Queen :: Charts & Sales History

[john2000]

Thank you for the information.

Thank you, Lee. I knew my numbers couldn't be real. So 23 million sounds much more realistic, and in line with what they have sold in certain regions. Obviously, those totals don't include any sales coming from USA and Canada nor in Australia, New Zealand and Japan (prior to 1984), nor catalog sales since Sep. 1995 up to now.

Lee, could you please check a few of those magazines?. I know they always used to report some sales numbers and peak positions here and there. I have seen several ones myself. I think they used to publish one every other 3 months or so.

That guy Rupert Perry, who gave the band this award, used to be the President of Emi Europe back then. Is there any chance that those 23,000,000 sales that were awarded by their record company were in Europe only?. That fits better with their worldwide sales.

I remember someone, although I don't exactly remember who, stating that in the forum. The source was Music and Media.

I confirm the source ;)
but i do not have the magazine ... just read it

[HUR]

Yes, John. It was you who posted it. How could I forget it?.

But did they say that it was in Europe only or you can't remember it right now?.

[borderwolf]

Norway
mid-price

7 (re) GREATEST HITS 1 - QUEEN

[HUR]

Thank you, Luca. Not much of a chart activity this year for Queen.

Some more claims:

DENMARK

“Biggest international hits for EMI in Denmark over the last year have included Kate Bush’s “Whuthering Heights”, “Lion Heart” and “The Kick Inside”, Queen’s “Jazz”, Elton John’s “Single Man”, ELO’s “Out Of The Blue”, and the Rolling Stones’s “Some Girsl””. (Billboard, 14 Jul., 1979: 84).

ROMANIA

“Big EMI marketplace success in Romania for acts like Queen, Hot Chocolate, Olivia Newton-John, and Kate Bush”

“Top local product in the chart here: “Raspuns Cu lubure” by Savoy; “Coravia Cu Pinze”, Iris; and “Trenul Cursa De Persone Apahida, by Semanal; and from the international field: “Milk and Alcohol”, by Dr. Feelgood; “Tragedy”, Bee Gees; and “Don’t Stop Me Now”, by Queen”. (Billboard, 14 Jul., 1979: 83).

GERMANY

“The Musikmarkt analysis of overall chart performance gave Groenmeyer a slim lead among male singers (ahead of Peter Maffay and Lionel Ritchie), while Nena easily outpointed Tina Turner and Laura Branigan on the distaff side. Queen, Depeche Mode, and Talk Talk led group chart activity in the charts” (Billboard, 5 Jan., 1985: 7).

So Queen were the top selling group of 1984 in Germany, based on points as compiled by MusikMarkt.

Argentinian chart, as of November 1995

Argentina Top 10,
1- QUEEN Made In Heaven
2- ROLLING STONES Stripped
3- RICKY MARTIN A Medio Vivir
4- TRU LA LA Con La Música En La
5- VILMA PALMA E VAMPIROS Sepia, Blanco Y Negro
6- MADONNA Something To Remember
7- ACE OF BASE The Bridge
8- LA BARRA Es De Córdoba
9- CHIQUITITAS La Música De Chiquititas
10- VARIOUS ARTISTS Now That’s What I Called Music

"Made In Heaven" was also #1 in Portugal, Denmark, Zimbabwe. If I remember correctly, it was also #1 in South Africa, where it went platinum a few weeks after its release and eventually double platinum. In Ireland, it was #2 and entered the chart in Chile at #8, although it might have gone higher than that after that.

[slightlymad]

Argentinian chart, as of November 1995

Argentina Top 10,
1- QUEEN Made In Heaven
2- ROLLING STONES Stripped
3- RICKY MARTIN A Medio Vivir
4- TRU LA LA Con La Música En La
5- VILMA PALMA E VAMPIROS Sepia, Blanco Y Negro
6- MADONNA Something To Remember
7- ACE OF BASE The Bridge
8- LA BARRA Es De Córdoba
9- CHIQUITITAS La Música De Chiquititas
10- VARIOUS ARTISTS Now That’s What I Called Music

"Made In Heaven" was also #1 in Portugal, Denmark, Zimbabwe. If I remember correctly, it was also #1 in South Africa, where it went platinum a few weeks after its release and eventually double platinum. In Ireland, it was #2 and entered the chart in Chile at #8, although it might have gone higher than that after that.

