BBC Radio 2 listeners pick The Beatles as Ultimate British Group
The Fab Four have been voted as the number one Ultimate British Group by BBC Radio 2 listeners.
Hundreds of thousands of votes cast by music fans saw the band come out on top to mark the annual all-day celebration of National Album Day on Saturday 19 October.
Queen took the number two spot, The Rolling Stones the third, Pink Floyd number four and Fleetwood Mac number five.
A panel, including Radio 2 presenters, Jo Whiley, Sara Cox, OJ Borg, Vernon Kay, Scott Mills, Trevor Nelson, DJ Spoony, and Owain Wyn Evans voted from a list of nearly 100 bands to produce a final list of 54, which spans the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s and 10s.
The list was compiled from the music played on Radio 2 and the Most Successful British Groups on the Official Albums Chart.
A British group is any band of 2+ members that is made-up wholly or the majority are people who were born, live or hold British citizenship. The chairman of the selection panel is Radio 2 and 6 Music’s Head of Music, Jeff Smith, who is also the chairman of the Mercury Prize judging panel.
Jeff Smith, Head of Music for Radio 2 says: “We have absolutely loved seeing the Radio 2 listeners cast hundreds of thousands of votes for their Ultimate British Group, and this Top 30 chart reflects some of music’s biggest selling, most loved and established British artists who have achieved incredible success globally across the decades.”
The full Top 30 chart is available exclusively to hear now on BBC Sounds, presented by Mark Goodier, as part of a National Album Day Collection. It will be broadcast on Radio 2 from 1-3pm on Saturday 19 October when all the music played on Radio 2 will be from Great British groups – from Sounds of the 60s with Tony Blackburn (6am-8am) through to Sounds of the 90s with Fearne Cotton (10pm-midnight).
Mark Goodier says: “Radio 2 listeners have chosen their best of the best British world-beating groups. I can’t wait to count down this chart. It promises to be quite a listen!”
The chart is:
- The Beatles
- Queen
- The Rolling Stones
- Pink Floyd
- Fleetwood Mac
- Led Zeppelin
- Take That
- Coldplay
- Oasis
- Electric Light Orchestra
- The Who
- Depeche Mode
- The Jam
- Radiohead
- The Smiths
- Genesis
- Pet Shop Boys
- The Cure
- Duran Duran
- Madness
- Girls Aloud
- The Beautiful South
- The Kinks
- Bee Gees
- Wham!
- The Clash
- Blur
- Spice Girls
- The Police
- Manic Street Preachers
An additional show, Your Ultimate British Group: The Extras, is now available in the BBC Sounds collection, which will feature (in no particular order) the bands voted in chart position numbers 30-54.