list of best selling albums

[terryarceneaux]

Artist Album Released Genre Sales (millions) Source
Michael Jackson Thriller 1982 Pop / Rock / R&B 65-110 [1][2]
Pink Floyd The Dark Side of the Moon 1973 Progressive rock 50 [3]
AC/DC Back in Black 1980 Hard rock / Heavy metal 49 [4]
Michael Jackson Bad 1987 Pop / Rock 30-45 [5][6][7][8][9][10]
Whitney Houston / Various artists The Bodyguard 1992 Soundtrack 44 [11]
Meat Loaf Bat Out of Hell 1977 Hard rock 43 [12]
Eagles Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) 1976 Rock 42 [13]
Various artists Dirty Dancing 1987 Soundtrack 42 [14]
Bee Gees / Various artists Saturday Night Fever 1977 Soundtrack 40 [15]
Fleetwood Mac Rumours 1977 Rock 40 [16]
Shania Twain Come On Over 1997 Country / Pop 40 [17]

30–39 million copies
Artist Album Released Genre Sales (millions) Source
Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin IV 1971 Hard rock / Heavy metal 37 [18]
Alanis Morissette Jagged Little Pill 1995 Rock 33 [19]
The Beatles Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band 1967 Rock 32 [20]
Elton John Elton John's Greatest Hits 1974 Rock/Pop 32 [21]
Celine Dion Falling into You 1996 Pop 32 [22]
Mariah Carey Music Box 1993 Pop / R&B 32 [23]
Michael Jackson Dangerous 1991 Pop / Rock 32 [24]
The Beatles 1 2000 Rock 31 [25]
Celine Dion Let's Talk About Love 1997 Pop 31 [26]
Backstreet Boys Millennium 1999 Pop 30 [27][28]
Bee Gees Spirits Having Flown 1979 Disco / Pop 30 [29]
Bruce Springsteen Born in the U.S.A. 1984 Rock 30 [30]
Dire Straits Brothers in Arms 1985 Rock 30 [31]
Iron Butterfly In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida 1968 Psychedelic rock 30 [32]
James Horner Titanic 1997 Soundtrack 30 [33]
Madonna The Immaculate Collection 1990 Pop / Dance 30 [34][35]
Pink Floyd The Wall 1979 Progressive rock 30 [36]
Nirvana Nevermind 1991 Grunge / Alternative rock 30 [37]