According to the Queen Fan Club Magazine Winter 1995 these chart positions were confirmed for MIH.

Sweden - 1
Denmark - 1
Italy - 1
Finland - 1
Switzerland - 1
Austria - 1
Germany - 1
Holland - 1
New Zealand - 1
Spain - 1
Argentina - 1
Portugal - 1
UK - 1

No1 in 14 Countries, Top 3 in 19 Countries, Top 5 in 22 Countries and Top 10 in 24 Countries

Certifications in the Spring 1996 Fan Club Magazine

Finland - Gold
Norway - Gold
Poland - Gold
Singapore - Gold
USA - Gold
Argentina - Platinum
Australia - Platinum
Belguim - Platinum
Canada - Platinum
Denmark - Platinum
France - Platinum
Holland - Platinum
Hong Kong - Platinum
South Africa - Platinum
Spain - Platinum
Austria - 2x Platinum
Czech Republic - 2x Platinum
Germany - 2x Platinum
Portugal - 2x Platinum
New Zealand - 3x Platinum
Switzerland - 3x Platinum
UK - 4x Platinum
Italy - 6x Platinum

Has anybody got any updates on these awards?

[borderwolf]

Chile
dvd chart
unofficial
http://www.feriadeldisco.cl/

#6 QUEEN
Rock Montreal

[HUR]

Thank you for that.

According to the Queen Fan Club Magazine Winter 1995 these chart positions were confirmed for MIH.

Great, good information. All those peaks are now confirmed by the Billboard issues I checked. Interestingly, the album went to number one in Belgium on first week, according to the chart compiler that used to send information to Billboard:

Belgium Top 10,
1- QUEEN Made In Heaven
2- DANA WILLER Rene Van Geluk
3- CELINE DION Deux
4- HELMOTT LOTI Goes Classic
5- SMASHING PUMPKINS Mellon Colie And The Infinite Sadness
6- 21 UNLIMITED Hits Unlimited
7- ROXETTE Don’t Bore Us – Get To The Chorus
8- ANDRE RIEU Wiener Melange
9- MADONNA Something To Remember
10- SIMPLY RED Life

Queen had at least 8 #1 albums there in Belgium, whose success was very similar to Netherlands's.

Made In Heaven was re-certified in most of those countries you mentioned:

Finland platinum (50,000+ in 1996)
Norway platinum (50,000, 1996)
Poland platinum (100,000, 1996)
Singapore platinum (15,000 or 20,000, 1996)
Argentina double platinum (120,000, 2001)
Belgium double platinum (100,000, 1996)
Denmark double platinum (100,000, 1996)
France double platinum (600,000, 1996)
Holland double platinum (200,000, 1996)
South Africa multi-platinum (100,000+)
Spain double platinum (200,000, 1996)
Germany triple platinum (1,500,000+, 1997)
Portugal triple platinum (120,000+, 1996)

Here some interesting information:

QUEEN, “MADE IN HEVEN” (PARLOPHONE)
Worldwide sales: 5 million (excluding North America, where Queen has a separate deal with Hollywood Records)
Top markets: Germany, Italy, France, Spain, South Korea (Billboard, 17 Feb., 1996: 62)

QUEEN, “MADE IN HEAVEN” (PARLOPHONE)
Worldwide sales: 7.5 million in EMI territories, which excludes North America.
Top markets: UK, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Spain, Portugal. (Billboard, 22 Feb., 1997: 50)

As of Feb 1996, the album had sold 5 million units outside UK, USA, and Canada. It is very interesting to check the top markets above. No suprises with the top 4 (Germany and Italy being #1 and #2).

But South Korea at #5, above Switzerand and Neherlands, wasn't expected. Why?. Well, the album went triple platinum in Switzerland in 1995 a few days after its release in 1995 for sales of 150,000 units (probably 175,000 to 200,000 by Feb 1996).

While the album went platinum in Netherlands in 1995 and eventually double platinum in 1996 for sales of 200,000. By now, we know for a fact it has sold about 250,000, which means that it definitely had shipped 175,000 to 200,000 there too by Feb 1996.

Yet Sout Korea was listed above both countries. This means that "Made In Heaven" has probably sold over 200,000 copies in South Korea, despite being only platinum.

As it can be seen above too, the album was on 7,500,000 by the end of 1996, and Portugal was surprisingly included as one of its top 5 markets, above South Korea, Netherlands and Switzerland, but it is hard to believe it sold 200,000 units there, isn't it?.

