The Official Charts Company and BBC Radio 2 have announced the certified list of the biggest selling singles artists since the charts began 60 years ago. There are some surprising entries including Rihanna, whose career only began in 2005, placing higher than infamous rockers The Rolling Stones.

The Beatles are the unexpected winners, although they notched up 17 number one hits, their career lasted a relatively brief 8 years, meanwhile the granddad of pop Sir Cliff, who has been around for five decades, only managed 3rd place.



The late, great, Elvis Presley achieved 2nd place which is due, in no small part, to his career resurrection from recent remixed hits such as ‘A Little Less Conversation’. Following ‘The King’ in 4th place is Madonna who has notched up 60 top 40 hits during her career, and another dearly departed artist, Michael Jackson, in fifth.



Relatively new artists who have made their way into the chart include Britney Spears who came onto the scene in 1999 with her smash ‘Hit Me Baby One More Time’, The Spice Girls who were only together for 2 years and ‘Tween’s choice’ Katy Perry.



Tony Blackburn, who played each artist's biggest hit in a recent Bank Holiday special, said: "This chart offers a fascinating look at the past 60 years in music and shows the impact that modern stars like Rihanna and Katy Perry have had."



Radio 2's head of music Jeff Smith said: "This list is intriguing, Adele is missing and we've all forgotten just how huge artists such as Shakin' Stevens, Boney M and UB40 were in the UK in the Seventies and Eighties."



See The full list here.