20–29 million copies
Artist Album Released Genre Sales (millions) Source
ABBA ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits 1992 Pop 28 [38]
Backstreet Boys Backstreet's Back 1997 Pop 28 [39]
Bon Jovi Slippery When Wet 1986 Hard rock 28 [40]
Metallica Metallica 1991 Heavy metal / thrash metal 28 [41][42]
Guns N' Roses Appetite for Destruction 1987 Hard rock / Heavy metal 28 [43]
Spice Girls Spice 1996 Pop 28 [44]
Various artists Grease 1978 Soundtrack 28 [33]
Santana Supernatural 1999 Rock 27 [45]
Britney Spears ...Baby One More Time 1999 Pop 26 [46]
Carole King Tapestry 1971 Pop 25 [47]
George Michael Faith 1987 Pop / Soul 25 [48]
Madonna True Blue 1986 Pop 25 [49]
Mariah Carey Daydream 1995 Pop / R&B 25 [50]
Queen Greatest Hits 1981 Rock 25 [51]
Simon & Garfunkel Bridge over Troubled Water 1970 Folk Rock 25 [52]
U2 The Joshua Tree 1987 Rock 25 [53]
Whitney Houston Whitney Houston 1985 Pop / R&B 25 [54]
Backstreet Boys Black & Blue 2000 Pop 24 [39]
Linkin Park Hybrid Theory 2000 Nu metal / Rap metal / Alternative rock 24 [55]
Ace of Base Happy Nation/The Sign 1993 Pop 23 [56]
Adele 21 2011 Pop / Soul 22 [57][58]
Oasis (What's the Story) Morning Glory? 1995 Britpop / Rock 22 [59][60]
Bon Jovi Cross Road 1994 Hard Rock 21 [61]
Madonna Like a Virgin 1984 Pop / Dance 21 [62]
Barbra Streisand Guilty 1980 Pop 20 [63][64]
Andrea Bocelli Romanza 1997 Pop / Operatic Pop 20 [65]
Billy Ray Cyrus Some Gave All 1992 Country 20 [66]
Bob Marley & The Wailers Legend: The Best of Bob Marley & The Wailers 1984 Reggae 20 [67]
Boston Boston 1976 Hard Rock 20 [68]
Blondie Parallel Lines 1978 Rock 20 [69]
Britney Spears Oops!... I Did It Again 2000 Pop 20 [70]
Céline Dion The Colour of My Love 1993 Pop 20 [71]
Cher Believe 1998 Pop / Dance 20 [72]
Def Leppard Hysteria 1987 Hard rock 20 [73]
Eminem The Eminem Show 2002 Rap / Hip-hop 20 [74][75]
Eminem The Marshall Mathers LP 2000 Rap / Hip-hop 20 [74][76]
Janet Jackson janet. 1993 Pop / R&B 20 [77]
Lionel Richie Can't Slow Down 1983 Pop / R&B / Soul 20 [78]
Madonna Ray of Light 1998 Pop / Electronic 20 [79]
Michael Jackson HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I 1995 Pop / Rock / R&B 20 [80]
Michael Jackson Off the Wall 1979 Soul / Disco / R&B 20 [80][81]
Norah Jones Come Away with Me 2002 Jazz 20 [82]
Prince & The Revolution Purple Rain 1984 Soundtrack 20 [33]
Shania Twain The Woman in Me 1995 Country/pop 20 [83]
Supertramp Breakfast in America 1979 Progressive rock/Art rock 20 [84][85]
Tina Turner Private Dancer 1984 Rock 20 [86]
Usher Confessions 2004 R&B 20 [87]
Whitney Houston Whitney 1987 Pop / R&B 20 [88]

[terryarceneaux]

I thought you guys might find this interesting.

[fabtastique]

Wow, I'm amazed Barbra Streisand's Guilty has sold 20m - pleasantly of course, it's a great album

[cymru56]

I'm familiar with everything on the list except Iron Butterfly- In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida -that one really is a surprise

[erik]

Quote by cymru56:

I'm familiar with everything on the list except Iron Butterfly- In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida -that one really is a surprise

I think that, in its day, In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida was the biggest-selling album that Atlantic Records had; it continued to sell heavily over the years, though Led Zeppelin eventually topped them in sales, at least insofar as the heavy metal arena was concerned.

[the Scribe]

If I remember correctly Iron Butterfly's- In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida for quite a long time held the longest weeks on the chart of any album. That may have been replaced by Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd. I have no idea who holds that record now.

[sliderocker]

I've got some doubts as to some of the claims shown. I mean, Michael Jackson has the number 1 and 2 position with the same album ("Thriller") and then positions 5 through 10 for the same album ("Bad")? That's a serious stretch of credibility. I recall that a couple of years before his death, the sales figure for Jackson's album "Thriller" was said to be 50 million, but then just before his death, the figure was at 110 million. I don't think Jackson sold 60 million additional copies of an almost three decades old album in the year or so before his death. I also recall that the record company which held the rights to the "Saturday Night Fever" and "Grease" soundtrack albums had said in the 90s that sales of those two albums had each exceeded 50 million copies worldwide, but on this list, the numbers are off by 10 and 22 million, respectively. Makes you wonder what else they could've gotten wrong. I've seen this list elsewhere but recall it was mentioned that none of the worldwide sales figures quoted had been verified as actually having sold in the amounts claimed. That makes the list more of a bragging rights list than anything else although granted some of the albums did sell in some extremely large numbers, but only the record companies and artists may know for sure what the true sales figures are.

