One of the most remarkable music trends of the 2010s has been the resurgence of a format once seen as obsolete.
Since vinyl ceased to become the dominant physical format in the 1980s, fandom of the black plastic was restricted to DJs and collectors, with the odd enthusiast poring over stacks of vinyl in local record shops.
In the last decade, however, vinyl has made a comeback. it’s now more widely available than it has been in years – you can even buy vinyl albums in supermarkets. The vinyl revival led Official Charts to launch the Official Vinyl Albums and Singles Charts, which are updated every week.
There’s been a demand from some fans to hear vintage albums on the format they were originally recorded for, which has led to an increasing fondness by artists to reissue classics on vinyl, sometimes on very collectable limited editions, such as coloured discs or double LP sets with extra content.
As a result, the biggest vinyl albums of the last decade are very much a greatest hits of the last 63 years of the Official Albums Chart, with a few modern takes thrown in.
Top of the heap is the 1977 classic from Fleetwood Mac, Rumours, which has been a regular fixture of the Top 100 for the last few years thanks to its vinyl edition, on 130,000 vinyl sales since the decade began. The album recently returned to Number 1 on the Official Vinyl Albums Chart following a reissue on clear vinyl.
Representing the 21st century, Amy Winehouse‘s game-changing second album Back to Black is second, notching up 125,000 vinyl sales, and we’re back to the ’70s for the third biggest vinyl album of the Tens: 1973’s Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd has 113,000 sales on wax.
The Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack, Awesome Mix Vol.1, is one of the bestselling vinyl albums of the decade following its release in 2014 (106,000), and our Top 5 of the 2010s’ biggest vinyl albums is rounded off by The Stone Roses’ 1989 self-titled debut (92,000).
The biggest band of all time – that’s The Beatles in case you were wondering – make a few appearances thanks to anniversaries of some of their classic albums leading to reissues: Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (8), Abbey Road (12), The Beatles (44), and Revolver (54).
Oasis‘ first two albums both get a Top 20 slot, with debut Definitely Maybe at 13, and its follow-up (What’s The Story) Morning Glory farther up at 7, but the Gallagher brothers have been doing OK outside the band too. Liam Gallagher‘s solo debut As You Were shifted 16,000 vinyl copies in its first seven days on sale in 2017, giving him the biggest one-week vinyl sales in over 20 years, 22nd on our end-of-decade rundown. Liam’s second album Why Me Why Not is already in the Top 100 too – it’s the highest vinyl album released this year. Brother Noel Gallagher‘s third post-Oasis album Who Built The Moon, also from 2017, is at 47 on the decade’s bestselling vinyls list.
The death of iconic rock star David Bowie in 2016 led to a surge in demand for his catalogue on vinyl. He takes up six slots in our Top 100: his final album Blackstar, released just days before he died (15); Legacy (17); The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust (26); Hunky Dory (43); ChangesOneBowie (82); Aladdin Sane (90); and Nothing Has Changed (93).
The full Official Top 100 biggest selling vinyl albums of the decade:
| 1 | RUMOURS | FLEETWOOD MAC |
| 2 | BACK TO BLACK | AMY WINEHOUSE |
| 3 | THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON | PINK FLOYD |
| 4 | GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY – AWESOME MIX 1 | ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK |
| 5 | THE STONE ROSES | STONE ROSES |
| 6 | AM | ARCTIC MONKEYS |
| 7 | WHAT’S THE STORY MORNING GLORY | OASIS |
| 8 | SGT PEPPER’S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND | BEATLES |
| 9 | NEVERMIND | NIRVANA |
| 10 | LEGEND | BOB MARLEY & THE WAILERS |
