ABBA’s incredibly durable Gold: Greatest Hits album of 1992 has arrived at yet another sales landmark, as it wins BRIT Certified 20x Platinum status in the UK. Platinum is equivalent to 300,000 chart sales, so the award, confirmed on Friday (19), represents shipments of six million copies.
In July, the collection became the first album in UK history to spend 1,000 weeks in the UK chart. It’s also the second-bestselling album ever in the territory, behind only Queen’s Greatest Hits. ABBA’s chart-busting reunion album Voyage has also moved to gold certification (100,000 chart sales) within a week of release.
Gold last received updated sales recognition from trade body the BPI when it hit 19 times platinum in August 2020, and before that, 18 times in December 2018. It reached its first platinum marker on October 1, 1992, just ten days after release.
Coinciding with the new award, the retrospective dips 9-14 on this week’s Official Albums Chart from the Official Charts Company. This is the record’s 1020th week in the Top 100, a run that includes eight non-consecutive weeks at No.1, as well as 65 in the Top 10, 146 in the Top 20 and 385 in the Top 40. It’s been in the Top 100 every week since the summer of 2017 and has been in the Top 40 every week this year.
Gold is ABBA’s runaway longest-runner on the UK chart, with its 1976 predecessor Greatest Hits next with 130 weeks in the Top 100. Among their studio albums, 1976’s Arrival is their longest server, with 94 weeks in the Top 100 to date. That set’s last appearance in the Top 40 came in June 1978.
ABBA’s “Don’t Shut Me Down,” one of the tracks released in advance of its appearance on Voyage, is at No.93 in its ninth week on the UK singles chart. “I Still Have Faith In You,” which also preceded the album, is at No.27 on the vinyl chart, on which it reached No.1.
Buy or stream Voyage.
