everything I Do) I Do It for You. Two versions of Unchained Melody were also top selling songs and Cher’s Believe became recognised as the best-selling single by a female solo artist in UK chart history.

Elton John's Candle in the Wind/ Something About the Way You Look Tonight is also the biggest-selling single of all time in the UK. It was released following the death of Princess Diana in 1997.

  • 1990: ‘Unchained Melody’ by The Righteous Brothers
  • 1991: ‘(Everything I Do) I Do It For You’ by Bryan Adams
  • 1992: ‘I Will Always Love You’ by Whitney Houston
  • 1993: ‘I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That)’ by Meat Loaf
  • 1994: ‘Love Is All Around’ by Wet Wet Wet
  • 1995: ‘Unchained Melody’ by Robson & Jerome
  • 1996: ‘Killing Me Softly’ by Fugees
  • 1997: ‘Candle In The Wind/Something About The Way You Look Tonight’ by Elton John
  • 1998: ‘Believe’ by Cher
  • 1999: ‘Baby One More Time’ by Britney Spears
The Spice Girls perform on stage at the Brit Awards, all holding and singing into microphones. Left to right is Mel C with brown mid-length hair, black trousers and a one shoulder striped green top, Emma - wearing her blonde hair in a messy bun hairstyle and wearing white trainers with a halter black sparkly dress, Mel B - has curly afro brown hair and wears a leopard print jumpsuit, Geri - has fiery ginger hair and wears red boots with a dress with the Union Jack flag on it and Victoria has short brown hair and wears white heels, a white mini skirt and a white triangle bikini top. The images is blurred as the focus is on the text that reads '1990s'
The 1990s saw a lot of boy bands and girl bands top the charts
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Biggest selling UK singles of the 2000s

A crowd cheers wearing fun hats and glasses as they celebrate the new millennium. The image is blurred as the focus is the text which reads '2000s'
The 2000s saw a new millennium begin

The 2000s of course saw the turn of the millennium as we said goodbye to the 20th century and hello to the 21st century. It was the decade that the original Spider-Man trilogy hit cinemas, Taylor Swift released her debut album and social media companies like Facebook and YouTube first launched.

In 2002, the CBBC channel also launched. When it comes to 2000s music hits, Will Young also made history with the fastest-selling debut single in UK chart history.

  • 2000: ‘Can We Fix It’ by Bob the Builder
  • 2001: ‘It Wasn’t Me’ by Shaggy
  • 2002: ‘Anything Is Possible/Evergreen’ by Will Young
  • 2003: ‘Where Is The Love?’ by Black Eyed Peas
  • 2004: ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ by Band Aid 20
  • 2005: ‘(Is This The Way To) Amarillo’ by Tony Christie feat. Peter Kay
  • 2006: ‘Crazy’ by Gnarls Barkley
  • 2007: ‘Bleeding Love’ by Leona Lewis
  • 2008: ‘Hallelujah’ by Alexandra Burke
  • 2009: ‘Poker Face’ by Lady Gaga
A crowd cheers wearing fun hats and glasses as they celebrate the new millennium. The image is blurred as the focus is the text which reads '2000s'
The 2000s saw a new millennium begin
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Biggest selling UK singles of the 2010s

A man wearing a blue top and black headphones listens to music as he sits with his back to a woman with curly brown hair wearing a dark purple top. She wears pink headphones and listens to music on her music player. The image is blurred as the focus is text reading '2010s'
So many hits were released in the 2010s

It feels like only yesterday, but the 2010s was the decade that saw Stranger Things first come to our screens, London host the Olympics and Pokémon Go become an instant hit. Queen Elizabeth also became the second British queen to celebrate a diamond jubilee and virtual assistants like Siri and Alexa came onto the scene.

When it comes to music, Love The Way You Lie by Eminem featuring Rihanna was the best-selling single of its year – despite not topping the Official Singles Chart - and Pharrell Williams made history with song Happy, which was the first in 57 years to hit the number one spot on three separate occasions. Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke feat. T.I. and Pharrell Williams also had commercial success but was extremely controversial and faced criticism for its lyrics.

  • 2010: ‘Love the Way You Lie’ by Eminem feat. Rihanna
  • 2011: ‘Someone Like You’ by Adele
  • 2012: ‘Somebody That I Used To Know’ by Gotye feat. Kimbra
  • 2013: ‘Blurred Lines’ by Robin Thicke feat. T.I. and Pharrell Williams
  • 2014: ‘Happy’ by Pharrell Williams
  • 2015: ‘Uptown Funk’ by Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars
  • 2016: ‘One Dance’ by Drake feat. Wizkid and Kyla
  • 2017: ‘Shape of You’ by Ed Sheeran
  • 2018: ‘One Kiss’ by Calvin Harris and Dua Lipa
  • 2019: ‘Someone You Loved’ by Lewis Capaldi
A man wearing a blue top and black headphones listens to music as he sits with his back to a woman with curly brown hair wearing a dark purple top. She wears pink headphones and listens to music on her music player. The image is blurred as the focus is text reading '2010s'
So many hits were released in the 2010s
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Biggest selling UK singles of the 2020s

A woman with long hair braids wears a white top and yellow jacket as she dances. The image is blurred as the focus is the text that reads '2020s'
What is your favourite song of this decade so far?

We’re now over halfway into the 2020s – and so much happened since the decade started. In March 2020, life as we knew it changed as the coronavirus pandemic sent the world into lockdown.

We’ve also seen the finalisation of Brexit, a new monarch crowned, King Charles III, and the rise of generative AI. In the world of music – these are the biggest selling UK singles per year so far in the decade.

  • 2020: ‘Blinding Lights’ by The Weeknd
  • 2021: ‘Bad Habits’ by Ed Sheeran
  • 2022: ‘As It Was’ by Harry Styles
  • 2023: ‘Flowers’ by Miley Cyrus
  • 2024: ‘Stick Season’ by Noah Kahan
  • 2025: ‘Ordinary’ by Alex Warren

This article was written in March 2026

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What is your favourite song of this decade so far?
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Learn more about top hits and popular music