List of best-selling singles in the United Kingdom
Best-selling singles based on paid-for purchases
Until June 2014, only a paid download or a purchase of a physical single counted as a sale. Based on this definition, these are the 50 best-selling singles in the UK.

List of best-selling singles in the United Kingdom

Section Title: Best-selling singles based on paid-for purchases
Table Section Text: Until June 2014, only a paid download or a purchase of a physical single counted as a sale. Based on this definition, these are the 50 best-selling singles in the UK.

No.	Single	Artist	Record label	Released	Chart peak	Traditional sales

1	"Something About the Way You Look Tonight" / "Candle in the Wind 1997"	Elton John	Rocket	September 1997	1	4,935,426

2	"Do They Know It's Christmas?"	Band Aid	Mercury	November 1984	1	3,802,066

3	"Bohemian Rhapsody" / "These Are the Days of Our Lives"	Queen	EMI	October 1975 November 1991	1	2,540,604

4	"Mull of Kintyre" / "Girls' School"	Wings	Parlophone	November 1977	1	2,086,183

5	"You're the One That I Want"	John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John	RSO	May 1978	1	2,072,035

6	"Relax"	Frankie Goes to Hollywood	ZTT	January 1984	1	2,066,230

7	"Rivers of Babylon" / "Brown Girl in the Ring"	Boney M.	Atlantic/Hansa	April 1978	1	2,032,656

8	"Happy"	Pharrell Williams	Columbia	November 2013	1	1,930,000

9	"She Loves You"	The Beatles	Parlophone	August 1963	1	1,922,275

10	"Love Is All Around"	Wet Wet Wet	PolyGram	May 1994	1	1,898,790

11	"Mary's Boy Child – Oh My Lord"	Boney M.	Atlantic/Hansa	November 1978	1	1,885,274

12	"Last Christmas" / "Everything She Wants"	Wham!	Epic	December 1984	2	1,880,000

13	"I Just Called to Say I Love You"	Stevie Wonder	Motown	August 1984	1	1,874,225

14	"Unchained Melody" / "(There'll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover"	Robson & Jerome	RCA	May 1995	1	1,867,755

15	"(Everything I Do) I Do It for You"	Bryan Adams	A&M	June 1991	1	1,848,154

16	"Barbie Girl"	Aqua	Universal	October 1997	1	1,844,310

17	"Believe"	Cher	WEA	October 1998	1	1,826,573

18	"I Want to Hold Your Hand"	The Beatles	Parlophone	November 1963	1	1,810,829

19	"Anything Is Possible" / "Evergreen"	Will Young	S	February 2002	1	1,795,213

20	"Imagine"	John Lennon	Apple	October 1975	1	1,714,351

21	"Blurred Lines"	Robin Thicke featuring T.I. and Pharrell Williams	Interscope	May 2013	1	1,667,615

22	"I'll Be Missing You"	Puff Daddy featuring Faith Evans	Bad Boy	June 1997	1	1,663,303

23	"Uptown Funk"	Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars	RCA	December 2014	1	1,647,310

24	"Eye of the Tiger"	Survivor	Scotti Brothers	July 1982	1	1,650,293

25	"Someone like You"	Adele	XL	January 2011	1	1,644,597

26	"I Will Always Love You"	Whitney Houston	Arista	October 1992	1	1,642,360

27	"Summer Nights"	John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John	RSO	September 1978	1	1,640,672

28	"Don't You Want Me"	The Human League	Virgin	November 1981	1	1,637,503

29	"Two Tribes"	Frankie Goes to Hollywood	ZTT	May 1984	1	1,629,287

30	"Gangsta's Paradise"	Coolio featuring L.V.	Tommy Boy	October 1995	1	1,585,504

31	"My Heart Will Go On"	Celine Dion	Epic	February 1998	1	1,583,276

32	"Three Lions" "3 Lions '98"	Baddiel & Skinner & The Lightning Seeds	Epic	June 1996	1	1,577,260

33	"...Baby One More Time"	Britney Spears	Jive	February 1999	1	1,558,054

34	"Perfect Day"	Various Artists	Chrysalis	November 1997	1	1,550,017

35	"Can't Buy Me Love"	The Beatles	Parlophone	March 1964	1	1,547,454

36	"Moves Like Jagger"	Maroon 5 featuring Christina Aguilera	A&M/Octone	August 2011	2	1,536,041

37	"Careless Whisper"	George Michael	Epic	July 1984	1	1,523,852

38	"Karma Chameleon"	Culture Club	Virgin	September 1983	1	1,528,498

39	"Tears"	Ken Dodd	Columbia	August 1965	1	1,523,690

40	"Somebody That I Used to Know"	Gotye featuring Kimbra	Island	January 2012	1	1,515,527

41	"Wonderwall"	Oasis	Creation	May 1995	2	1,502,270

42	"Y.M.C.A."	Village People	Mercury	November 1978	1	1,513,677

43	"Wake Me Up"	Avicii	Positiva/PRMD	June 2013	1	1,483,346

44	"I Gotta Feeling"	The Black Eyed Peas	Interscope	September 2009	1	1,477,778

45	"Get Lucky"	Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams	Columbia	April 2013	1	1,471,356

46	"Killing Me Softly"	Fugees	Ruffhouse	June 1996	1	1,457,641

47	"The Power of Love"	Jennifer Rush	CBS	May 1985	1	1,456,087

48	"(We're Gonna) Rock Around the Clock"	Bill Haley & His Comets	Decca	December 1954	1	1,439,196

49	"It Wasn't Me"	Shaggy	MCA	February 2001	1	1,428,204

50	"Come On Eileen"	Dexys Midnight Runners	Mercury	October 1982	1	1,425,474

Sentence(s)

Boney M. is the only artist to appear twice in the top 11 best selling singles of all time in the UK, with "Rivers of Babylon" in 7th place and "Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord" at number 11.

final_sentence: Boney M. is the only artist to appear twice in the top 11 best selling singles of all time in the UK, with "Rivers of Babylon" in 7th place and "Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord" at number 11.