By Caroline Frost
pmc-media-editor-2024
For half a century, British pop stars have been among the biggest sellers worldwide, but that all changed last year.
BBC News reports that, for the first time since 2003, no British music artist has made it into the worldwide annual chart of the year’s top 10 bestselling singles or albums, as revealed by the annual report from global music industry body IFPI.
The bestselling song of 2024, as reported by the IFPI, was American singer Benson Boone’s Beautiful Things. The bestselling album was Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department.
Related Stories
Boone’s song topped the charts in the UK, Australia, Canada, Norway, France, Germany, Ireland and New Zealand. It also became his first song to enter the top five on the US Billboard chart, reaching number two.
Watch on Deadline
Swift’s album was released at the peak of her record-breaking Eras tour, benefitting from fevered fan speculation as to which of her ex or current boyfriends inspired which song on the longplaying album.
The BBC reports that the highest-ranked British entry on the list was singer and producer Artemas, in 15th position with the song I Like the Way You Kiss Me.
Charlie XCX – the leading nominee at next week’s Brit Awards, rewarding the best in British music – failed to make the cut, along with Coldplay and Dua Lipa, who both released new material this year.
Nor did British artists hold any of the top 10 most popular singles even in the UK charts, the first time of this instance for at least 20 years.
Get our Breaking News Alerts and Keep your inbox happy.
Signup for Breaking News Alerts & Newsletters
By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy. We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Get our latest storiesin the feed of your favorite networks
We want to hear from you! Send us a tip using our annonymous form.
Sign up for our breaking news alerts
By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy. We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Deadline is a part of Penske Media Corporation. © 2025 Deadline Hollywood, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy. We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
