Artists Ranking – Physical Singles Sales
The figures given here are units sold.
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.
1. Elvis Presley – 135,210,000 units (as of Sep 2018)
2. The Beatles – 116,080,000 units (as of Mar 2017)
3. Michael Jackson – 79,350,000 units (as of Sep 2017)
4. Madonna – 75,210,000 units (as of Aug 2017)
5. Bee Gees – 72,790,000 units (as of Apr 2017)
6. The Rolling Stones – 72,770,000 units (as of Dec 2016)
7. Elton John – 65,340,000 units (as of Feb 2018)
8. Stevie Wonder – 65,320,000 units (as of Mar 2021)
9. Paul McCartney – 57,970,000 units (as of Dec 2018)
10. Rod Stewart & Faces – 55,220,000 units (as of Nov 2019)
11. ABBA – 54,400,000 units (as of Nov 2016)
12. Queen – 49,960,000 units (as of Jan 2020)
13. George Michael & Wham! – 49,880,000 units (as of May 2017)
14. Whitney Houston – 49,520,000 units (as of May 2017)
15. Cher – 46,220,000 units (as of Aug 2017)
16. David Bowie – 44,200,000 units (as of Jan 2017)
17. Johnny Hallyday – 43,740,000 units (as of Jan 2018)
18. Prince – 42,910,000 units (as of Oct 2018)
19. Janet Jackson – 40,640,000 units (as of Apr 2017)
20. Céline Dion – 39,290,000 units (as of Sep 2016)
21. Billy Joel – 36,900,000 units (as of Oct 2016)
22. Mariah Carey – 36,890,000 units (as of Apr 2017)
23. Barbra Streisand – 35,250,000 units (as of Mar 2018)
24. Bryan Adams – 32,090,000 units (as of Mar 2019)
25. Jackson 5 & The Jacksons – 31,160,000 units (as of Sep 2017)
26. Phil Collins – 29,910,000 units (as of Apr 2018)
27. Bon Jovi – 27,980,000 units (as of Nov 2016)
28. John Lennon – 26,780,000 units (as of Oct 2018)
29. Fleetwood Mac – 26,060,000 units (as of Oct 2016)
30. Ayumi Hamasaki – 25,980,000 units (as of Sep 2019)
31. Simon & Garfunkel – 23,830,000 units (as of May 2018)
32. The Police – 23,810,000 units (as of Jun 2020)
33. Creedence Clearwater Revival – 22,570,000 units (as of Jan 2019)
34. U2 – 22,550,000 units (as of Aug 2016)
35. Bruce Springsteen – 21,010,000 units (as of Jul 2017)
36. Spice Girls – 20,020,000 units (as of Mar 2017)
37. Kylie Minogue – 19,720,000 units (as of Apr 2018)
38. Britney Spears – 18,600,000 units (as of Apr 2019)
39. Backstreet Boys – 18,010,000 units (as of Feb 2017)
40. Bob Dylan – 17,680,000 units (as of Oct 2016)
41. Eagles – 16,630,000 units (as of Dec 2017)
42. Sting – 16,010,000 units (as of Jun 2020)
43. Aerosmith – 15,500,000 units (as of Jun 2018)
44. Metallica – 15,480,000 units (as of Feb 2019)
45. Santana – 15,380,000 units (as of Aug 2020)
46. Eminem – 14,380,000 units (as of Jul 2019)
47. The Doors – 13,860,000 units (as of Mar 2019)
48. Shania Twain – 13,130,000 units (as of Dec 2016)
49. TLC – 13,120,000 units (as of Apr 2019)
50. Paul Simon – 12,820,000 units (as of May 2018)
I don’t believe Metallica’s Black album has outsold Guns ‘n’ Roses Appetite for Destruction.
Thank you for your contribution.
Will Taylor‘s rerecordings make her the winner in the race for the 100 Million in the 21st century?
