Dido has capitalised on Eminem's success

In the UK, Dido's No Angel was the biggest-seller of 2001, with unofficial sales figures to date of 1.8 million, according to chart compilers CIN.

Second and third places in the UK are roughly tied between David Gray's White Ladder and Robbie Williams' Swing When You're Winning - both of which have sold around one million in 2001.

'Mass appeal'

Shaggy's Hotshot was the sixth biggest-seller in the UK, with sales of just under a million, according to CIN.

A spokesman for CIN told BBC News Online that, though Eminem's use of a Dido sample in his single Stan had helped expose the artist to a wider audience, her album had built on "mass appeal".

Robbie's swing album has sold one million in weeks

He predicted Robbie Williams' album - a tribute to 1950s crooners like Frank Sinatra - would continue to sell strongly.

"It has appealed to Robbie's core audience - but it's crossed over to people in their 30s, 40s and 50s.

Debut

"It also has a really good 50s-style production, and the Royal Albert Hall show gave it a huge boost," said the spokesman.

The RIAA reported some new artists had prospered in the US market in 2001.

Nu-metal quintet Linkin Park selling five million of their debut album, Hybrid Theory, and R&B singer Alicia Keys, whose debut Songs In A Minor sold four million copies.

Some veterans continued to rack up high US sales, including Led Zeppelin, whose self-titled boxed set has now reached Diamond status - 10 million copies sold - as has The Eagles' Greatest Hits Vol 2, Madonna's The Immaculate Collection and Aerosmith's Greatest Hits.