1 (Beatles album)
1 is a compilation album of the English rock band the Beatles, originally released on 13 November 2000. The album features virtually every number-one single the band achieved in the United Kingdom or United States from 1962 to 1970. Issued on the 30th anniversary of the band's break-up, it was their first compilation available on only one CD. 1 was a commercial success and topped charts worldwide. It has sold over 31 million copies.[1]
This article is about the 2000 compilation album. For the 1983 compilation album, see The Number Ones. For the 1963 EP, see The Beatles (No. 1).1
13 November 2000
11 September 1962 – 1 April 1970
EMI, Apple, Olympic and Trident Studios, London; Pathé Marconi Studios, Paris
78:39
Since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking US album sales in January 1991,[2] 1 is the fourth-best-selling album in the US, the best-selling album of the 2000s decade in the US,[3] as well as the best-selling album of the decade worldwide.
1 was remastered and reissued in September 2011.[4] It was remixed and reissued again in several different deluxe editions in November 2015, the most comprehensive of which is a three-disc set entitled 1+, which includes video discs of Beatles promotional films.
As of June 2015, 1 was the sixth-best-selling album of the 21st century in the UK, having sold over 3.1 million copies.[5]
Legacy[edit]
1 went on to inspire the release of a wave of compilation albums, in particular three other "number ones" albums: Elvis Presley's ELV1S (2002),[17] Michael Jackson's Number Ones (2003)[18] and the Bee Gees' Number Ones (2004). Other compilations inspired by 1 issued included Nirvana's Nirvana (2002),[19][20] the Rolling Stones' Forty Licks (2002),[21] Pink Floyd's Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd (2001), The Who's The Ultimate Collection (2002)[22] and Dean Martin's Dino: The Essential Dean Martin (2004).[23]
Sales and chart performance[edit]
The reception of 1 surpassed all critical and commercial expectations. It became the highest-selling CD of 2000 and, some time later, of the entire decade.[24] This achievement made the Beatles the first and only artist to have the best-selling albums of two different decades: they also released the best-selling album of the 1960s, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. No tracks from Sgt. Pepper appear on this album. With this album, the Beatles also achieved having an album hit the number 1 position in the US in four non-consecutive decades (1960s, 1970s, 1990s and 2000s).
In the United Kingdom, 1 became the Beatles' 15th number 1 album with sales of 319,126 copies (achieving record sales for only one week in 2000). On 18 December 2000, Ananova.com reported that the album has "become 2000's biggest-selling album—in only five weeks." 1 was the first album to stay at the top spot for nine weeks in almost ten years (the last being the Eurythmics's Greatest Hits), the best-selling album of 2000, and the fourth-best-selling album of the 2000s so far in the UK. In its eleventh week, 1 sold a total of two million copies in the UK. It spent a total of 46 weeks inside the Top 75. In July 2013 it was certified 10× platinum by the BPI, for over 3 million copies sold in the UK. It is the 21st-best-selling album in the UK, according to an assessment by the Official Charts Company and the British Phonographic Industry that counted album sales in the UK from 28 July 1956 to the present day, and the second-best-selling Beatles album in that country (only beaten by Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, which is the UK's third-best-selling album).[25] As of July 2016, the album has sold over 3,230,000 copies in the UK.[26][27]
In the United States, the response was similar. 1 debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 during the week of 2 December 2000 with sales totaling over 595,500 copies.[28][29]
In its second week, sales increased to 662,000 but it was knocked off the top spot by Backstreet Boys' Black & Blue which sold 1.59 million units, therefore, 1 fell off to number two on its second week on chart.[30] By doing so, the album became the sixth to debut at the top of the Billboard 200 and post a SoundScan increase in its second week and the first to do so after opening with a sum of more than half a million copies.[31] The following week it stayed at number two selling 607,000 units. During the week of 23 December 2000, its fourth week on chart, 1 moved 671,000 copies and returned to the top of the Billboard 200.[32] The next week, on 30 December 2000 it stayed at the top of the chart selling 823,500 copies.[33] On 10 February 2001, after being the number one album for eight non-consecutive weeks, 1 fell off to number four on the Billboard 200 with 173,500 units sold, a 19.5% dip in sales; by the time this happened, the album had sold almost six million units.[34] The album spent a total of eight weeks at number 1 and sold 1,258,667 copies during the week before Christmas of 2000.[35][36] With this number, the Beatles achieved a new record: it was the seventh highest one-week sales in Soundscan history, the highest for an album not in its first week of sales, and the highest for an album comprising previously released music. The album spent 309 weeks inside the Billboard 200 and was the sixth-best-selling album in the United States in 2000 with 5,100,000 copies sold according to Nielsen SoundScan.[35][37] On 30 August 2011 the band announced through their Facebook account that the album was available to pre-order from iTunes and that it was digitally remastered.[38] On 24 September 2011, after the album made its digital debut in the iTunes Store it re-entered on the Billboard 200 at number four selling 60,000 units, it also topped the iTunes album charts in the US, Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, Mexico, Switzerland, Spain, New Zealand and Greece according to a Capitol/EMI press release.[39][40][41] Its digital launch on the iTunes Store was accompanied with a price of $9.99 and a Twitter campaign with the hashtag #MyBeatles1 asking their fans: What is your favorite "1" track? Resulting in many celebrities and stars posting their favorites, too.[42][40] In 2015, after it was remastered again and remixed by Giles Martin, 1 re-entered on the Billboard 200 at number six selling 40,000 units.[43] It was certified eleven times platinum by the RIAA on 8 March 2010 denoting shipments of eleven million units, and 1 is included on the list of the Top 100 Albums by the Recording Industry Association of America.[44][45] The album is the best-selling album of the 21st century in the US and the fourth-best-selling album in the Soundscan era (1991–present).[46][47] As of October 2019, the album has had sold 13 million copies in the US.[48] In the US, the album secured the Beatles a fourth decade in which they placed an album at number 1 on the Billboard chart.
In Canada, 1 debuted at number 1 on the Canadian Albums Chart, selling 54,668 copies in its first week.[49] The album was certified Diamond (1,000,000 units) by the CRIA in February 2001, just four months after its release.[50] As of 2009, 1 has sold 1,103,000 units in Canada, making it the fifth-best-selling album ever in Canada of the Nielsen SoundScan era.[51]
In Germany, 1 debuted at number 1 and stayed there for nine non-consecutive weeks. It stayed seventeen weeks in the top ten of the German Albums Chart and fifty weeks in the total chart. By selling 1,650,000 copies and reaching 11× Gold, it is the third-best-selling album of the decade 2000–2009 and the best-selling non-German language album.[52]
In 2009, Apple Corps, the Beatles' company, stated that worldwide sales of 1 had exceeded 31 million copies.[1] Worldwide in 2000 the album sold 13.8 million copies, with 2 million or more copies sold during 2 consecutive weeks, and was the fourth-best-selling album behind Eminem's The Marshall Mathers LP, Britney Spears' Oops!... I Did It Again, and Santana's Supernatural.
1+
Additional musicians