[erik]

Quote by sliderocker:

I recall that a couple of years before his death, the sales figure for Jackson's album "Thriller" was said to be 50 million, but then just before his death, the figure was at 110 million. I don't think Jackson sold 60 million additional copies of an almost three decades old album in the year or so before his death. I also recall that the record company which held the rights to the "Saturday Night Fever" and "Grease" soundtrack albums had said in the 90s that sales of those two albums had each exceeded 50 million copies worldwide, but on this list, the numbers are off by 10 and 22 million, respectively. Makes you wonder what else they could've gotten wrong.

I'm more than a little dubious about the Thriller figures, because, not too long after the turn of the century, that album's sales were surpassed by Linda's old band the Eagles' Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975, thanks to those guys being back in the spotlight again and Jackson spiralling towards self-immolation.

With regards to Saturday Night Fever, that too is a bit iffy; but even if they were off by ten million, it would still make it the single biggest-selling soundtrack album in history (IMHO).

[cymru56]

This looks like the Wikipedia list for worldwide, cobbled together from various sources -very iffy indeed.
Erik is right about the Eagles for USA sales-I think they still top the list there.

[rick]

Jun 23, 2012 13:08:28 GMT -5 cymru56 said:

This looks like the Wikipedia list for worldwide, cobbled together from various sources -very iffy indeed.
Erik is right about the Eagles for USA sales-I think they still top the list there.

Whenever I post something, I always cite the source reporting the material, quote, news event, concert review, etc.
When Terry posted this, I noticed at the very top it said, "Source" but didn't say the name of the source.
There was no URL so we could go to where it was taken from to see the original source.
Terry, since these numbers are in question, can you please tell us where you obtained these numbers? You can also sign in, go to "Modify" and edit your original post to add that information, if you so choose.

One of the things that did stand out for me is that Adele's "21" is on this list. That is some feat considering that I believe the most recent entry before "21" was maybe around 2004. It shows the decline in people purchasing music, particularly physical CDs, and it shows the appeal of Adele. It is a bigger deal to achieve this in this day and age.

[cymru56]

It is the Wikipedia list
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_albums

[erik]

Quote by cymru56:

It is the Wikipedia list
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_albums

And it's a list one must be careful of citing for record sales (IMHO).

[sliderocker]

]I'm more than a little dubious about the Thriller figures, because, not too long after the turn of the century, that album's sales were surpassed by Linda's old band the Eagles' Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975, thanks to those guys being back in the spotlight again and Jackson spiralling towards self-immolation.

Jackson's pre-death worldwide sales were placed at 250 million but after his death was reported, that figured jumped to 750 million. What I think happened is not that Jackson's total increased by an additional 500 million albums being sold, but I think his fans and/or his record company took the dollar amount which was reported as $750 million and erased the dollar sign. Ergo, Jackson sold 750 million albums. The only trouble with that twisted logic was that Jackson should've been nowhere near broke like he was reported to be. Not with the royalty rate he was allegedly being paid. There would've been no need for him to have borrowed $200 million from a bank or be given a $30 million advance against sales of "Invincible." If he had sold 750 million albums, his income should've been well over two billion dollars before taxes and even counting the millions he spent on Neverland and his eccentricities and settling child molestation cases out of court, he still should've had enough money that he could've done just about anything he wanted. But, for as rich as he was, he was extremely close to being broke, possibly bankrupt. I remembered that word being tossed around in the days after his death along with the rumors of Jackson either offing himself or someone did it for him.

With regards to Saturday Night Fever, that too is a bit iffy; but even if they were off by ten million, it would still make it the single biggest-selling soundtrack album in history (IMHO).[/quote][/b]

It may be but I remember during the Fever-craze of '77-78 that the worldwide sales were said to be approaching 35 million, with one of the Bee Gees's coproducers saying in an interview (Playboy, I think) that the album was selling a million copies a week and that everyone was just stunned by the massive number of sales. I think it's much more believable the album could've sold an additional 15 million copies in two or three decades than "Thriller" doubling or tripling what it sold originally. Its worldwide sales originally was somewhere around 35 million, but I just can't buy an additional 75 million copies being sold since it was originally released. You want me to believe, show me the books! (Same for all extremely high albums sales; I just don't buy it because someone says it's so.)

