Boney M. is a German pop and disco group created by West German record producer Frank Farian. The four original members of the group's official lineup were Liz Mitchell and Marcia Barrett (Jamaica), Maizie Williams (Montserrat), and Bobby Farrell (Aruba). At the end of the 1970s Boney M. was the most famous and well-known pop group from Germany.

In 1978, "Rivers of Babylon", a cover of a track by The Melodians with lyrics partly based on Psalm 137 and partly on Psalm 19, became (at the time) the second highest-selling single of all time in the UK.

After "Rivers of Babylon" slipped back down the chart, the B-side "Brown Girl in the Ring" was given extensive airplay on the radio, and the single climbed back up the chart to #2. It eventually sold 5000 copies short of two million. As recounted in his book Touching the Void, the British climber Joe Simpson was subsequently to find the catchy tune of "Brown Girl in the Ring" haunting him in the final hours of his epic struggle to survive the descent of Siula Grande in the Andes, and the song was later used in the film of Touching the Void made by Kevin Macdonald. Simpson recalls: "I remember thinking, bloody hell, I'm going to die to Boney M".

The group also achieved a second UK million-seller with their version of the calypso classic "Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord", which was previously a million-seller for Harry Belafonte.

On the list of the all-time best selling singles in the United Kingdom, Boney M. appear in fifth place (with "Rivers of Babylon") and tenth place (with "Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord"). The single sold almost 1.8 million copies and achieved sales of over 1.6 million in the 4 weeks the song had at number one in December 1978.

Paul McCartney is the only other artist to appear twice (once with The Beatles, once with Wings) in the Top 10 of that list.