Lana Del Rey’s Born to Die is the only album made in the 2010s to feature in the US Top 10 vinyl sales of the decade

This article is more than 8 months old

This article is more than 8 months old

The Beatles’ 1969 album Abbey Road has been named the US’s biggest-selling vinyl LP of the 2010s, shifting more than 558,000 copies. The Top 10, compiled by Nielsen Music, is comprised almost entirely of old albums, from Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon (2), Bob Marley and the Wailers’ Legend (4) and Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours (9).

The only 21st-century releases on the list are Amy Winehouse’s 2006 album Back to Black (5) and Lana Del Rey’s 2011 debut Born to Die (10), the only original album from the 2010s to chart. The soundtrack to Marvel’s first Guardians of the Galaxy film, released in 2014, placed third with 367,000 sales, but features solely music released between 1968 and 1979.

Expanded allegations of child sex abuse by Michael Jackson do not appear to have affected his sales: Thriller placed sixth, selling with more than 334,000 copies.

Abbey Road also topped vinyl sales for 2019 in the US, thanks to an elaborate box set reissue to mark its 50th anniversary.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Fleetwood Mac in 1977, around the time of their album Rumours. Photograph: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

It was a similar story when the Official Charts Company revealed the UK’s biggest-selling vinyl LPs of the decade in late December: the only album from the 2010s to place in the Top 10 was Arctic Monkeys’ 2013 release, AM.

Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours topped the list, which saw similar high rankings to the US for Back to Black (2), Dark Side of the Moon (3), the Guardians of the Galaxy OST (4) and Legend (10).

The British public preferred Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band to Abbey Road, with the Beatles’ 1967 album placing eighth. The Top 10 also offered some national variation, with the Stone Roses’ debut placing fifth and Oasis’s (What’s the Story) Morning Glory, seventh.

The British Phonographic Industry recently reported that 2019 marked the 12th consecutive year of vinyl sales growth, with 4.3m LPs sold. Vinyl albums account for one in every eight albums bought in the UK across digital and physical formats.

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In 2019, Liam Gallagher’s Why Me? Why Not was the most popular album on the format. Billie Eilish’s debut, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? placed second, with Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours at No 3.

Compare the US and the UK’s bestselling vinyl albums of the 2010s below:

US

1. The Beatles – Abbey Road

2. Pink Floyd – Dark Side of the Moon

3. Various artists – Guardians of the Galaxy OST

4. Bob Marley and the Wailers – Legend

5. Amy Winehouse – Back to Black

6. Michael Jackson – Thriller

7. The Beatles – Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

8. Fleetwood Mac – Rumours

9. Miles Davis – Kind of Blue

10. Lana Del Rey – Born to Die

UK

1. Fleetwood Mac – Rumours

2. Amy Winehouse – Back to Black

3. Pink Floyd – Dark Side of the Moon

4. Various artists – Guardians of the Galaxy OST

5. The Stone Roses – The Stone Roses

6. Arctic Monkeys – AM

7. Oasis – (What’s the Story) Morning Glory

8. The Beatles – Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

9. Nirvana – Nevermind

10. Bob Marley and the Wailers – Legend