| 11 | GREATEST HITS | QUEEN |
| 12 | ABBEY ROAD | BEATLES |
| 13 | DEFINITELY MAYBE | OASIS |
| 14 | DIVIDE | ED SHEERAN |
| 15 | BLACKSTAR | DAVID BOWIE |
| 16 | UNPLUGGED IN NEW YORK | NIRVANA |
| 17 | LEGACY | DAVID BOWIE |
| 18 | WHATEVER PEOPLE SAY I AM THAT’S WHAT I’M | ARCTIC MONKEYS |
| 19 | FOUR SYMBOLS | LED ZEPPELIN |
| 20 | PURPLE RAIN – OST | PRINCE & THE REVOLUTION |
| 21 | PULP FICTION | ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK |
| 22 | AS YOU WERE | LIAM GALLAGHER |
| 23 | THE QUEEN IS DEAD | SMITHS |
| 24 | 25 | ADELE |
| 25 | HATFUL OF HOLLOW | SMITHS |
| 26 | THE RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY STARDUST | DAVID BOWIE |
| 27 | WISH YOU WERE HERE | PINK FLOYD |
| 28 | THE GREATEST SHOWMAN | MOTION PICTURE CAST RECORDING |
| 29 | APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION | GUNS N’ ROSES |
| 30 | UNKNOWN PLEASURES | JOY DIVISION |
| 31 | TRANQUILITY BASE HOTEL & CASINO | ARCTIC MONKEYS |
| 32 | GREATEST HITS | FLEETWOOD MAC |
| 33 | ROYAL BLOOD | ROYAL BLOOD |
| 34 | HOTEL CALIFORNIA | EAGLES |
| 35 | HUMAN | RAG’N’BONE MAN |
| 36 | THE WALL | PINK FLOYD |
| 37 | GREATEST HITS | FOO FIGHTERS |
| 38 | X | ED SHEERAN |
| 39 | OK COMPUTER | RADIOHEAD |
| 40 | A MOON SHAPED POOL | RADIOHEAD |
| 41 | ALL OVER THE WORLD – THE VERY BEST OF | ELO |
| 42 | LED ZEPPELIN | LED ZEPPELIN |
| 43 | HUNKY DORY | DAVID BOWIE |
| 44 | THE BEATLES | BEATLES |
| 45 | GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY – AWESOME MIX 2 | ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK |
| 46 | LED ZEPPELIN 2 | LED ZEPPELIN |
| 47 | WHO BUILT THE MOON | NOEL GALLAGHER’S HIGH FLYING |
| 48 | LONDON CALLING | CLASH |
| 49 | HOT FUSS | KILLERS |
| 50 | BACK IN BLACK | AC/DC |
| 51 | STAYING AT TAMARA’S | GEORGE EZRA |
| 52 | I LIKE IT WHEN YOU SLEEP FOR YOU ARE SO | 1975 |
| 53 | THE DOORS | DOORS |
| 54 | REVOLVER | BEATLES |
| 55 | THE BALCONY | CATFISH & THE BOTTLEMEN |
| 56 | GOLD – GREATEST HITS | ABBA |
| 57 | AMERICAN IDIOT | GREEN DAY |
| 58 | STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON | NWA |
| 59 | GREATEST HITS II | QUEEN |
| 60 | THE 1975 | 1975 |
| 61 | THE WAR OF THE WORLDS | JEFF WAYNE |
| 62 | RANDOM ACCESS MEMORIES | DAFT PUNK |
| 63 | NEVER MIND THE BOLLOCKS | SEX PISTOLS |
| 64 | BORN TO DIE | LANA DEL REY |
| 65 | A HEAD FULL OF DREAMS | COLDPLAY |
| 66 | FAVOURITE WORST NIGHTMARE | ARCTIC MONKEYS |
| 67 | 21 | ADELE |
| 68 | CURRENTS | TAME IMPALA |
| 69 | THE RIDE | CATFISH & THE BOTTLEMEN |
| 70 | WHY ME WHY NOT | LIAM GALLAGHER |
| 71 | CALIFORNICATION | RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS |
| 72 | THE KING OF LIMBS | RADIOHEAD |
| 73 | PET SOUNDS | BEACH BOYS |
| 74 | THRILLER | MICHAEL JACKSON |
| 75 | WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP WHERE DO WE GO | BILLIE EILISH |
| 76 | LET IT BLEED | ROLLING STONES |
| 77 | IN UTERO | NIRVANA |
| 78 | PARALLEL LINES | BLONDIE |
| 79 | GRACE | JEFF BUCKLEY |
| 80 | EXILE ON MAIN ST | ROLLING STONES |
| 81 | + | ED SHEERAN |
| 82 | CHANGESONEBOWIE | DAVID BOWIE |
| 83 | THE VERY BEST OF | STONE ROSES |
| 84 | URBAN HYMNS | VERVE |
| 85 | THE THRILL OF IT ALL | SAM SMITH |
| 86 | LUNGS | FLORENCE & THE MACHINE |
| 87 | U218 SINGLES | U2 |
| 88 | NOW THAT’S WHAT I CALL CHRISTMAS | VARIOUS ARTISTS |
| 89 | BABY DRIVER | ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK |
| 90 | ALADDIN SANE | DAVID BOWIE |
| 91 | THE VELVET UNDERGROUND & NICO | VELVET UNDERGROUND & NICO |
| 92 | IN RAINBOWS | RADIOHEAD |
| 93 | NOTHING HAS CHANGED – THE VERY BEST OF | DAVID BOWIE |
| 94 | LED ZEPPELIN 3 | LED ZEPPELIN |
| 95 | BAT OUT OF HELL | MEAT LOAF |
| 96 | DIVINELY UNINSPIRED TO A HELLISH EXTENT | LEWIS CAPALDI |
| 97 | ENTER THE WU-TANG (36 CHAMBERS) | WU-TANG CLAN |
| 98 | OUT OF THE BLUE | ELO |
| 99 | SIGH NO MORE | MUMFORD & SONS |
| 100 | HYBRID THEORY | LINKIN PARK |
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