# In the 1960s, The Beatles were beaten to the best-selling song of the year. Not once, but seven times

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/in-the-1960s-the-beatles-were-beaten-to-the-best-selling-song-of-the-year-not-once-but-seven-times/
- Published: 2026-10-30T19:00:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-30T20:51:41+00:00
- Original publisher: Far Out
- Original article: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/seven-times-the-beatles-beaten-best-selling-song-1960s/
- Topics: Entertainment, Music

## Key points

- The Beatles had the decade’s best-selling single in three years.
- Elvis Presley topped the UK figures in 1960 and 1961.
- Other chart-toppers included the Stones, Cream and Neil Diamond.

## Summary

The Beatles were hugely successful in the 1960s, but they did not have the best-selling single in the UK every year. The article uses yearly sales figures to show that other artists also topped the charts, adding context to the idea that the decade’s popular music was dominated by one band.

The Beatles had the best-selling single in three of the decade’s ten years: “Love Me Do” in 1962, “I Want to Hold Your Hand” in 1963 and “Yesterday” in 1965. Elvis Presley topped the figures in 1960 and 1961, Simon and Garfunkel in 1964 and 1968, the Rolling Stones in 1966, Cream in 1967, and Neil Diamond in 1969.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.