What IS Madonna's biggest single?

jamesisacejamesisace Posts: 1,793
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She's undoubtedly the queen of pop music but I find it weird that when I think of Madonna there isn't one song that immediately comes to mind as being her most sucessfull. Unlike Britney (Baby One More Time), Kylie (Can't Get You Out of my Head) and Gaga (Poker Face)
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  • RaptureRiderRaptureRider Posts: 1,806
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    Isn't "Hung Up" her most successful single worldwide?
  • Blossom85Blossom85 Posts: 1,710
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    In the UK? According to Buzzjack, it's 'Into The Groove':

    http://www.buzzjack.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=75814&st=60

    :)
  • BadKid95BadKid95 Posts: 7,137
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    She has such a great discography you can't really pick out one song, I think everyone has their own special Madonna song
  • Blossom85Blossom85 Posts: 1,710
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    Isn't "Hung Up" her most successful single?

    That's her 6th most successful single in the UK
  • RaptureRiderRaptureRider Posts: 1,806
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    Blossom85 wrote: »
    That's her 6th most successful single in the UK

    Is the OP talking about the UK or worldwide though?

    What's surprising is Madonna has never had a million selling UK single.
  • Blossom85Blossom85 Posts: 1,710
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    What's surprising is Madonna has never had a million selling UK single.

    I totally agree. I remember watching a Top 100 countdown about a decade ago and was really surprised when I saw that she's never had a million selling single in the UK. :eek:

    Just had a look at Wikipedia and 'Hung Up' is her biggest seller worldwide with sales of 9 million.
  • RaptureRiderRaptureRider Posts: 1,806
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    Blossom85 wrote: »
    I totally agree. I remember watching a Top 100 countdown about a decade ago and was really surprised when I saw that she's never had a million selling single in the UK. :eek:

    Me too.

    I remember Abba being absent on the list as well. Apparently "Dancing Queen" has now surpassed a million in the UK thanks to downloads and has sold 1,100,000 copies. Their second biggest seller is "Knowing Me, Knowing You" with 845,000 copies sold.
  • Hit Em Up StyleHit Em Up Style Posts: 12,141
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    Worldwide I have always assumed it was Vogue. Unless something overtook it in recent years but it has sold in excess of 7 million at last count.

    Edit. Didn't see that about Hung Up being on 9 million.
  • glyn9799glyn9799 Posts: 7,391
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    She's had so many big hits it's hard to work out her biggest. But i'd say her most well known track is probably Vogue. It's all down to taste though.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 954
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    Me too.

    I remember Abba being absent on the list as well. Apparently "Dancing Queen" has now surpassed a million in the UK thanks to downloads and has sold 1,100,000 copies. Their second biggest seller is "Knowing Me, Knowing You" with 845,000 copies sold.

    Well that's a shocker, I would never think of that as one of their biggest sellers!

    I always think Like A Prayer, Like A Virgin in terms of biggest Madonna singles. Didn't expect Into The Groove to be her biggest seller either.
  • jamesisacejamesisace Posts: 1,793
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    I was referring to in the UK
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 24,080
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    The thing is with Madonna singles is yes she hasnt had a million selling plus single in the UK....her albums sell one heck of a lot based on the "heat sales" of those singles and popularity/radio airplay etc etc.

    It is that perfect blend...Also the reason why Into The groove is so high is that Susan was her first blockbuster movie....Like A Virgin original pressings didnt have the song on it, the song was everywhere and the re-release of LAV had groove included then and LAV became a massive number 1 album in 1985 due to this :cool:

    It is interesting to see how much each single release has sold, comparing eras, albums etc :)
  • Hound of LoveHound of Love Posts: 79,797
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    I think her biggest UK seller is Into the Groove
  • cnbcwatchercnbcwatcher Posts: 56,681
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    I thought it was either Vogue, Like A Prayer, Material Girl, Hung Up or Holiday. I must give Into The Groove a listen.
  • RaptureRiderRaptureRider Posts: 1,806
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    RaiseItUp wrote: »
    Well that's a shocker, I would never think of that as one of their biggest sellers!

    .

    It spent five weeks at #1 and two weeks at #2. I'm more surprised at "Super Trouper" being their third biggest seller in the UK.
  • Zeus555Zeus555 Posts: 602
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    'Super Trouper' was the 4th UK Best Seller of 1980. It was
    also still in the Top 5, (at No.5), at the start of 1981. That's
    how it became ABBA's 3rd UK Best Seller, with over 800,000
    sold.
  • Eric_BlobEric_Blob Posts: 7,756
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    There's too many ways to define "biggest hit".

