Most aspiring popstars would count themselves lucky to have just one hit single and maybe even an album, but the holy grail for any artist is to enjoy a career long and successful enough to win the ultimate prize: releasing a greatest hits
Almost all of us grew up with at least one greatest hits collection in the house. Not only are they the perfect way to look back at your favourite artist’s material, they’re also a fantastic introduction to their work for anyone either too young to appreciate them first time round or never interested enough to care until now.
Greatest hits retrospectives are more than just stocking-fillers; they sell in their millions. To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Official Albums Chart, Official Charts UK reveal the greatest of the greatest – the hits collections that sold the most.
With a chart record like Michael Jackson’s, you were always going to struggle to pick a selection of his best tracks for a greatest hits. This 2003 retrospective, then, kept things simple: tracks that had hit Number 1 somewhere in the world got a free pass. 2.35 million copies of this chart-topping album, which is as good an introduction to the King of Pop as you’re likely to get, are in homes around the UK.
| TITLE | ARTIST | YEAR | |
| 1 | GREATEST HITS | QUEEN | 1981 |
| 2 | GOLD – GREATEST HITS | ABBA | 1992 |
| 3 | GREATEST HITS II | QUEEN | 1991 |
| 4 | THE IMMACULATE COLLECTION | MADONNA | 1990 |
| 5 | LEGEND | BOB MARLEY & THE WAILERS | 1984 |
| 6 | 1 | BEATLES | 2000 |
| 7 | GREATEST HITS | ABBA | 1976 |
| 8 | LADIES & GENTLEMEN – THE BEST OF | GEORGE MICHAEL | 1998 |
| 9 | NEVER FORGET – THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION | TAKE THAT | 2005 |
| 10 | NUMBER ONES | MICHAEL JACKSON | 2003 |
©2016 Official Charts Company. All rights reserved.
SOURCE: The Official Charts
Pathetic. It’s a known fact that that project was sabotaged, the artwork is beyond lame, and far more extended compilation of worldwide number one hit should be done. There should be a massive box set released for this with a glorious thick hardcover book with essays, liner notes, a for real deep discography from his entire life, photos, and artwork. It seems obvious to me that certain people are not really interested in anything great like that happen. How sad.