Ranking Queen's four best-selling live albums

Queen as a band has released many magical albums. They had 15 studio albums all the way from the soon-to-be reissued debut Queen from 1973, through to Made In Heaven from 1995. You can read more on how all those albums ranked according to worldwide sales. 

That list and ranking excluded greatest hits, compilations, and live albums. It was on stage where Queen was undoubtedly at their best. The majestic Freddie Mercury is often rated as the best frontman ever for a band. When you consider his showmanship, his incredible voice, and his musical abilities on piano in particular he is certainly hard to beat. 

Of course, Roger Taylor is a superb and charismatic drummer. And where would the band be without Brian May and his amazing guitar work? Plus of course, John Deacon on bass, may have seemed the quiet man by comparison but wrote several big hits. All four members had a good track record of writing hit songs. 

Ranking the top four best-selling Queen live albums

To capture the live extravaganza on stages around the world the band released several live albums. Some relate to early days at the BBC studios or onstage at the Hammersmith Odeon on Christmas Eve in 1975. Others catch the band at full power at their prime. 

Let’s look at their top four best-selling live albums based on worldwide sales as recorded at Bestsellingalbums.org. In doing so there are several key factors which help explain why some sold much higher than others. When it was recorded, which album was the feature of the tour when the album was released and the track listing could all have impacts. 

4 - Queen On Fire - Live At The Bowl - 355k sales

In fourth place is this DVD and album released in 2004. At that point, it was well after the original band had come to an end and just at the point where  Taylor and May announced a live collaboration and tour with Paul Rodgers, a first for the band as it then was. 

The recording was made at the Milton Keynes Bowl, UK, many years previously, back in June 1982. The band was touring their Hot Space album. That had marked a radical change and some funk and disco for the band. Although not as popular, that album wasn’t hugely reflected in the track list for this live release. It was pretty much a run of hits, as you’d expect. 

Modest sales gathered a gold ranking in the UK. The DVD had broader success with a clutch of silver, gold, and platinum awards, including a US platinum and triple platinum in the UK. That makes sense as fans would prefer the visual stage show to the songs, which they have heard before in one form or another. 

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