[terryarceneaux]

I wanted to know. What music artist made the most albums in history of music.
This is what I found..
I thought it was gonna a close run with Elvis and the beatles.
I think if Elvis was still living I think there would had been more albums made......

[erik]

Lists like the one cited only cite individual albums.

In terms of overall album sales, the Beatles most likely have sold the most of any group, probably in the tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions.

And as for Elvis--well, most of us probably can't conceive of anyone ever breaking his record. His overall album sales totals are believed to be, and this is a conservative figure, close to one billion, and probably more.

[sliderocker]

Lists like the one cited only cite individual albums.

In terms of overall album sales, the Beatles most likely have sold the most of any group, probably in the tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions.

In the US, the Beatles have sold over 180,000,000 albums. That's confirmed by the RIAA. Elvis has officially sold something like 133 million albums but Elvis's true US sales total is well over 200 million. RCA claimed at the time of Girth Brooks vaulting over Elvis as the most successful male artist in the 90s that Elvis had sold 430 million albums in the US, and I saw a claim on wikipedia that it's now 600 million. There are a couple of reasons he's not credited officially with more than 200 million minimum. One reason being RCA/BMG/Sony claiming they can't find the sales books to submit to the RIAA for certification. That has always sounded a little suspicious as how can you make the claim but not have the books to back it up? I've always had a suspicion that the reason they claim they couldn't find the books is that they might have discovered Elvis was owed more in royalties pre-April 1973 than what he was paid by RCA that year for the rights to his back catalog. Unpaid royalties possibly would've negated RCA's 1973 buyout agreement and the rights to Elvis's back catalog would've reverted to his estate.

The other reason he's not certified for more than 200 million, is that apart from the above about RCA, the RIAA has no award for albums selling under 500,000. If they had an award for albums selling a minimum of 100,000 or 200,000 up to 499,999 copies, it's said RCA/BMG/Sony could submit over 220 albums (all reissues) on Elvis that all sold over 200,000 and that the majority of those albums were close to the 500,000. It's kind of ironic that the RIAA doesn't have an award recognizing sales under 500,000 as the awards they do have: the gold, the platinum and the diamond only represent albums that reach the 500,000, the 1 million and the 10 million levels respectively. If an album sells more than 500,000 but less than a million, all the artist gets is a gold record award based on 500,000 copies sold. Nothing sold over 500,000 matters until it reaches the 1 million plateau. The numbers provided by the RIAA give you a total but it's not an accurate total because it doesn't cover the sales between 500,000 and 1,000,000 and then the sales between 1,000,000 and 1,500,000 and so on. With that kind of hole, it's quite possible millions more that could be added to an artist's total are being missed. In Elvis's case, it could be in the tens of millions because he has more gold and platinum records than anyone else.

And as for Elvis--well, most of us probably can't conceive of anyone ever breaking his record. His overall album sales totals are believed to be, and this is a conservative figure, close to one billion, and probably more.

Last story I heard - unconfirmed but reported on radio - was that Elvis's worldwide album sales had exceeded two billion and that that had happened sometimes in the early 2000s. The Beatles were somewhere over a billion themselves. I doubt the Beatles will ever catch up to Elvis as they have always tightly controlled their catalog. RCA/BMG/Sony has recycled Elvis's catalog into various reissue after reissue in addition to reissuing the original albums. One can argue about the ethics of RCA/BMG/Sony but if the sales weren't there, they wouldn't be doing it. I cringed with embarrassment with regard to the Christmas duets album and the Cirque de Soleil treatment of Elvis's recordings as I thought both were a travesty to Elvis as an artist. But, lousy thing is, they sold well and it looks like we're in for another round of duets, put together by Clive Davis with the approval of Elvis's daughter, Lisa, and her mother, Priscilla Greed. Maybe Davis could talk Linda into coming out of retirement to record a couple of duets officially. Next to Lisa, she was the only one worthy enough to sing with the King!

[terryarceneaux]

you can learn a lot here