Albums Ranking – Raw sales – Studio albums
This list is about studio albums only. Compilations, lives and box sets are not considered here. 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. 1982 – Michael Jackson – Thriller – 65,800,000
2. 1973 – Pink Floyd – The Dark Side of the Moon – 43,300,000
3. 1992 – Whitney Houston – The Bodyguard – 41,100,000
4. 1978 – Various Artists – Grease – 38,100,000
5. 1971 – Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin IV – 36,800,000
6. 1980 – AC/DC – Back in Black – 35,810,000
7. 1977 – Fleetwood Mac – Rumours – 35,500,000
8. 1977 – Bee Gees & Various Artists – Saturday Night Fever – 34,800,000
9. 1987 – Michael Jackson – Bad – 33,600,000
10. 1995 – Alanis Morissette – Jagged Little Pill – 33,570,000
11. 1997 – Shania Twain – Come On Over – 33,500,000
12. 1979 – Pink Floyd – The Wall – 31,300,000
13. 1985 – Dire Straits – Brothers in Arms – 30,850,000
14. 1991 – Metallica – Metallica – 30,790,000
15. 1987 – Guns N’ Roses – Appetite For Destruction – 30,770,000
16. 2011 – Adele – 21 – 30,140,000
17. 1976 – Eagles – Hotel California – 30,050,000
18. 1987 – Dirty Dancing – Dirty Dancing – 29,970,000
19. 1997 – Céline Dion – Let’s Talk About Love – 29,800,000
20. 1991 – Michael Jackson – Dangerous – 29,550,000
21. 1984 – Bruce Springsteen – Born in the U.S.A. – 29,300,000
22. 1997 – James Horner – Titanic – 28,510,000
23. 1996 – Céline Dion – Falling Into You – 28,100,000
24. 1991 – Nirvana – Nevermind – 27,750,000
25. 1977 – Meat Loaf – Bat Out of Hell – 27,410,000
26. 1987 – U2 – The Joshua Tree – 26,800,000
27. 1969 – The Beatles – Abbey Road – 26,700,000
28. 1993 – Mariah Carey – Music Box – 26,100,000
29. 1999 – Santana – Supernatural – 25,990,000
30. 1967 – The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band – 24,800,000
31. 2002 – Norah Jones – Come Away With Me – 23,900,000
32. 1999 – Backstreet Boys – Millennium – 23,800,000
33. 1999 – Britney Spears – …Baby One More Time – 23,735,000
34. 1986 – Bon Jovi – Slippery When Wet – 23,600,000
35. 1985 – Phil Collins – No Jacket Required – 23,310,000
36. 2000 – Eminem – The Marshall Mathers LP – 23,290,000
37. 1984 – Prince and the Revolutions – Purple Rain – 23,030,000
38. 2002 – Eminem – The Eminem Show – 22,950,000
39. 1986 – Madonna – True Blue – 22,550,000
40. 1988 – Tracy Chapman – Tracy Chapman – 22,470,000
41. 1976 – Boston – Boston – 22,430,000
42. 1975 – Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here – 22,300,000
43. 1996 – Spice Girls – Spice – 21,900,000
43. 1985 – Whitney Houston – Whitney Houston – 21,900,000
43. 1969 – Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin II – 21,900,000
46. 1984 – Madonna – Like A Virgin – 21,250,000
47. 1989 – Phil Collins – …But Seriously – 20,810,000
48. 2000 – Linkin Park – Hybrid Theory – 20,800,000
49. 2015 – Adele – 25 – 20,410,000
50. 1995 – Mariah Carey – Daydream – 19,900,000
51. 1987 – Whitney Houston – Whitney – 19,800,000
52. 1994 – Green Day – Dookie – 19,750,000
53. 1970 – Simon & Garfunkel – Bridge over Troubled Water – 19,580,000
54. 1979 – Michael Jackson – Off the Wall – 19,425,000
55. 1968 – The Beatles – The Beatles (White Album) – 19,000,000
56. 2000 – Britney Spears – Oops!… I Did It Again – 18,935,000
57. 1987 – George Michael – Faith – 18,850,000
58. 1991 – Guns N’ Roses – Use Your Illusion II – 18,800,000
59. 1995 – Michael Jackson – HIStory: Past, Present and Future – 18,625,000
60. 1991 – Guns N’ Roses – Use Your Illusion I – 18,010,000
61. 1995 – No Doubt – Tragic Kingdom – 17,870,000
62. 1994 – The Cranberries – No Need to Argue – 17,840,000
63. 1973 – Led Zeppelin – Houses Of The Holy – 17,700,000
64. 1995 – Oasis – (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? – 17,660,000
65. 1991 – U2 – Achtung Baby – 17,500,000
66. 1979 – Supertramp – Breakfast in America – 16,760,000
67. 2003 – Evanescence – Fallen – 16,730,000
68. 1990 – Garth Brooks – No Fences – 16,640,000
69. 1993 – Céline Dion – The Colour Of My Love – 16,600,000
70. 1996 – Fugees – The Score – 16,525,000
71. 1999 – Red Hot Chili Peppers – Californication – 16,270,000
72. 2002 – Avril Lavigne – Let Go – 16,220,000
73. 1995 – Shania Twain – The Woman in Me – 16,000,000
73. 1998 – Madonna – Ray Of Light – 16,000,000
75. 2006 – Amy Winehouse – Back To Black – 15,940,000
76. 1994 – TLC – CrazySexyCool – 15,900,000
77. 1988 – Metallica – …And Justice For All – 15,840,000
78. 1969 – Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin I – 15,800,000
79. 2008 – Lady Gaga – The Fame / The Fame Monster – 15,745,000
80. 1981 – Phil Collins – Face Value – 15,640,000
81. 1998 – Lauryn Hill – The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill – 15,610,000
82. 1983 – Various Artists – Flashdance – 15,590,000
83. 1978 – Van Halen – Van Halen – 15,575,000
84. 2004 – Usher – Confessions – 15,500,000
85. 1984 – Van Halen – 1984 – 15,440,000
86. 1977 – Billy Joel – The Stranger – 15,300,000
86. 2000 – NSYNC – No Strings Attached – 15,300,000
88. 2004 – Green Day – American Idiot – 15,250,000
89. 1979 – AC/DC – Highway to Hell – 15,150,000
90. 1983 – The Police – Synchronicity – 15,050,000
91. 1986 – Paul Simon – Graceland – 14,570,000
92. 1999 – Dido – No Angel – 14,460,000
93. 1991 – Red Hot Chili Peppers – Blood Sugar Sex Magik – 14,430,000
93. 2000 – Enya – A Day Without Rain – 14,430,000
95. 1965 – The Beatles – Rubber Soul – 14,400,000
96. 1989 – Madonna – Like A Prayer – 14,275,000
97. 1990 – Mariah Carey – Mariah Carey – 14,050,000
98. 1984 – Wham! – Make It Big – 14,000,000
99. 1986 – Metallica – Master Of Puppets – 13,980,000
100. 1997 – Spice Girls – Spiceworld – 13,950,000
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
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
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