Robin Thicke: Blurred Lines tops all-time download chart

Robin Thicke’s controversial hit single Blurred Lines has been named the UK’s most downloaded song of all time.

The song has sold 1.54 million copies since it was released last May, despite criticisms of its explicit lyrics.

About 20 university student unions banned the track, saying it promoted “date rape culture”, an accusation Thicke consistently denied.

Compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), the chart marked 10 years of legal downloads in the UK.

Thicke’s song overtook the previous best-seller, Adele’s Someone Like You, to take the top spot.

Adele’s ballad has racked up 1.53 million sales to date.

Moves Like Jagger by Maroon 5 was at number three, followed by Australian one-hit-wonder Gotye, with 2012’s Somebody That I Used To Know at four.

The Black Eyed Peas completed the top five with the party anthem I Gotta Feeling.

According to the Official Charts Company, more than 99% of singles are now purchased as digital downloads.

Fans have bought more than 1.17 billion tracks in the past 10 years, with 27 songs passing the one million download mark.

The latest to achieve the feat is Pharrell Williams’ Happy, which has surpassed 1.3 million sales since its release last summer.

Happy took ninth place in the all-time download chart, giving Williams three entries in the top 10.

The others came from his guest appearances on Blurred Lines and Daft Punk’s Get Lucky.

(Source: BBC News)