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Official Top 20 Biggest Selling Singles Of All Time By Female Artists
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If there’s one thing the Official Singles Chart would be pretty dull without, it’s female singers, so let's count down the UK’s Official Top 20 biggest selling singles of all time by female artists.
Leading the way is a woman whose pop career spans over 50 years: Cher. Her Number 1 hit Believe, which spent seven weeks at the summit in 1998, has sold 1.82 million copies in the UK (excluding streams). It's somewhat fitting Cher should top this list; her latest reinvention as a prolific social media/anti-Trump activist has introduced her to a new generation and she does have one of the longest careers in the music business – her first hit was over 50 years ago.
Behind Cher is another celebrated voice – the late, great Whitney Houston. Whitney, who passed away in February 2012, spent a whopping ten weeks at Number 1 with I Will Always Love You, taken from the soundtrack of hit movie The Bodyguard. The track, which was written and originally recorded by country star Dolly Parton, has sold 1.638 million copies in the UK alone.
Catching up to Whitney fast, it's a more recent entry from Adele, who places third with Someone Like You. The track, which has sold 1.637 million, took over the world in February 2011 and logged a total of five weeks at Number 1 on the Official Singles Chart.
Coming in fourth is another one of the world's most recognisable voices - Celine Dion with her global smash My Heart Will Go On. Released in 1998 as the theme to Titanic, the song spent two non-consecutive weeks at Number 1 in the UK and has sold 1.58 million to date. Celine makes a second entry on the list, at Number 9 with her 1994 single Think Twice (1.37m).
MORE: Celine Dion's complete Official UK Chart history
Oh baby, baby, you knew Britney had to be in here somewhere, right? And here she is completing the Top 5. Her debut single …Baby One More Time spent just two weeks at Number 1 in 1999, but it sure shifted plenty of copies while it was there. Its sales tally stands at 1.56 million – it sold over 460,000 copies in its first week on sale.
Elsewhere in the Top 20, the Spice Girls feature twice with their 1996 chart-toppers Wannabe (1.38m) and 2 Become 1 (1.14m), as does Rihanna with We Found Love (1.41m) and Only Girl (In The World) (1.16m).
The oldest song on the list is Jennifer Rush's 1985 hit The Power Of Love (1.45m), while the most recent goes to Carly Rae Jepsen's Call Me Maybe, released in 2012 (1.35m).
The best-selling singles by female artists of all time
| TITLE | ARTIST | YEAR | |
| 1 | BELIEVE | CHER | 1998 |
| 2 | I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU | WHITNEY HOUSTON | 1992 |
| 3 | SOMEONE LIKE YOU | ADELE | 2011 |
| 4 | MY HEART WILL GO ON | CELINE DION | 1998 |
| 5 | ...BABY ONE MORE TIME | BRITNEY SPEARS | 1999 |
| 6 | THE POWER OF LOVE | JENNIFER RUSH | 1985 |
| 7 | WE FOUND LOVE | RIHANNA FEATURING CALVIN HARRIS | 2011 |
| 8 | WANNABE | SPICE GIRLS | 1996 |
| 9 | THINK TWICE | CELINE DION | 1994 |
| 10 | NEVER EVER | ALL SAINTS | 1997 |
| 11 | CALL ME MAYBE | CARLY RAE JEPSEN | 2012 |
| 12 | HALLELUJAH | ALEXANDRA BURKE | 2008 |
| 13 | PRICE TAG | JESSIE J FEATURING B.O.B | 2011 |
| 14 | CAN'T GET YOU OUT OF MY HEAD | KYLIE MINOGUE | 2001 |
| 15 | TORN | NATALIE IMBRUGLIA | 1997 |
| 16 | SATURDAY NIGHT | WHIGFIELD | 1994 |
| 17 | POKER FACE | LADY GAGA | 2009 |
| 18 | ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOU | MARIAH CAREY | 1994 |
| 19 | ONLY GIRL (IN THE WORLD) | RIHANNA | 2010 |
| 20 | 2 BECOME 1 | SPICE GIRLS | 1996 |
©2017 Official Charts Company. All rights reserved.
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andreskizzo .
If it says "Top40" why are you only listing the top20?
