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. 1969 – Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin II – 21,900,000
43. 1985 – Whitney Houston – Whitney Houston – 21,900,000
43. 1996 – