Album release: Anthology 2

The Beatles’ Anthology 2 album went on sale worldwide on 18 March 1996, four months after its predecessor Anthology 1.

The release date of 26 February was delayed due to a last-minute change to the running order. ‘I’m Down’, originally sequenced as track six, was moved to track three, necessitating a reprint of the CD booklets. The change was reportedly requested by Paul McCartney, who personally paid for the printing costs.

Anthology 2 debuted at number one in the USA, selling 442,000 copies in its first week. It spent four weeks in the top ten, and remained on the Billboard 200 for 22 consecutive weeks.

In the UK it also topped the albums chart for one week, and spent a total of 13 weeks on the chart. Anthology 2 was also a top ten seller in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Finland, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland.

All three Anthology albums were remastered and reissued as digital downloads on the iTunes Store on 14 June 2011.