Best selling artists, albums and singles of all-time

Albums Ranking – CSPC – #1 per year

This list is about the most successful albums per release year (understand “which have generated the most sales”). The figures are given in EAS (equivalent album sales).

Please keep in mind that some artists are missing, because their analysis has not been done yet. The complete list is available here. All figures reflect the value as collected at the time of the artist’s respective articles.

Year	Cover	Artist	Album	Album Streams EAS
1956		Elvis Presley	Elvis Presley	7,812,000
1957		Elvis Presley	Elvis' Christmas Album	36,032,000
1958		Elvis Presley	King Creole	3,771,000
1959		Elvis Presley	A Date with Elvis	2,084,000
1960		Elvis Presley	G.I. Blues	4,372,000
1961		Elvis Presley	Blue Hawaii	30,157,000
1962		Elvis Presley	Girls! Girls! Girls!	3,540,000
1963		The Beatles	Please Please Me	30,922,000
1964		The Beatles	A Hard Day's Night	28,623,000
1965		The Beatles	Help!	34,301,000
1966		Simon & Garfunkel	Sounds of Silence	26,470,000
1967		The Doors	The Doors	39,667,000
1968		The Beatles	The Beatles (White Album)	29,733,000
1969		The Beatles	Abbey Road	45,454,000
1970		Simon & Garfunkel	Bridge over Troubled Water	45,993,000
1971		Led Zeppelin	Led Zeppelin IV	58,536,000
1972		Deep Purple	Machine Head	35,434,000
1973		Pink Floyd	The Dark Side of the Moon	57,619,000
1974		Barbra Streisand	The Way We Were	14,861,000
1975		Queen	A Night at the Opera	42,304,000
1976		Eagles	Hotel California	72,260,000
1977		Bee Gees & Various Artists	Saturday Night Fever	69,527,000
1978		Various Artists	Grease	53,445,000
1979		Pink Floyd	The Wall	52,914,000
1980		AC/DC	Back in Black	61,130,000
1981		Journey	Escape	34,123,000
1982		Michael Jackson	Thriller	120,278,000
1983		The Police	Synchronicity	37,538,000
1984		Bruce Springsteen	Born in the U.S.A.	48,824,000
1985		Dire Straits	Brothers in Arms	46,915,000
1986		Bon Jovi	Slippery When Wet	52,202,000
1987		Michael Jackson	Bad	65,093,000
1988		Tracy Chapman	Tracy Chapman	27,935,000
1989		Phil Collins	?But Seriously	30,379,000
1990		Garth Brooks	No Fences	34,014,000
1991		Nirvana	Nevermind	57,502,000
1992		Whitney Houston	The Bodyguard	55,027,000
1993		Mariah Carey	Music Box	34,611,000
1994		Green Day	Dookie	27,394,000
1995		Alanis Morissette	Jagged Little Pill	42,313,000
1996		Céline Dion	Falling Into You	42,648,000
1997		Céline Dion	Let's Talk About Love	46,837,000
1998		Madonna	Ray Of Light	21,427,000
1999		Britney Spears	?Baby One More Time	32,470,000
2000		Linkin Park	Hybrid Theory	34,863,000
2001		Shakira	Laundry Service	17,577,000
2002		Eminem	The Eminem Show	35,850,000
2003		Evanescence	Fallen	23,986,000
2004		Green Day	American Idiot	23,028,000
2005		Nickelback	All the Right Reasons	18,860,000
2006		Amy Winehouse	Back To Black	24,535,000
2007		Rihanna	Good Girl Gone Bad	22,391,000
2008		Lady Gaga	The Fame / The Fame Monster	37,779,000
2009		Black Eyed Peas	The E.N.D.	19,740,000
2010		Bruno Mars	Doo-Wops & Hooligans	24,627,000
2011		Adele	21	49,599,000
2012		Taylor Swift	Red	20,383,000
2013		Various Artists	Frozen	21,063,000
2014		Ed Sheeran	x (Multiply)	25,237,000
2015		Adele	25	30,697,000
2016		Drake	Views	13,415,000
2017		Ed Sheeran	÷ (Divide)	28,477,000
2018		Post Malone	Beerbongs & Bentleys	13,761,000
2019		Billie Eilish	When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?	14,861,000
2020		Dua Lipa	Future Nostalgia	13,052,000
2021		Olivia Rodrigo	Sour	11,081,000
2022		Bad Bunny	Un Verano Sin Ti	10,229,000