2 Become 1 third chart-topper and their first Christmas number-one single in the UK. It sold 209,000 copies in the first three days of release and 462,000 in the first week, becoming the tenth best-selling single of the year. "2 Become 1" sold 1.14 million copies in total, giving the Spice Girls their second and final million-selling single in the UK.Despite being released during the final two weeks of 1996, "2 Become 1" was the 5th best seller of the year. In Ireland, "2 Become 1" was the group's second number-one single, and their first to debut at the top of the Irish
British Hit Singles & Albums publication of this amalgamation ceased in 2006. A new version of the book published by Virgin and entitled "The Virgin Book of British Hit Singles", first published in November 2008. The first ten editions were compiled by Paul Gambaccini, Mike Read and brothers Tim Rice and Jonathan "Jo" Rice. Read left the team in the mid-1980s and the other editors resigned in 1996. Chart editor for many editions was David Roberts. "British Hit Singles & Albums" was generally considered to be the authoritative reference (and only) source for both the UK Singles Chart (since its inception in 1952) and the