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’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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The real names of famous rock stars, including Freddie Mercury:
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
John Paul Jones' real name: John Baldwin
Joan Jett's real name: Joan Larkin
Eric Clapton's real name: Eric Patrick Clapp
Siouxsie Sioux's real name: Susan Janet Ballion
Rachel Bolan’s real name: James Richard Southworth
David Bowie's real name: David Robert Hayward Stenton Jones
Little Richard's real name: Richard Wayne Penniman
Sid Vicious' real name: John Simon Ritchie
Ace Frehley's real name: Paul Daniel Frehley
Lou Reed's real name: Louis Firbank
Joe Strummer's real name: John Graham Mellor
Marc Bolan's real name: Mark Feld
The Edge's real name: David Howell Evans
Meat Loaf's real name: Marvin Lee Aday
Steven Tyler's real name: Steven Victor Tallarico
Ozzy Osbourne's real name: John Michael Osbourne
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
Geezer Butler’s real name: Terence Butler
Pat Benatar’s real name: Patricia Mae Giraldo
Bo Diddley’s real name: Ellas McDaniel
Muddy Waters’ real name: McKinley Morganfield
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
Blaze Bayley’s real name: Bayley Alexander Cooke
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
Steel Panther’s real names
Michael Starr: Ralph Michael Saenz, Satchel: Russell John Parrish, Stix Zadinia: Darren Leader, Spyder: Joe Lester.