| Greatest Hits | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
&sq=Envato&lang=en&file=File:Queen_Greatest_Hits.png) Original 1981 edition | ||||
| Greatest hits album by | ||||
| Released | 26 October 1981 | |||
| Recorded | 1973–1981 | |||
| Studio | Various | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 58:19 (UK edition) | |||
| Label | ||||
| Producer | Various | |||
| Queen chronology | ||||
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| Alternative cover | ||||
&sq=Envato&lang=en&file=File:RedGreatestHitsQuennalbumcover.png) 1992 US edition | ||||
Greatest Hits is a compilation album by the British rock band Queen, released worldwide on 26 October 1981.[1] The album consisted of Queen's biggest hits since their first chart appearance in 1974 with "Seven Seas of Rhye", up to their 1980 hit "Flash" (though in some countries "Under Pressure", the band's 1981 chart-topper with David Bowie, was included). There was no universal track listing or cover art for the album, and each territory's tracks were dependent on what singles had been released there and which were successful. In 1992, the US version of the album Classic Queen was released following the band's rekindled popularity in the nation.[2]
Greatest Hits is the band's best-selling album to date, with total sales of over 25 million copies, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time. It reached number one on the UK Albums Chart, spending four weeks at the top and sold consistently well throughout the 1980s, becoming the fourth-biggest selling album of the decade. The single "Under Pressure", which was released the same week as Greatest Hits, also topped the UK Singles Chart.
As of November 2024, Greatest Hits has spent 1,126 weeks on the UK Albums Chart and has been certified 23× platinum with sales of over seven million copies, making it the best-selling album of all time in the UK.
Greatest Hits peaked at number eight on the Billboard 200 in November 2020, the second-slowest ascent to the top ten of the US album chart in history. Among the longest charting albums in the US, as of November 2024, it has spent 619 weeks on the Billboard 200 and has been certified 9× platinum in the US. It has also been certified 15× platinum in Australia, 10× platinum in New Zealand, and 3× platinum in Canada. Following the release of the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody in 2018, it re-entered the charts worldwide.