The Who - Record Sales Rocket After Olympics Music Celebration

A host of music legends were included in the show-stopping event on Sunday (12Aug12), which was beamed around the world and attracted a U.K. TV audience of 26.3 million, as the Games organisers celebrated Britain's rock heritage.

And the commercial impact of the glitzy gathering is already registering - record sales of many of the acts involved in the ceremony have rocketed.

The main beneficiaries were Elbow, whose sales have shot up by almost 2,000 per cent since Sunday, and there were also big leaps for John Lennon's iconic Imagine album, the Spice Girls' Greatest Hits, and George Michael's Faith.

Greatest hits compilations by The Who and Queen both enjoyed a sales increase of almost 300 per cent, and One Direction, Kate Bush, Oasis, and Jessie J have also registered big leaps in sales since their inclusion in the ceremony.

A spokesman for British music retail chain Hmv, which compiled the list from its sales statistics, says, "The closing ceremony was a celebration of British music, and with a huge broadcast audience in the U.K. and worldwide it's no surprise that the featured artists are seeing a big lift in sales of their recordings.

"Elbow's anthemic songs were almost tailor-made for the occasion, whilst it was also wonderful to be reminded of the power of John Lennon's music."