What was the biggest selling single by the Beatles?

"Hey Jude", with over eight million copies sold.
In longevity as a #1 hit, yes. But I didn't post a response because overall, hits like Yesterday (1965) and I Want To Hold Your Hand (1963/1964) might have sold more. Can anyone confirm which single sold the most copies?


It is not Hey Jude (HJ) but I Want To Hold Your Hand (IWTHYH) with 12m copies. HJ 10m. This is verified by Wikipedia, The Beatles own web site and any list of top ten world best selling singles. Also, until Candle In The Wind (1997), The Guinness Book Of Records had IWTHYH as the best selling single worldwide by a British act.


That Hey Jude is their best selling single is often wrongly quoted seemingly without any reference first of all to some easily checkable facts.
"Hey Jude" was the Beatles song that spent the most weeks at number-one on the charts. And it would have spent even more weeks at the top, had it not been replaced by "Those Were The Days", performed by Mary Hopkin, and produced by Paul McCartney, which was the second single released by Apple records, "Hey Jude" being the first.

Yesterday does have the most variations of a single song ever made with over 500.


Or it could have been Let it Be

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First answer by Zephyrad. Last edit by GeorgeHarrisonfan. Contributor trust: 2 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 10 [recommend question].