British rock veterans Queen have made UK music history as their Greatest Hits has become the first album to pass seven million chart sales, the Official Charts Company said.
Brian May and Roger Taylor said they are “humbled and honoured” by news of the milestone, which was achieved through a combination of physical sales, downloads and streams.
The compilation album, recorded in 1981, includes classic tracks such as We Will Rock You, Don’t Stop Me Now and Bohemian Rhapsody.
In 2014, it became the first album to pass six million sales in the UK and as pure sales (physical and digital download copies).
The album has 1.26 billion total UK streams to date, with the most-streamed track being Bohemian Rhapsody, which boasts 240 million UK streams and counting.
Queen’s Greatest Hits recently celebrated its 1,000th week in the Official Albums Chart, with the bank becoming the first British act to achieve the landmark milestone.
Speaking to OfficialCharts.com, May and Taylor thanked the public and praised their “infinitely great taste”.
“We’re here to bring you the joyous news that Queen’s Greatest Hits album has sold seven million copies, which nobody has ever done before,” said May, who celebrates his 75th birthday on July 19.
“No album has done this before in history. Thank you. We appreciate it.”
Taylor added: “The British public and their infinitely great taste have made this the biggest-selling album in history.
“Thank you very much. We’re humbled and honoured. We salute you.”
Martin Talbot, chief executive of Official Charts Company, said: “It really is a fantastic achievement by Queen to become the first act to notch up seven million sales of one album with their legendary Greatest Hits.
“When it was released for the first time in 1981, career-spanning packages such as Greatest Hits were relatively rare, the preserve of only the very biggest acts.
“Queen’s Greatest Hits can claim to be in more than one in four UK households’ record collections today, and there is no doubt that its massive success has done as much as any other release to turn hits packages into the omnipresent album concept that they are today.”
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