From The Beatles To Alt-J, 25 Plucky British Artists Who’ve Stormed To Success In America

1
Alt-J

Alt-J

America is Alt-J‘s for the taking: having conquering the UK, the Brit trio’s new album ‘This Is All Yours’ was a Number 4 hit in the US and the band have announced a show at New York’s 18,000-capacity Madison Square Garden to boot. But what other British bands have had the US going similarly bananas?

2
The Beatles

The Beatles

No list of US-conquering British bands would be complete without The Beatles. The Fab Four became a transatlantic phenomenon, heading up The British Invasion and playing to a world-record crowd of hysterical, screaming teenagers at New York’s Shea Stadium.

3
The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones

The Beatles weren’t the only ’60s band to whip American fans into a frenzy, though. Their rivals The Rolling Stones appealed to an edgier market than John, Paul, Ringo and George: they topped the US Hot 100 on a staggering eight occasions.

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4
Led Zeppelin

Hard rock legends Led Zeppelin were as beloved in North America as they were in Blighty. Their second album, ‘Led Zeppelin II’, was Number One on both sides of the Atlantic. They were so huge during the ’70s, in fact, that they broke The Beatles’ Shea Stadium record by playing to 56,800 fans in Florida.

5
Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd

Hard work goes a long way: Pink Floyd toured the US extensively during the ’70s and found their popularity skyrocketing in the States as a result. ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’, ‘Wish You Were Here’ and ‘The Wall’ were all US Number One albums, and the band were inducted into the US Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 1996, nine years before they were voted into the UK equivalent.

6
Fleetwood Mac

Fleetwood Mac

A bit of a cheat this one, perhaps, seeing as Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks are both American. But Fleetwood Mac‘s roots are in Britain – and much of the line-up were from the UK – so it’s fair to hail their international popularity, including ‘Rumours” 31-week run at the top of the US Billboard Charts, as a Brits-abroad success story.

7
Elton John

Elton John

Elton John‘s duet with Kiki Dee, ‘Don’t Go Breaking My Heart’, was a US Number One single. And from there, Reginald Dwight became a Stateside sensation: winning hatfuls of Grammys, having four albums in the US Top 40 simultaneously, and booking a three-year stint at Las Vegas’ Ceasars Palace in 2011.

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8
Adele

The Yanks love Adele even more than us Brits. In 2008, she gave a star-making turn on US TV institution ‘Saturday Night Live’. Since then, her album ’21’ has been cherished like a lost lover across the pond – it held the Number One spot in the US charts for longer than any other album since 1985 – and she won a whopping six Grammy Awards in 2012.

9
Mumford And Sons

Adele’s success in the US has paved the way for other British artists to whip up a storm in the States, too. Following closely behind the soulful Tottenham singer, Mumford And Sons‘ second album ‘Babel’ shifted 600,000 copies in its first week of release. None too shabby, especially when you consider debut ‘Sigh No More’ sold 2.5 million in the US too.

10
Coldplay

Coldplay

A slow-burn success rather than meteoric rise, Coldplay didn’t crack America overnight but have slowly and steadily garnered a huge fanbase in the US. Some high-profile celebrity friends hasn’t harmed their cause, either: they played two huge shows in Brooklyn with Chris Martin’s mate Jay Z in December 2012. Their last four albums have all been US Number One hits, too.

11
Arctic Monkeys

Given that everyone in the UK has fallen head-over-heels for Arctic Monkeys, it was only a matter of time before they cracked the US, too. ‘AM’ was their first US Top 10 hit since 2007, ‘Do I Wanna Know?’ was their first ever Alternative Chart-topper, and they played Madison Square Garden earlier this year. Slow and steady wins the race, chaps.

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12
Gorillaz

2010’s ‘Plastic Beach’ saw Gorillaz make it big in the US. A Number Two hit, Damon Albarn’s cartoon-troupe were aided by the large number of North American stars they roped in to star on the album, including Snoop Dogg and Lou Reed. They’re another of the few British acts to have stormed Madison Square Garden.

13
One Direction

Obsessive One Direction fans don’t just hail from the UK: the boyband’s ardent followers are just as fervent in the US, and were the first band in American chart history to have three consecutive albums debut at Number One. And that, folks, is why Harry Styles claimed that he and his bandmates were bigger than The Beatles.

14
Oasis

Oasis

The Gallaghers caused chaos in the US – Liam hit Noel with a tambourine during a 1994 gig leading Noel to quit the band temporarily; the singer then pulled out of an MTV Unplugged performance in 1996 and heckled from the sidelines instead – but Oasis still made a decent fist of things in America: their 2005 tour included sold-out dates at Madison Square Garden and the Hollywood Bowl.

15
Judas Priest

Judas Priest

One of Britain’s best-loved metal exports in the ’80s was Judas Priest: they played Madison Square Garden in 1982, but were banned by the venue in June 1982 after fans destroyed seats at the arena while caught up in a moshing frenzy. Can’t blame them, to be fair.

16
George Michael

George Michael‘s ‘Faith’ went 10 times platinum in the US on release in 1989, shifting more than 10m copies, making it one of American chart history’s biggest-selling albums by a British artist.

17
Eric Clapton

Eric Clapton

Dad rock favourite Eric Clapton has a number of Madison Square Garden appearances to his name, having sold over 10m copies of his 1992 ‘Unplugged’ album. Nice one, Eric!

18
Rod Stewart

Rod Stewart

Having enjoyed arguably more success Stateside (where he’s sold 38m records) than in his native UK, Rod Stewart repayed the adoration shown to him by US audiences in the early ’00s with ‘The Great American Songbook’ – a series of covers of American staples by the likes of Cole Porter and George Gershwin.

19
Black Sabbath

Brummie metallers Black Sabbath, and in particular bat-chomping frontman Ozzy Osbourne, have become honorary Yanks since their first Madison Square Garden takeover in August 1975. In fact, with 28m albums sold in the US alone, Ozzy is the 68th best-selling act of all time in the US, somewhat helped by his popular MTV reality TV show a few years back.

20
Queen

Having sold 34.5m albums in the US, Queen are another Brit act to have well and truly cracked America. In fact, they’re the 48th best-selling act of all time over the pond.

21
Phil Collins

Phil Collins

Phil Collins has sold 33.5m solo albums in America. Add to that his sizeable success with Genesis in American markets, and you’ve got a Brit who’s US success is seriously beyond dispute.

22
The Bee Gees

As if The Bee Gees enough of a smash with American audiences, in December 1976, they donated all the proceeds from their sold-out Madison Square Gardens show to the New York Police Athletic League, winning the affections of even those New Yorkers not into spangle-suited, high-voiced disco kitsch.

23
Sade

Sade

What do Sade, Jimi Hendrix and Kid Rock have in common? Well, they’ve all sold 23.5m albums in the US for starters. Sade’s a Brit though, making the feat that slight bit more impressive.

24
D.A. Pennebaker

D.A. Pennebaker‘s ‘101’ film captures the huge hysteria that Depeche Mode inspired in the US. Their tour for the album of the same name saw them play to 60,000 fans at the Pasadena Rose Bowl, and the film regularly shows the electronic band being mobbed by giddy American fans.

25
Radiohead

Before social media, there was only one way to break the US: tour, tour and more bloody touring. Radiohead toured extensively in support of ‘Pablo Honey’, ‘The Bends’ and ‘OK Computer’ (the last album included 110 dates in the States). But the hard work paid off: long after ‘Creep’ became a US radio smash, the less airwave-friendly ‘Kid A’ and ‘In Rainbows’ were still Number One albums.

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