Report: David Bowie sold 5 million records in UK since his death

London-born David Bowie has sold 5 million records in the UK since his death two years ago.

The Official Charts Company, which compiles the UK charts, revealed this was made up of 2 million albums and 3.1 million singles through physical sales, digital downloads and stream-equivalent sales.

It showed that fans were rediscovering his diverse and outstanding catalogue and snapping up the 14 new releases issued since his death.

These included a number of Greatest Hits sets, live recordings and anniversary picture discs.

The latest is the release of the original demo of 1983 hit ‘Let’s Dance’, put out on January 8 to mark what would have been his 71st birthday.

Since his death, his final album Blackstar has been his most popular, shifting 446,000 copies across all formats.

In second place was 2008’s Best of Bowie (335,000) and 2015’s Legacy in third place (247,000).

His most sought after original album was The Rise And Fall of Ziggy Stardust at #5, followed by Hunky Dory, Aladdin Sane, The Next Day, Low and Diamond Dogs.

Bowie’s singles have, since January 2016, had a staggering 241 million plays across streaming services.

‘Heroes’ was the biggest seller, with 397,000 combined sales. It returned to the charts after his death and reached #12.

Second most popular with fans was his collaboration with Queen ‘Under Pressure’. It sold 203,000 and was his most streamed track since his death, with 16.7 million plays in the UK

Following were ‘Life On Mars’, ‘Starman’, ‘Let’s Dance’, ‘Space Oddity’, ‘Rebel Rebel’, ‘Changes’, ‘Moonage Daydream’ and ‘Modern Love’ rounding off the Top 10.

The Official Chart Company also pointed out that Bowie has been huge with vinyl collectors who’ve bought 285,000 units in that format.

Seven of his albums and eight singles have topped the Official Vinyl Albums Chart since it launched in April 2015.

Blackstar, Ziggy Stardust and Hunky Dory are the most popular albums on vinyl since January 2016.

The most popular single was the No Plan EP – released in February 2017 and featuring his final ever recording sessions.

Then came ‘Heroes’, followed by ‘TVC 15’, ‘Sound And Vision’, ‘Be My Wife’, ‘Golden Years’, ‘Space Oddity’, ‘Without You I’m Nothing’ (with Placebo), ‘Fame’ and ‘Sue (Or In A Season Of Crime)’.