150 Best Selling Singles of the 21st Century [75-79]

75. YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL- James Blunt (39) 706,000


76. EMPIRE STATE OF MIND- Jay-Z Ft Alicia Keys 702,000

Demonstrating that Jay-Z does Run This Town, this track shot right up the charts to #2 following the release of 'The Blue Print III', and was one of the first tracks to take off so successfully from this cherry-picking-from-the-new-albums-on-itunes way. It took quite a while for this track to grow on me, and it was only after hearing Alicia's Part 2 version (see below) that I fully appreciated Jay-Z's input on the track and that powerful chorus.




77. YOUR SONG- Ellie Goulding 701,000
78. MAD WORLD- Michael Andrews Ft Gary Jules (52) 699,000


79. EMPIRE STATE OF MIND PART II- Alicia Keys 696,000

Prior to the release of 'The Elements of Freedom' I felt that Alicia Keys had never quite managed to infiltrate the UK market in the way that she should have given that she's amassed 14 Grammy Awards to date.  I didn't particularly like Fallin', while No One didn't enjoy the same success here as it had in the US so it was really pleasing to see her break through. What a fantastic run of very radio friendly singles she had; Empire State Of Mind Part II, Doesn't Mean Anything and Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart. I thought this was fantastic and am sure its success inspired the other 'Part II' versions of big hits such as Airplanes, Love The Way You Lie and Read All About It.