[borderwolf]

Argentina
biweekly sales DVD chart
second part of may

#7 Live in Japan
(QUEEN)

[borderwolf]

Top Catalog Albums
Week Ending 5/31/09

Wks Rank Scans
On Label 2W LW TW * Artist Title TW LW % RTD

654 HOL 54 35 39 QUEEN GREATEST HITS 2,839 2,973 -5 6,656,075

31 HOL 171 172 QUEEN GREATEST HITS-WE WILL ROCK YOU 1,279 1,313 -3 855,477

[HUR]

Both have sold a combined 7,511,552.

PERU

“We’ve been moving pretty good lately with EMI product, especially Wings, and I believe we have a solid, international seller (mostly throughout Latin America) in Yola Palastri who is especially important now because of her specialty with children’s songs (International Year of the Child),” he pints out. IEMPSA also has been given a lift with recent releases of Arista, basically the material from Barry Manilow and Queen”. (Billboard, 3 Nov., 1979).

GERMANY

“The top music videos in 1992 in Germany, according to Musikmarkt, were “Greatest Flix II” by Queen on EMI; “The Videos” by Roxette n Electrola; “Greatest Flix” by Queen on EMI; “Greatest Hits” by ZZTop on Warner Music Video; “Gold-Greatest Hits” by Abba on Polygram Video; “Live At Wembley” by Queen on EMI; “A History” by Genesis on VVL; “Live At Donington” by AC/DC on Warner Music Vision; “Unplugged” by Eric Clapton on Warner Music Vision; and “The Wall” by Pink Floyd on Polygram Video” (Billboard, 6 feb., 1993: 42).

"Greatest Flix 2" was the best selling video of 1992 in Germany. It reached #1 and spent 112 weeks on charts. In UK, "Greatest Flix 2" was also the top selling title of 1992 after peaking at #1.


RUSSIA

“In the Russian market as a whole, cassettes account for 96% of sales, and 35% of prerecorded cassettes contain Western repertoire. Kusnetzov declines to give figures for EMI’s sales of Western repertoire, but he says that 80% of the company’s Western product bought by Russian consumers consists of catalog material, principally from the Beatles, Deep purple, Queen and the Rolling Stones. He says the company’s global goal for next years is to sell 500,000 CDs of Western repertoire”. (Billbard, 13 Jan., 1996).

SPAIN

“Among the biggest successes so far this year have been Queen (EMI), with SRO shows in Madrid and Barcelona, and subsequent strong sales for the group’s “Jazz” album; and Elton John (Fonogram), also playing to full houses with critical acclaim, and now enjoying top chart actions with his “A Single Man” LP”. (Billboard, 26 May., 1979).

This article was written by Fernando Salaverri. However, "Jazz" could only make it to #18 according to his book, so how can it have picked big sales there in Spain?.

ARGENTINA

“Top selling album acts were: EMI’s Alan Parsons Project, Queen, Supertramp, Cafe Creme, Los Wawanco and Carpenters; RCA’s Laurent Vouzly, Giorgio, Boney M, and the Ritchie Family; CBS’s Iglesias, Carlos, Raffaela Carra and Cuarteto Imperial; Phonogram’s Roussos, Santa Esmeralda, plus two soundtracks, “Saturday Night Fever” and “Grease”; Music Hall’s Cerrone and Fleetwood Mac; Microfon’s Summer, Los Pasteles Verdes, and Hector Varela; and PMA’s Susana Rinaldi.” (Billboard, 3 Nov., 1979).

So best selling acts per record labels during 1978 in Argentina:

EMI
1- Alan Parsons Project
2- Queen
3- Supertramp
4- Cafe Creme
5- Los Wawanco
6- Carpenters

RCA
1- Laurent Vouzly
2- Giorgio
3- Boney M
4- Ritchie Family

CBS
1- Julio Iglesias
2- Roberto Carlos
3- Raffaela Carrá
4- Cuarteto Imperial

Phonogram
1- Roussos
2- Santa Esmeralda
3- Saturday night Fever
4- Grease

Music Hall
1- Cerrone
2- Fleetwood Mac

Microfon
1- Donna Summer
2- Los Pasteles Verdes
3- Hector Varela

PMA
1- Susana Rinaldi

Let's remember that Argentina was probably Alan Parsons Project's biggest market, after Germany.

