Who is the best Australian band of all time?
We’ve crunched the numbers and ranked the Top 30 bands in Australian music history. You can have your say on the country’s best act here.
Best of Melbourne
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AC/DC have topped our poll of the biggest band in Australian musical history.
The rock band, formed in 1973, have sold over 200 million albums worldwide, with 1980s Back in Black one of the highest-selling albums of all time, with 50 million copies sold.
They hold the record for the most tickets sold on an Australian tour by a local act (beaten by Ed Sheeran last year) and their music continues to be discovered by new audiences – their 10 biggest songs on Spotify have collectively had over 2.5 billion streams, while the Thunderstruck video has been watched almost 700 million times on YouTube.
Our list of the 30 biggest bands has been compiled by measuring old fashioned album sales with modern day consumption of music – streaming and You Tube – as well as popularity on social media platforms, plus looking at chart performance (here and overseas) and awards.
Some surprise inclusions may be Hillsong United, the corporate church’s musical spin-off who have sold over 18 million albums after tapping into the global market, and The Wiggles, who are one of Australian music industry’s true international success stories.
The youngest act on the list are Sydney band 5 Seconds of Summer. The foursome formed in 2011 and are the only Australian band to hit No. 1 on the US album chart with their first three releases. With their fanbase barely knowing what compact discs are, they have enormous followings on social media and have 24 million listeners on Spotify each month.
This poll focused on bands and obviously does not include solo artists such as Kylie Minogue, Olivia Newton-John, Jimmy Barnes, Sia, John Farnham, Tina Arena, Delta Goodrem and Keith Urban.