EP
Ezekiel Powers
I'm not surprised Madonna doesn't have a song on this list, she's never had a million-selling single in the UK, the fact that she's sold the most singles in the UK by a female artist makes the lack of a million seller all the more pitiful. Oh dear.
I Am A Stegosaurus
'The Singles Chart would be dull without female singers' well with people like Dua Lipa and Zara Larsson around, I wouldn't mind it without to be honest
GIO
Britney <3
TUC
Striking how many of these acts, if not one hit wonders, had a relatively small number of major hits.
Luke Rexford
I for one am quite happy to see an updated total for "The Power of Love". I understand that anything pre-1994 is a little difficult for you fine folks to determine, but it had been years since we received a specific total.
mapa mapa
Since when do you class Calvin Harris and B.o.B. as female artists!! Duh!
Johnny McVey
Don't troll, please. Featured artists are irrelevant here compared to the main artist.
mapa mapa
still CREDITED as featured Artist Johnny whether it's MAIN or not
Johnny McVey
The LEAD artist is what's important here
Sunshine Gal
hmm...'think twice' by celine dion? never heard of it, wasn't a single here or had moderate success. and not too familiar with the all saints and whigfield. over here, the top selling singles by a female act would def. have madonna in the top 10 :). possibly beyonce and mariah.
TUC
In the UK Think Twice was Celine Dion's second biggest selling single ever.
Sunshine Gal
really! i never heard of that song before until i read this article :D. to my knowledge, her most successful single over here would be 'my heart will go on'...not too sure what her top selling single might be though.
Johnny McVey
My Heart Will Go On is her biggest seller. Think Twice spent 7 weeks at number 1.
Sunshine Gal
oh cool! it's always cool for me finding out about big hits in other countries i wasn't aware of. and believe it or not, i was still following the bb charts when 'my heart will go on' debuted @ #1 ;) very fun year to be following the bb charts.
Techfan
To note, most of those singles are from the pre-streaming era. Although some of the more recent ones have benefited from the convenience of downloads during their peak of popularity, the older ones benefited from having a longer sales period.
Sunshine Gal
hey buddy! do you know who would be in the top 10 for the u.s. category?
Techfan
Based on the info on Wikipedia:
1. Rolling in the Deep
2. Call Me Maybe
3. Poker Face
4. Just Dance
5. Firework
6. Tik Tok
7. I Will Always Love You
8. Roar
9. Dark Horse
10. Someone Like You
Most of them are from the recent digital era, before streaming grew a lot. IWALY obviously sold quite a good amount digitally after Whitney's death.
BTW, happy International Women's Day! While a lot of advances have been made, they're still lots of work to be done until such a day isn't required. ;)
Sunshine Gal
madonna's 'vogue' wouldn't be on that list? oh and thanks :D and no riri on that list or beyonce? i'm shocked :D
Techfan
Well, even RIAA has Vogue only as a 2X platinum song. Riri appears as featured in Love the Way You Lie, so her next best selling one is We Found Love that'd probably be around #15 and Beyonce's further down with Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It). Rihanna's the best selling digital artist mostly because she has released quite a lot of singles since debuting.
Sunshine Gal
oh i thought maybe vogue would be higher by now...is that still her biggest selling single?
I Am A Stegosaurus
Thank god this is sales only, otherwise Shout Out To My Ex would probably be in the top 3 or something
Johnny McVey
Shout Out to My Ex wouldn't be anywhere near the top 20 with streaming included.
I Am A Stegosaurus
I posted that comment when the song was like #1, it was kind of a joke because of streaming allowing recent songs to chart high on all time lists
Nippian Nippian
Whitney !
TG
Terry Gee
Wow! No Madonna! That's surprising.
Tosyma
Spice Girls, All Saints are groups... should not have been on the list.
Johnny McVey
Female artists, not female solo artists
Techfan
Yes, a subtle but important distinction. Although, using acts rather than artists sounds more inclusive in terms of including duos and groups.
Utilisateur
Zara Larsson "Lush Life" sold 1,234,000 copies in the UK, shouldn't it be in the top 20?
(alright just saw your numbers exclude streaming)
Official Charts
Hi Edouard, this list is based on sales only. Lush Life has sold 1.244m across digital and streaming equivalent sales (it's sales-only figure is 355,000).