[borderwolf]

Argentina
monthly DVD chart (may 2009)


14 Live in Japan
(QUEEN)

[HUR]

"The Game" was #1 in Netherlands according to Billboard on first week. On some books, it is listed as being #2, but it looks like there were two different charts compilers.

07/08/80
Netherlands Top 10,
1- QUEEN The Game
2- 20 GREATEST HITS Shadows
3- PUSAKA Massada
4- HAPPY SUMMER PARTY James Last
5- UNMASKED Kiss
6- MET JE OGEN DICHT Rob De Nijs
7- LOST WITHOUT YOUR LOVE Various
8- THE BEST OF ROGER WHITTAKER
9- EMOTIONAL RESCUE Rolling Stones
10- GREATEST HITS BZN

Here are peak positions for Queen in Japan (Official Oricon International Chart)

Sheer Heart Attack #1
A Night At The Opera #1
A Day At The Races #1 (national chart, 1 week)
News Of The World #1
Jazz #1
Live Killers #2
The Game #1
Flash Gordon #4
Greatest Hits #1
Hot Space #2
The Works #2
A Kind Of Magic #5
The Miracle #4
Made In Heaven #6
Queen Rocks #7
Greatest Hits 3 #8
Queen In Vision #1
Queen Jewels #1 (national chart, 3 weeks)
Queen Jewels 2 #1
Return Of The Champions #4

DVDs

Key: title, peak on National chart, peak on International chart

Live At Wembley Stadium '86 #2-#1
Queen Jewels #1-#1
Queen Final Live #4-#1
Queen On Fire Live At The Bowl #5-#1
Return Of The Champions #4-#1
Super Live In Japan #11-#3
Queen Rock Montreal #9-#1

[bestiamodesta]

This week "Live in Ukraina" DVD will be out in the shop... some prediction?

Last DVD "Rock Montreal" do this:

Argentina 4(12) P 2K
Australia 9(10) G 7,5K
Austria 4(9)
Belgium (wal) 3(24)
Belgium (fra) 4(27)
Brasil 11(9) 18K
Canada 5(25) 2*P 10K
Cile 4(20)
Danemark 3(17)
UAE 1/3(8)
Estonia 5(4)
Finlandia 4(1)
France 10(17) 15K
Germany 2(15) G 25K
Greece 20(1)
Honk Hong 4(7)
Hungary 7(3)
Irland 4(3)
Italy 1/2(43) G 22,5K
Japan (Int.) 1/??(6) 15K
Messico 4(13) G 10K
Nederland 1/1(51) 20K
New Zeland 2(20)
Norway 2(15)
Poland P 10K
Portugal 1/2(25)P 8K
Rep. Ceca 9(3)
Spain 18(3)
Sweden 1/1(18)
Switzerland 2(27)
UK 2(28) P 75K
USA 6(8) P 70K
Venezuela 34(3)

[HUR]

This week "Live in Ukraina" DVD will be out in the shop... some prediction?

Last DVD "Rock Montreal" do this:

Argentina 4(12) P 2K
Australia 9(10) G 7,5K
Austria 4(9)
Belgium (wal) 3(24)
Belgium (fra) 4(27)
Brasil 11(9) 18K
Canada 5(25) 2*P 10K
Cile 4(20)
Danemark 3(17)
UAE 1/3(8)
Estonia 5(4)
Finlandia 4(1)
France 10(17) 15K
Germany 2(15) G 25K
Greece 20(1)
Honk Hong 4(7)
Hungary 7(3)
Irland 4(3)
Italy 1/2(43) G 22,5K
Japan (Int.) 1/??(6) 15K
Messico 4(13) G 10K
Nederland 1/1(51) 20K
New Zeland 2(20)
Norway 2(15)
Poland P 10K
Portugal 1/2(25)P 8K
Rep. Ceca 9(3)
Spain 18(3)
Sweden 1/1(18)
Switzerland 2(27)
UK 2(28) P 75K
USA 6(8) P 70K
Venezuela 34(3)

Argentina: platinum (4,000+)

Chile: #1 during Dec 2007 http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_vP2ovMLDsOU/R ... magen1.jpg

Some peaks I found on Billboard:

The Game

Portugal: #4*
Denmark: #4*
Netherlands: #1
Israel: #3*

Crazy Little Thing Called Love

Argentina: #3*

Another One Bites The Dust

Israel: #1

Play The Game

Israel: #2*

Under Pressure

Portugal: #5*

Hot Space

Norway: #2
Canada: #3

Live At Wembley '86

Europe: #2

Made In Heaven

Portugal: #1
Belgium: #1
Denmark: #1
Argentina: #1
Ireland: #2
Chile: #8*

Greatest Hits I & II

Portugal: #7* (in Apr 1999)

Peaks with * may have been higher.

