Queen's 'Greatest Hits' on course to reach Number 1 for the first time in 40 years

It's already the best-selling album of all time in the UK

Queen - 'Greatest Hits'
Author: Scott ColothanPublished 6th Jul 2021

Queen’s ‘Greatest Hits’ album is currently on course to reach Number 1 on the UK album chart for the first time in 40 years.

To celebrate the album’s 40th anniversary, Queen reissued ‘Greatest Hits’ last Friday (2nd July) on a variety of formats including a collector’s edition CD signed by Brian May and Roger Taylor with an exclusive slipcase cover, and four highly-limited band member colour cassettes.

According to the Official Charts Company, ‘Greatest Hits’ is at Number 1 at the midweek stage and it’s leading Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘Sour’ by 4,000 chart sales. 86% of the sales so far are from physical formats.

If it stays at Number 1 on Friday, it will be the first time Queen’s ‘Greatest Hits’ has topped the chart since its four-week stint in November and December 1981.

Originally released on 26th October 1981, ‘Greatest Hits’ is already the best-selling album of all time in the UK, and in 2019 it became the first record ever to sell more than 6 million copies. To date, it has spent 952 weeks in the Official Albums Chart.

In recent years, the album has enjoyed a sales boost thanks to the rip-roaring success of the Queen movie Bohemian Rhapsody.

Seminal songs that feature on ‘Greatest Hits’ include ‘Killer Queen’, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, ‘Another One Bites The Dust’, ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’, ‘We Will Rock You’ and ‘We Are The Champions.’

Brian May’s debut solo album ‘Back To The Light’ from 1992 is being re-released on Friday 6th August.

The album boasts the singles ‘Too Much Love Will Kill You’ and ‘Driven By You’, and fans will also be able to enjoy a number of bonus tracks on the reissue’s second disc called ‘Out of the Light’.

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Cozy Powell’s real name: Colin Trevor Flooks


Alex Lifeson’s real name: Alexandar Živojinović

'Lifeson' is a semi-literal English translation of the Yugoslavian surname Živojinović, which means 'son of life'

Ginger Baker's real name: Peter Edward Baker


John 5’s real name: John William Lowery


Yngwie Malmsteen’s real name: Lars Johann Yngwie Lannerback


Rudy Sarzo’s real name: Rodolfo Maximiliano Sarzo Lavieille Grande Ruiz Payret y Chaumont


Eric Carr's real name: Paul Charles Caravello


Vinnie Vincent’s real name: Vincent John Cusano


Tina Turner’s real name: Anna Mae Bullock


King Diamond’s real name: Kim Bendix Petersen


Joey Tempest's real name: Rolf Magnus Joakim Larsson


Michael Monroe’s real name: Matti Antero Kristian Fagerholm


Mikkey Dee’s real name: Micael Kiriakos Delaoglou


Jonathan Cain’s real name: Jonathan Leonard Friga


Nikki Sixx's real name: Frank Ferrano


Steven Adler’s real name: Michael Coletti


Axl Rose's real name: William Bruce Rose


Bon Scott's real name: Ronald Belford Scott


Fish’s real name: Derek William Dick


Eddie Vedder's real name: Edward Louis Severson III


Peter Criss’ real name: George Peter John Criscuola


Freddie Mercury's real name: Farrokh Bulsara


Flea's real name: Michael Peter Balzary


Perry Farrell's real name: Perry Bernstein


Geddy Lee’s real name: Gary Lee Weinrib


Mick Mars' real name: Robert Deal


Tré Cool's real name: Frank Edwin Wright III


Courtney Love's real name: Courtney Michelle Harrison


Pat Smear's real name: Georg Albert Ruthenberg


Gene Simmons' real name: Chaim Klein Witz


Spike’s real name: Jonathan Gray


Iggy Pop's real name: James Newell Osterberg, JR.


Alice Cooper's real name: Vincent Damon Furnier


Slash's real name: Saul Hudson


Mike Dirnt's real name: Michael Ryan Pritchard


Ronnie James Dio's real name: Ronald James Padavona


Brody Dalle's real name: Bree Joanna Alice Robinson


Skin's real name: Deborah Anne Dyer


Nicky Wire's real name: Nicholas Jones


Amy Lee's real name: Amy Lynn Hartzler


Bill Wyman's real name: William Perks


Izzy Stradlin's real name: Jeffrey Isbell


Paul Stanley's real name: Stanley Eisen


Vince Neil's real name: Vincent Neil Wharton


Duff McKagan's real name: Michael McKagan


Jack Black’s real name: Thomas Jacob Black


Lemmy's real name: Ian Fraser Kilmister


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Little Richard's real name: Richard Wayne Penniman


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Lou Reed's real name: Louis Firbank


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The Edge's real name: David Howell Evans


Meat Loaf's real name: Marvin Lee Aday


Steven Tyler's real name: Steven Victor Tallarico


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Jon Bon Jovi's real name: John Francis Bongiovi


Joey Belladonna’s real name: Joseph Bellardini


Jack White's real name: John Anthony Gillis


Bono's real name: Paul David Hewson


Sting's real name: Gordon Sumner


Billy Idol’s real name: William Michael Albert Broad


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Bo Diddley’s real name: Ellas McDaniel


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Stevie Nicks’ real name: Stephanie Lynn Nicks


Doro’s real name: Dorothee Pesch


Sebastian Bach’s real name: Sebastian Philip Bierk


Joe Perry’s real name: Joseph Pereira


Jimi Hendrix’s real name: James Marshall Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix)


Zakk Wylde’s real name: Jeffrey Phillip Wielandt


Maynard James Keenan’s real name: James Herbert Keenan


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Biff Byford's real name: Peter Rodney Byford


M. Shadows' real name: Matthew Charles Sanders


Syd Barrett's real name: Roger Keith Barrett


Chris Jericho's real name: Christopher Keith Irvine


Ginger Wildheart's real name: David Leslie Walls


Paul Di'Anno's real name: Paul Andrews


Phil X’s real name: Theofilos Xenidis


Peter Green’s real name: Peter Allen Greenbaum


Nicko McBrain’s real name: Michael Henry McBrain


Noddy Holder’s real name: Neville John Holder


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Lexxi Foxx’s real name: Travis Haley


Jet Black’s real name: Brian John Duffy


Buddy Holly’s real name: Charles Hardin Holley


Elvis Costello’s real name: Declan Patrick McManus


Rikki Rockett’s real name: Richard Allan Ream


Blackie Lawless' real name: Steven Edward Duren


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