Best selling artists, albums and singles of all-time

Artists Ranking – CSPC – Total per decade

Here is the sum of all the value released by the artists during each decade. 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.

1950s
1. Elvis Presley – 127,149,000

1960s
1. The Beatles – 376,924,000
2. Elvis Presley – 131,658,000
3. The Rolling Stones – 110,801,000
4. Simon & Garfunkel – 89,796,000
5. Jimi Hendrix – 81,562,000
6. Bob Dylan – 72,934,000
7. The Doors – 72,455,000
8. Led Zeppelin – 57,592,000
9. Creedence Clearwater Revival – 52,246,000
10. Cream – 42,180,000
11. Barbra Streisand – 31,384,000
12. Johnny Hallyday – 29,793,000
13. Bee Gees – 27,358,000
14. Pink Floyd – 21,773,000
15. Stevie Wonder – 17,580,000
16. Santana – 16,834,000
17. The Yardbirds – 16,479,000
18. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – 15,461,000
19. Cher – 14,854,000
20. Fleetwood Mac – 14,807,000
21. Jackson 5 & The Jacksons – 13,281,000
22. Buffalo Springfield – 11,061,000
23. Blind Faith – 10,084,000
24. Deep Purple – 9,968,000
25. Eric Clapton – 9,071,000

1970s
1. Pink Floyd – 171,695,000
2. Eagles – 163,422,000
3. Led Zeppelin – 138,828,000
4. Queen – 129,623,000
5. Elton John – 129,344,000
6. Abba – 125,972,000
7. Rod Stewart & Faces – 108,674,000
8. Bob Marley – 107,997,000
9. Bee Gees – 104,914,000
10. Eric Clapton – 102,360,000
11. Fleetwood Mac – 95,398,000
12. Santana – 75,660,000
13. The Rolling Stones – 73,368,000
14. Billy Joel – 72,103,000
15. Deep Purple – 70,557,000
16. David Bowie – 68,914,000
17. AC/DC – 67,824,000
18. Paul McCartney – 65,482,000
19. Stevie Wonder – 63,036,000
20. Black Sabbath – 62,946,000
21. Aerosmith – 60,765,000
22. Supertramp – 58,979,000
23. Barbra Streisand – 57,359,000
24. Elvis Presley – 54,499,000
25. Neil Young – 53,662,000

1980s
1. Michael Jackson – 181,681,000
2. Madonna – 131,613,000
3. Phil Collins – 119,105,000
4. U2 – 111,861,000
5. Queen – 107,789,000
6. Prince – 93,149,000
7. AC/DC – 84,857,000
8. Bruce Springsteen – 82,382,000
9. Bon Jovi – 79,146,000
10. George Michael & Wham! – 69,617,000
11. Dire Straits – 67,720,000
12. The Police – 64,978,000
13. Metallica – 64,948,000
14. Iron Maiden – 62,620,000
15. Billy Joel – 62,280,000
16. Journey – 61,102,000
17. Van Halen – 60,076,000
18. Guns N’ Roses – 58,419,000
19. Whitney Houston – 56,494,000
20. Genesis – 49,465,000
21. Sade – 46,991,000
22. Bryan Adams – 46,495,000
23. Barbra Streisand – 43,186,000
24. The Rolling Stones – 37,912,000
25. Elton John – 37,330,000

1990s
1. Céline Dion – 160,090,000
2. Mariah Carey – 144,462,000
3. Garth Brooks – 108,309,000
4. Whitney Houston – 88,381,000
5. Nirvana – 80,179,000
6. Michael Jackson – 78,755,000
7. Metallica – 75,261,000
8. Backstreet Boys – 74,905,000
9. Madonna – 66,562,000
10. Shania Twain – 65,863,000
11. 2Pac – 63,581,000
12. R.E.M. – 57,546,000
13. Guns N’ Roses – 56,524,000
14. Red Hot Chili Peppers – 55,552,000
15. Alanis Morissette – 50,237,000
16. Oasis – 47,347,000
17. Spice Girls – 47,339,000
18. Green Day – 44,616,000
19. The Cranberries – 42,810,000
20. U2 – 42,021,000
21. TLC – 38,447,000
22. Sting – 37,855,000
23. Bon Jovi – 37,185,000
24. Bryan Adams – 36,037,000
25. Aerosmith – 35,248,000

2000s
1. Eminem – 126,736,000
2. Linkin Park – 67,608,000
3. Coldplay – 67,474,000
4. Britney Spears – 62,135,000
5. Beyoncé – 57,645,000
6. P!nk – 53,652,000
7. Norah Jones – 48,153,000
8. Robbie Williams – 47,775,000
9. Nickelback – 46,375,000
10. Black Eyed Peas – 45,631,000
11. Alicia Keys – 43,142,000
12. Michael Bublé – 42,346,000
13. Ayumi Hamasaki – 40,263,000
14. Rihanna – 39,242,000
15. U2 – 38,338,000
16. Madonna – 37,931,000
17. Avril Lavigne – 36,931,000
18. Lady Gaga – 35,949,000
19. Usher – 34,775,000
20. Shakira – 34,227,000
21. Justin Timberlake – 33,379,000
22. Taylor Swift – 32,516,000
23. Green Day – 32,386,000
24. Miley Cyrus – 28,856,000
25. Evanescence – 28,339,000

2010s
1. Adele – 81,031,000
2. Taylor Swift – 80,268,000
3. Drake – 76,930,000
4. Ed Sheeran – 74,469,000
5. BTS – 74,141,000
6. Justin Bieber – 69,239,000
7. Rihanna – 57,503,000
8. Bruno Mars – 52,339,000
9. One Direction – 44,466,000
10. Eminem – 43,251,000
11. Ariana Grande – 43,206,000
12. The Weeknd – 41,509,000
13. Maroon 5 – 37,803,000
14. Katy Perry – 35,012,000
15. Kendrick Lamar – 34,977,000
16. Coldplay – 32,644,000
17. Beyoncé – 30,855,000
18. Lady Gaga – 30,122,000
19. Travis Scott – 30,032,000
20. Post Malone – 28,844,000
21. Lana Del Rey – 28,163,000
22. Billie Eilish – 27,814,000
23. Bad Bunny – 25,634,000
24. P!nk – 24,712,000
25. Imagine Dragons – 24,676,000

2020s
1. BTS – 30,972,000
2. Taylor Swift – 20,341,000
3. Bad Bunny – 18,956,000
4. The Weeknd – 17,268,000
5. Justin Bieber – 16,420,000
6. Olivia Rodrigo – 10,464,000
7. Dua Lipa – 10,083,000
8. Doja Cat – 9,379,000
9. Juice Wrld – 6,546,000
10. Blackpink – 6,373,000
11. Adele – 6,058,000
12. Ariana Grande – 5,999,000
13. Lil Nas X – 5,829,000
14. Billie Eilish – 5,658,000
15. Drake – 5,150,000
16. Eminem – 3,597,000
17. Travis Scott – 3,045,000
18. Lady Gaga – 2,249,000
19. Cardi B – 1,991,000
20. Selena Gomez – 1,958,000
21. Ed Sheeran – 1,740,000
22. Lana Del Rey – 1,402,000