[loris39]

Hello guys!

I would like to debate about this argument:
one of the few official figures about Queen albums sales states "over 45 million albums until 1980", it is to say from album "Queen" to "The Game", excluding "Flash". But according to the website

http://fanofmusic.free.fr/BestSellers.php?Act=Queen

the shipments of those albums so far amount to over 51 million sales. But according to the list of the shipments in the U.S.A. and in the U.K. from 1992 to nowadays published by UKMIX, the total is very close to 51 million. Therefore, I do think that probably the worldwide shipments of the albums from "Queen" to "The Game" from 1981 to 2008 amount to 55-57 million albums. So I suppose that worldwide sales of those albums are a little bit higher than the figures published by

http://fanofmusic.free.fr/BestSellers.php?Act=Queen

What do you think about my opinion?

[HUR]

Hello guys!

I would like to debate about this argument:
one of the few official figures about Queen albums sales states "over 45 million albums until 1980", it is to say from album "Queen" to "The Game", excluding "Flash". But according to the website

http://fanofmusic.free.fr/BestSellers.php?Act=Queen

the shipments of those albums so far amount to over 51 million sales. But according to the list of the shipments in the U.S.A. and in the U.K. from 1992 to nowadays published by UKMIX, the total is very close to 51 million. Therefore, I do think that probably the worldwide shipments of the albums from "Queen" to "The Game" from 1981 to 2008 amount to 55-57 million albums. So I suppose that worldwide sales of those albums are a little bit higher than the figures published by

http://fanofmusic.free.fr/BestSellers.php?Act=Queen

What do you think about my opinion?

Those figures, as well as the site you are citing, are run by a member of this site, MJDangerous.

In my opinion, his figures are as close to the reality as possible. The only two albums that could be a bit higher than what you see there are "News Of The World" and "Jazz".

From 1978:

“Queen have become one of Britain's biggest exports. They have had six top selling LPs. Their last one, entitled "News of the world" sold over 7 million copies worldwide, and the single "We are the champions" - a song adopted by football and Rugby teams throughout America - has so far sold over 5 million.
For their American tour, which preceded the European engagements, they undertook 24 concert dates, and at the Forum, Los Angeles, they played to 64,000 people in three nights. Their present elaborate production set them back £55,000 and it costs £4000 a day to keep Queen's stage show on the road. Only in America do they come away with a profit, through being able to pack their audiences into 20,000 seater stadiums.” (Daily Mail, Dec., 1978).

"News Of The World" sold 840,000 according to Nielsen Soundscan from May 1991 to April 2007 in USA, denoting shipments of around 950,000+ over that period. With as many as that during those 15+ years, that works out to be 1,800,000 from 1979 to 2009, overall, on an average basis (obviously, it doesn't sell uniformly the same each year, but we do have a trend).

This same album shipped 102,537 copies from Jul 1992 to Dec 2008. With as many as that during those 16+ years, that works out to be roughly 190,000 from 1979 to 2009, overall, on an average basis (as I said above, it doesn't sell uniformly the same every year, but these estimations work fine to me).

With 7,000,000 sold right until Dec 1978, to which we have to add nearly 2,000,000 copies shipped in USA and UK put together after that, we are at 9 million (give or take a few thousands). Add catalog sales for the rest of the world, and it may have sold roughly 10 million. MJDangeous estimates at 9,500,000 which just shows how good his work is.

"Jazz", on the other hand, is on 4,600,000 on the site you cited, but counting only 1,500,000 in USA. Recent finds show the album sold over 2 million units in USA. This means that "Jazz" has probably sold over 5 million copies.

“Reminded that the latest Queen album ("Jazz") was considered a disappointing by some because it sold about two million units rather than the five to seven million which had been predicted for it.” (Billboard, 31 Mar., 1979).

All in all, I trust MJDangerous's figures.