    Even sales isn't a good way to do it. For example, with Rihanna, What's My Name? has sold more than Umbrella, but Umbrella was obviously a much bigger hit.

    Into the Groove has sold the most.

    I'd say her "biggest" hit was probably Like a Prayer.

    For me though, her biggest hits seem to be Hung Up, Sorry and 4 Minutes, since those were massive during my senior school years.
  • spaceygalspaceygal Posts: 3,447
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    I remember how huge Papa Don't Preach was when it came out. It made such an impact. That's still one of her biggest hits for me, along with Like A Prayer, Like A Virgin, Express Yourself, Vogue, Into The Groove, Frozen and Material Girl.
  • gpkgpk Posts: 10,206
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    `hung up` did not sell 9 million copies worldwide, there is no evidence to back that claim up at all. the single shifted just over a million in the us and a bit over 2 million in europe which contributed to the bulk of the overall sales. here are the sales as of 2009, the us total figure is an estimate, but i don't think it is far off the mark.

    USA: sales: +1.000.000
    estimation: 1.180.000
    Canada: 105.000
    UK: 525.000
    France: 590.000
    Germany: 450.000
    Netherlands: 25.000
    Italy: 170.000
    Austria: 15.000
    Switzerland: 20.000
    Belgium: 25.000
    Sweden: 40.000
    Denmark: 24.000
    Greece: 8.000
    Cyprus: 9.000
    EUROPE: 2.125.000
    Australia: 94.000
    Japan: 510.000
    Brazil: 1.000 (Promo)
    Total: 4.370.000

    even through this information is almost 3 years old, i cant see how this song could have shifted the best part of 5 million since then.

    according to the information where i found these figures, `like a virgin` is her biggest worldwide hit with sales of 5.2 million.
  • Hit Em Up StyleHit Em Up Style Posts: 12,141
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    Vogue has certainly sold 7 million. It was her biggest selling single to date by 1992 so must have passed Like A Virgin within a year of being released.
  • Blossom85Blossom85 Posts: 1,710
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    gpk wrote: »
    `hung up` did not sell 9 million copies worldwide, there is no evidence to back that claim up at all.

    On Wikipedia, it says that 'Hung Up' has sold 9 million copies worldwide through digital sales. Physical sales have 'Vogue' as her biggest seller with 6 million copies, although I'm not sure how up-to-date the whole list is.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_singles_worldwide#Best-selling_physical_singles
  • glyn9799glyn9799 Posts: 7,391
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    I remember Crazy For You and Holiday have sold shedloads because they were each released about 3 times in different years.
  • CloudbusterCloudbuster Posts: 688
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    It's extradordinary to think that Madonna has not had a UK million seller!

    Into The Groove and Vogue were huge mumber ones at a time when singles flew out the door. But still no million sales!
  • gpkgpk Posts: 10,206
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    Blossom85 wrote: »
    On Wikipedia, it says that 'Hung Up' has sold 9 million copies worldwide through digital sales. Physical sales have 'Vogue' as her biggest seller with 6 million copies, although I'm not sure how up-to-date the whole list is.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_singles_worldwide#Best-selling_physical_singles

    have you checked the source of that information? its a random msn article originally published in australia. the other source regarding `hung up` is from billboard, but it just confirms what i posted about the us sales of that song. here are the worldwide sales figures for `vogue`.

    USA: sales: +2.000.000
    estimation: 2.540.000
    Canada: 100.000
    UK: 485.000
    France: 200.000
    Germany: 240.000
    Netherlands: 35.000
    Italy: 100.000
    EUROPE: 1.255.000
    Australia: 141.000
    New Zeland: 5.000
    Japan: 90.000
    Brazil: 50.000
    Total: 4.940.000
  • gpkgpk Posts: 10,206
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    i have just found an up to date list of her worldwide single sales including digital sales. here is the top 10 and these figures were posted in april this year.

    1..Like A Virgin..................1984.....5.420.000
    2..Like A Prayer..................1989.....5.355.000
    3..Vogue..........................1990.....5.120.000
    4..4 Minutes......................2008.....5.000.000
    5..Hung Up........................2005.....4.580.000
    6..Papa Don’t Preach..............1986.....3.890.000
    7..La Isla Bonita.................1987.....3.790.000
    8..Into The Groove................1985.....3.530.000
    9..Music..........................2000.....3.355.000
    10.Crazy For You..................1985.....3.340.000
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