Best-selling singles worldwide

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The world's best-selling single cannot be listed officially, since there is no international body to count global record sales. Historical data before the 1980s and from developing countries are also incomplete. Information is also lacking for non-English language albums.

One of the main reference sources for global sales is United World Chart where they combine airplay with sales to derive their best sellers. According to their website, 49% of their figures are from airplay. [1], therefore all their figures have been amended by a factor of 49% to determine actual sales.

Singles are listed in alphabetical order of the artists name, rather than singles sold. Groupings are based on different sales benchmarks. Multiple entries from the same artist are listed in chronological order:

[edit] Alleged sales

Artist	Single	Year of release	Genre	Source
At least 50 million copies
Bing Crosby	White Christmas	1942	Ballad	Guinness Book of Records 2007
At least 35 million copies
Elton John	Candle In The Wind 1997/Something About the Way You Look Tonight	1997	Pop	[2]
At least 20 million copies
Bill Haley and the Comets	Rock Around The Clock	1954	Rock	[3]
Bing Crosby	Silent Night	1935	Ballad	[4]
USA for Africa	We Are The World	1985	Pop	[5]
At least 10 million copies
ABBA	Fernando	1976	Pop	[6]
Alla Pugacheva	Arlekino	1974	Pop	[7]
Band Aid	Do They Know It's Christmas?	1984	Pop	[8]
The Beatles	Hey Jude	1968	Pop	[9]
The Beatles	I Want to Hold Your Hand	1963	Pop	[10]
Brotherhood Of Man	Save Your Kisses For Me	1976	Pop	[11]
Bryan Adams	(Everything I Do) I Do It For You	1991	Pop	[12]
Carl Douglas	Kung Fu Fighting	1974	Rock	[13]
Celine Dion	My Heart Will Go On	1997	Pop	[14]
Cher	Believe	1998	Pop/Dance	[15]
Cowboy Copas	Tennessee Waltz	1948	Country	[16]
Elvis Presley	Hound Dog	1956	Rock	[17]
George McCrae	Rock Your Baby	1974	Rock	[18]
Los Del Rio	Macarena	1993	Latin Pop	[19]
Middle of the Road	Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep	1971	Pop	[20]
Mills Brothers	Paper Doll	1943	Country	[21]
Patti Page	Tennessee Waltz	1950	Country	[22]
Patrick Hernandez	Born To Be Alive	1979	Rock	[23]
Procol Harum	A Whiter Shade of Pale	1967	ballad	[24]
Roger Whittaker	The Last Farewell	1975	ballad	[25]
Roy Acuff	Wabash Cannonball	1942	Country	[26]
Terry Jacks	Seasons In The Sun	1974	Pop	[27]
Whitney Houston	I Will Always Love You	1992	Pop	[28]
Van McCoy	The Hustle	1977	Pop/Disco	[29]
Village People	YMCA	1978	Pop/Disco	[30]
At least 5 million copies
a-ha	Take On Me	1985	Synth-Pop	[31]
ABBA	Dancing Queen	1976	Pop	[32]
ABBA	Waterloo	1974	Pop	[33]
Adamo	Tombe la Neige	1964	Pop	[34]
Tee Set	Ma Belle Amie	1969	Pop	[35]
Andrea Bocelli & Sarah Brightman	Time To Say Goodbye	1998	Pop	[36]
Archies	Sugar, Sugar	1969	Pop	[37]
The Beatles	Can't Buy Me Love	1964	Pop	[38]
The Beatles	Get Back	1969	Pop	[39]
The Beatles	Let It Be	1970	Pop	[40]
The Beatles	She Loves You	1963	Pop	[41]
Bing Crosby	Jingle Bells	1943	Pop	[42]
Bobby Goldsboro	Honey	1968	Pop	[43]
Boney M	Ma Baker	1978	Pop/Disco	[44]
Boney M	Rivers of Babylon/Brown Girl in the Ring	1978	Pop/Disco	[45]
Britney Spears	...Baby One More Time	1999	Pop	[46]
Champs	Tequila	1958	Pop	[47]
Cher	The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)	1990	Pop/Rock	^{[citation needed]}
Chic	Le Freak	1979	Pop/Disco	[48]
Chipmunks	The Chipmunk Song	1958	Pop	[49]
Coolio	Gangsta's Paradise	1995	hip hop	[50]
Danyel Gerard	Butterfly	1971	Pop	[51]
Dawn	Knock Three Times	1971	Pop	[52]
Dawn	Tie a Yellow Ribbon 'Round the Ole Oak Tree	1973	Pop	[53]
Debbie Boone	You Light Up My Life	1977	Pop	[54]
Donny Osmond	Puppy Love	1971	Pop	[55]
Elvis Presley	All Shook Up	1957	Rock	[56]
Elvis Presley	Are You Lonesome Tonight?	1960	Rock	[57]
Elvis Presley	Jailhouse Rock	1957	Rock	[58]
Elvis Presley	Surrender	1961	Rock	[59]
Elvis Presley	Suspicious Minds	1969	Rock	[60]
Father Abraham	The Smurf Song	1978	Pop	[61]
The Foundations	Build Me Up Buttercup	1969	Pop	[62]
Freddy Quinn	Heimweh	1956	Pop	[63]
Gene Autry	Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer	1949	Pop	[64]
George Baker Selection	Una Paloma Blanca	1975	Pop	[65]
George Harrison	My Sweet Lord	1970	Pop	[66]
Georgie Fame	Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde	1968	Pop	[67]
Harry Simeone Chorale	Little Drummer Boy	1958	Pop	[68]
Jackson 5	I'll Be There	1970	Pop	[69]
Jeannie C. Riley	Harper Valley PTA	1968	Pop	[70]
John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John	You're The One That I Want	1978	Pop	[71]
Julie Rogers	The Wedding	1964	Pop	[72]
Lobo	I'd Love You To Want Me	1972	Pop	[73]
Madonna	Vogue	1990	Dance-Pop/Techno	[74]
Mary Hopkin	Those Were The Days	1968	Pop	[75]
Michael Jackson	Billie Jean	1983	Pop	[76]
The Monkees	I'm a Believer	1966	Pop	[77]
Morris Albert	Feelings	1975	Pop	[78]
Mungo Jerry	In The Summertime	1970	Pop	[79]
Neil Diamond	Cracklin' Rosie	1970	Pop	[80]
New Seekers	I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing	1971	Pop/Folk	[81]
Nick Straker Band	A Walk In The Park	1980	Pop	[82]
Nirvana	Smells Like Teen Spirit	1991	Rock	[83]
Partridge Family	I Think I Love You	1970	Pop	[84]
Paul Anka	Diana	1957	Pop	[85]
Puff Daddy & Faith Evans	I'll Be Missing You	1997	Pop	[86]
Pussycat	Mississippi	1977	Pop	[87]
Rocco Granata	Marina	1959	Pop	[88]
Royal Scots Dragoon Guards	Amazing Grace	1972	Pop	[89]
Scott McKenzie	San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)	1967	Pop	[90]
Shocking Blue	Venus	1969	Pop	[91]
Simon & Garfunkel	Bridge Over Troubled Water	1970	Pop	[92]
Spice Girls	Wannabe	1996	Pop	[93]
Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler	Ballad of the Green Berets	1966	Pop Ballard	[94]
Survivor	Eye of the Tiger	1982	Rock	[95]
Ted Daffan & His Texans	Born To Lose/No Letter Today	1943	Country	[96]
Three Dog Night	Joy To The World	1971	Rock	[97]
Vernon Dalhart	The Prisoner's Song	1924	Country	[98]