[loris39]

Hello,

this is the DVD Italian chart in the week from 05-06-2009 to 11-06-2009. The shipments regard records shops. This is the source where I have found this information:

http://www.fimi.it/classifiche_dvd.php

position 9 - LIVE AT WEMBLEY STADIUM 1986

position 16 – LIVE IN JAPAN

[HUR]

From a Chilean blog, a fan said that he researched about Queen's total units sold there in Chile, overall. Although I have the feeling that these numbers are fake, in my opinion, I think it would be interesting to share them with anybody here.

Sales in Chile

Queen : 10.082 = Disco de Oro
Queen II : 12.876 = Disco de Oro
Sheer Heart Attack : 8.406 = Disco de Plata
A Night at the Opera : 31.321= 2 Discos de Platino
A Day at The Races : 59.233 = 3 Discos de Platino
News of the World : 92.662 = 6 Discos de Platino
Jazz : 13.120 = Disco de Oro
The Game : 6.397 = Disco de Plata
Hot Space : 18.356 = Disco de Platino
The Works : 6.106 = Disco de Plata
A Kind of Magic : 11.770 = Disco de Oro
The Miracle : 7.157 = Disco de Plata
Innuendo : 21.992 = Disco de Platino
Made in Heaven : 3.076 = Aun no hay Certificacion
Queen In Wembley : 15.272 = Disco de Oro
Queen in Montreal : 77.971 = 3 Discos de Platino
Queen on Fire : 56.227 = 3 Discos de Platino

Weird things:

"News Of The World" and "A Day At The Races" ahead of "A Night At The Opera".
"The Game", "The Works" and specially "Made In Heaven" so low, three of their most successful albums ever in Latin America.
"Hot Space" basically emerging as their best selling album of the 80's.
And "Queen In Montreal" and "Queen On Fire" with such high totals.

Opinions?. Are these sales fake to you?.

[jcguzman]

I think Hur that is tough to sell records in Chile specially for studio albums.In the late 70s sales were huge and so the figures seem pretty reasonable.

I am quite sure the miracle sold at least 15.000 copies and Innuendo sales are very good and therefore 21.000 copies is an excelent number.Only Innuendo was a big hit peaking at number 2.Headlong was also a minor top 20 hit but the success of both singles helped the overall sales of Innuendo LP.

News Of The World" and "A Day At The Races" ahead of "A Night At The Opera" its because record sales in the late 70s were much bigger than in either 75 or 76.

[HUR]

I think Hur that is tough to sell records in Chile specially for studio albums.In the late 70s sales were huge and so the figures seem pretty reasonable.

I am quite sure the miracle sold at least 15.000 copies and Innuendo sales are very good and therefore 21.000 copies is an excelent number.Only Innuendo was a big hit peaking at number 2.Headlong was also a minor top 20 hit but the success of both singles helped the overall sales of Innuendo LP.

News Of The World" and "A Day At The Races" ahead of "A Night At The Opera" its because record sales in the late 70s were much bigger than in either 75 or 76.

Yes, of course. Obviously, I don't complain about those sales; the biased side in me wants them to be true. I think that Chile is a market where you need to sell 10,000 to 15,000 copies to be considered a success, and anything above that is very big (Michael Jackson's "History" sold 40,000 copies on first year and it was regarded as a smash, for example).

But I don't know, those figures are just too irregular, specially the totals for "Queen On Fire" and "Queen In Montreal" (unless there is a mistake or the guy meant to say either "Live Killers" or "Live Magic").

[borderwolf]

Anyway, HUR, well found!

[HUR]

Yes. Thank you.

Last year, when Queen+Paul Rodgers visited Brazil for three concerts there, they were given an award for sales of 2,000,000 records there. In the plaque, you can see that only their albums and DVDs were listed.

http://queenforever.multiply.com/photos ... sBrasil#35

Obviously, those sales can't be comprehensive based on what their certifications show and considering they sold roughly 600,000 CDs since Jun 2003 up to 2008.

Those sales are probably CDs and DVDs alone or start on a given period (probablly late 80's or early 90's).

[nucleardolphin]

Man, Queen are massive in South America! I mean how many other bands have sold that many albums in Chile, HUR?

[HUR]

Yes, they sold plenty of albums. I think that jcguzman is more capable to reply than me. But I guess that the Beatles and Pink Floyd sold probably more. In terms of singles, surely Bee Gees and Abba are ahead. Does that sound right, Juan?.


