Twisting and shouting down the years: The all-time top 40 British artists

The Fab Four pipped Queen to the number-one spot, with David Bowie taking third place on the list. Elton John – and the Rolling Stones completed the top five.

The survey of 1000 Brits was conducted through OnePoll by streaming music service Deezer, whose spokesman said: “Even though the British music industry is in rude health – as proven by Adele’s presence at sixth on the list – most of the top 10 best artists in history have come from decades gone by.

“In fact, you have to look further down the top 40 to find more artists who started recording this millennium, like Amy Winehouse and Ed Sheeran.

“This shows that the British appetite for the classics is as strong as ever, and the enduring appeal of the Beatles in particular, who have been topping these kinds of polls for close to five decades.”

Adele, whose album 25 became the fastest-selling of all-time on its release in 2015, finished in sixth place – one ahead of George Michael, who died on Christmas Day 2016.

Elsewhere in the list, it was bad news for fans of classic rock – Led Zeppelin could only manage 18th place, below Status Quo, Phil Collins and Coldplay.

And Paul McCartney also placed in 20th, on the strength of his solo output – making him one of two artists to appear twice in the top 40.

The second was Robbie Williams, whose history with boyband Take That followed by stratospheric success in his own right landed him at both 23rd and 24th.

Singer songwriter James Blunt managed to overhaul The Kinks, Travis and Keane to place 35th, though his famously hilarious Twitter feed may have helped his recent popularity.

Deezer also revealed its most-streamed albums that have also won the coveted BRIT award for “British Album of the Year,” since the company started streaming in 2007.

Top of the pops was Ed Sheeran’s X, which won the award in 2015.

Second went to Arctic Monkeys’ AM, the British Album of the Year winner in 2014.

Surprisingly, the third place went to Adele – but for her 2012 breakthrough album 21, which yielded the singles Rolling in the Deep and Someone Like You.

Deezer’s spokesman added: “Ed Sheeran is one of the most influential pop stars of the modern age, so it’s no surprise to find he’s hitting a chord with music fans.

“Huge-selling, critically respected artists like Sheeran and Adele are bound to go from strength to strength as they continue their careers, and we’d expect them to feature in many ‘favourite artist’ polls in the coming decades.”

THE TOP 40 BRITISH ARTISTS OF ALL TIME

1. The Beatles

2. Queen

3. David Bowie

4. Elton John

5. Rolling Stones

6. Adele

7. George Michael

8. The Who

9. Pink Floyd

10. Eric Clapton

11. The Bee Gees

12. Status Quo

13. Rod Stewart

14. Phil Collins

15. Oasis

16. Amy Winehouse

17. Coldplay

18. Led Zeppelin

19. Cliff Richard

20. Paul McCartney

21. Dire Straits

22. Ed Sheeran

23. Take That

24. Robbie Williams

25. Black Sabbath

26. The Police

27. Coldplay

28. Eurythmics

29. T-Rex

30. Spice Girls

31. Duran Duran

32. Radiohead

33. Blur

34. The Verve

35. James Blunt

36. Dido

37. Travis

38. Keane

39. Leona Lewis

40. The Kinks