Nah eminem has sold more records
Eminem debuted in the 90s though
Bahaha what!? Taylor has sold more Albums & Digital Singles than Eminem just in the US ALONE!
RIAA Certified Albums:
Eminem – 64.5m
Taylor – 64m (and that’s not including Any Album sales from 2018 to Today, Big Machine refuses to have them audited or allow her to she’s been due to pass him for years they’ve been back to back unmoving)
RIAA Digital Singles:
Taylor – 134m (3rd most and again without any sales from 2018 to Today and she is due for more diamond certifications)
Eminem – 107.5m (6th he’s recieved certification in 2020 & 2021)
Eminem has 20m plus us albums yet to be certified
Certifications are out of date for most artists. Labels have to choose to update them, and most don’t. It’s not automatic like in some countries. So certifications only show the MINIMUM sales of an artists, not the total sales.
I think Coldplay and Rihanna were already over 100 Million before her
if you update the pure sales of the 3 of them Taylor Swift is already at 100m while Coldplay and Rihanna are around 99.5m currently
This is over 4yrs old so
Eminem obviously crushed everybody during the 21st century with 175 million EAS. Then you have Coldplay, Rihanna and Taylor with a respectable total of 100 million.
Is there any act who could break the top 5 best selling digital single artist? Maybe Kanye West?? In top 10 maybe Nicki Minaj?
If you have time, please update Blackpink’s! It’s been quite a while since the last update. Thank you!
I think they haven’t been studied since not that many album releases yet and there are obviously older acts who sold more and are in need to be studied more. It would be cool if they were added though, since they are pretty big when it comes to streaming
Shouldn’t Sting and The Police totals be combined ? Considering “Rod Stewart & Faces”, “George Michael & Wham”, Bon Jovi’s total including Jon’s solo album… I mean, Sting basically WAS The Police, writing the songs and singing them.
I disagree they are two distinct and separate acts, I also disagree with Rod Stewart & Faces being combined.
I think Bon Jovi is different because Jon’s album sold because he was in Bon Jovi and all they did was add three letter before the bands name.
And its impossible to split George Michael and Wham! because there are solo Michael works on Wham! albums and George Michael compilations that dont contain Wham! songs still contain those songs
Was wondering have you guys considered adding a devoted page to a running list of best-selling compilation albums for artists that have been studied? Would be nice to have as a reference since they get excluded out from the Studio Albums page.
And now Paul Simon has sold publishing rights to Sony’s for 200 $ million. Fleetwood Mac (Lyndsey Buckinham and Steve Nicks), Richie Sambora (Bon Jovis), Dylan, Neil Young, Ryan Tedder (200 $ million) and now P.Simon and many others songwrites have recieved hundres million dollars in compensation for their work. Biggest deal at this time Bob Dylan’s 400 $ millions. But i think that Madonna and many others pop singers finds difficult to sell her or his music, cause of the songwrites as many as ten. Beyonce Lemonades record had about 40 authors(! )said Hipgnosis founder Merck Mercuriadis. The authentic… Read more »
Business is changing. Hipgnosis founder Merck Mercuriadis has been great gift to songwriters, who are most important in the business. Spotify payment to artists and expecially the songwrites is non-existent. Now Dylan, Young, Paul Simon, Calvin Harris, Ryan Tedder, Fleerwood Mac, Shakira and dozens others got a decent reward for their work. 80-400 $ million ballpark. Spotify is rude and the most important thing for them is to make money. Founder Daniel Ek net worth 4,5 billion dollars and his friends in Spotify are billionaires too. This seam was struck by this Mr. Mercuradius. For him music is most important… Read more »
I would like do you all count/esitmate Apple Music US streaming data, because it’s A LOT of affect for US charts?
Hi Tommy!
There’s an article on them already. Of course it would be great to include them, but it’s their choice to hide their numbers.
i think Lana needs an update… she released two albums since her article was last updated