AUSTRALIA

“EMI: A state of corporate uncertainty existed within EMI Australia throughout 1985, culminating in the resignation of managing director Nick Hampton in early September. Under caretaker leader Rupert Perry, the company is asserting a confident profile and continuing its agressive use of tv and radio advertising campaigns. “Crawl File”, an Australian crawl greatest hits compilation, has moved 200,000 units; “The Works” by Queen is past 100,000; a triple compile, “Zizzling Seventies” sold 55,000 packs; and the Power Station album is gold. A concerted push by 2MMM-FM, Sydney’s highest rated station, on Talking Heads has resulted in sales near 150,000 each for “Little Creatures” and the soundtrack to the film “Stop Making Sense”, which the FM station distributes theatrically.” (Billboard, 11 Nov., 1985).

USA

“”Bohemian Rhapsody”, the previous single from the album “Classic Queen”, was also a hit during the band’s hey says. This time around, that single peaked at No. 2 on the Hot 100 May 9 and sold 900,000 cassettes singles, according to Hollywood senior VIP of promotion Brenda Romano. Last week, “Bohemian Rhapsody” moved to the Hot 100 Recurrent Singles chart after 41 weeks on the Hot 100.”

The two current Queen albums are also doing well. “Classic Queen” peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 May 9 and hs sold 1.5 million copies, according to Roman. “Queen Live At Wembley” debuted at its peak position, No. 53, on the Billboard 200 June 20, and has sold approximately 250,000 copies”.

“(“We Are the Champions/”We Will Rock You”) The medley was originally released as a CD-5, which Romano says sold 150,000 copies. Two weeks ago, it was released as a cassette single”.
(Billboard, 25 Jul., 1992).

USA

“Earlier this year, Hollywood Records put out a Queen greatest-hits package dispite the fact that the band has been well-represented in the reissue area. After all, Queen’s best-of compilations in the United States include “Greatest Hits”, which came out in 1982; “Greatest Hits Vol. 2” and “Classic Queen” in 1992; “Greatest Hits. Vol. 1 & 2” in 1995; “Queen Rcoks Vol. 1” in 1997; “Greatest Hits Vol. 3” in 1999; the “Platinum Cllection Vol. 1-3” in 2001; and “We Will Rock You”, another hits set in 2004. When a Queen musical was staged in 2004 in Las Vegas, the label isued “We Will Rock You” and it “sold well beyond our expectations”, senior VP of sales Curt Eddy says (552,000 units according to Nielsen Soundscan). When Hollywood found out that Queen’s music would be on American Idol, label GM Abbey Konowitz –acting on the belief that many in the audience might remember Queen but not own its music-proposed putting together a package of songs performed on the show, Eddie reports. “Stone Cold Classics” came out April 11at 13.98 and proved Konowitz right: it has scanned 133,000 units, almost as much as the 146,000 that “We Will Rock You” scanned in its first year”. (Billboard, 11 Nov., 2006: 35).

USA

“Queen has had impressive U.S. album sales, in the neithborhood of 150,000 apiece for its first two Elektra LPs, even with a minimum of stateside airplay and touring. Now, as the word-of-mouth success foursome ambarks on their first American headliner tour in 46 cities with near sellouts in advance reported all along the route, they also have a Hot 100 single” (Billboard, 15 Feb., 1975: 24).

FRANCE

“EMI: Freddie Mercury Album tops 1 million”

As far as EMI itself is concerned, one of the top sales successes of 1992-93 has been that of Freddie Mercury tribute album, which topped 1 million sales. Other best-sellers have been Fanny (120,000 albums), Alpha Blondy (160,000) and Joe Cocker (150,000).” (Billboard, 22 May., 1993: 72).

[jcguzman]

In terms of singles, surely Bee Gees and Abba are ahead. Does that sound right, Juan?.


I think HUR that the Beatles, Pink Floyd, ACDC and Queen regarding albums are the biggest albums acts ever in Chile.The Rolling Stones are surprisingly low.

Regarding singles acts the biggest are Tom Jones,Roberto Carlos,Julio Iglesias and Salvatore Adamo.


In Brazil The Bee Gees sold huge amounts of albums and singles and a lot of singles in Chile during the disco era specially.I guess in Argentina Bee Gees were huge also.

Abba has been very popular here in Chile specially in the late 70s.Chiquitita sold huge but it was a double edge sword in hindsight.The backlash against the Spanish version of the song was huge and very unfair since the catalog of the group is fantastic.