1. Cher's 'Believe' is the best-selling single by a female artist in UK chart history. The song spent seven weeks at number one in 1998 and has sold almost 1.78 million copies to date.
The highest-selling single by a solo female artist is "All I Want For Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey – released in October 1994, it has sold over 4 million copies in the UK.
Maintaining its title as the best-selling single in UK chart history, Elton John's Candle In The Wind '97/Something About The Way You Look Tonight reigns supreme at Number 1, with UK chart sales in excess of 4.94 million.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, British rock band The Beatles are top of the list for best-selling artists worldwide, with 183 million units certified sales.
Madonna (13)
The most successful female artist in UK chart history.
Rihanna Is the First Female Artist To Have 60 RIAA Certified Platinum Singles or Higher in the US.
If we're talking a female solo artist going in at Number 1 with their very first album, that honour goes to Jane McDonald – she is the first British woman to debut at the top of the albums chart with their first LP.
As of June 2023, "Blinding Lights" (2019) by Canadian singer the Weeknd is the most-streamed song of all time on Spotify, while "Dance Monkey" (2019) by Australian singer-songwriter Tones and I is the most-streamed song by a female artist.
The Guinness World Records named the holiday single "White Christmas" (1942) by Bing Crosby as the best-selling single worldwide. According to Guinness, "White Christmas" sold over 50 million copies. The single is known as the "best-selling single of all time".
Madonna is recognized by Guinness World Records as the "Best-selling female recording artist of all time".
The Bodyguard soundtrack by Whitney Houston (with various artists) is the best-selling album credited to a woman; its sales are over 50 million copies since its release in November 1992.
The top-selling female-fronted album of all time based on certified unit sales worldwide is currently Whitney Houston's 1992-released 'The Bodyguard Soundtrack,' with a massive 45 million copies sold.
One of the most popular British singer-songwriters in pop music today is probably Ed Sheeran.
The following list contains the most-streamed artists on the audio streaming platform Spotify. As of June 2023, Canadian rapper Drake is the most-streamed artist of all time on Spotify, while American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift is the most-streamed female artist.
Elvis Presley has 21 number ones on the UK Singles Chart, including three re-releases which are counted as separate chart entries/chart hits due to the records' catalogue numbers changing in 2005. With or without the releases, Presley's total is still more than any other artist in history.
Though the two bands have jockeyed for decades to hold the record for the most albums sold, it has finally been made official: the iconic Queen have outpaced the Swedish supergroup for the most successful album in British history.
Queen's best selling single, "Another One Bites The Dust," came out on this day in 1980.
The best-selling album in the United Kingdom is Greatest Hits, a compilation album by the British rock band Queen that was first released in 1981. As of July 2022, it has sold more than 7 million copies, of which approximately 124,000 have been from downloads.
Madonna. The Queen of Pop, Madonna, is the bestselling female artist of all time. She's released 14 studio albums, three soundtracks, five live albums and six compilations, plus 63 UK Top 10 singles. Since 1983, she's sold an estimated 335 million albums and singles worldwide.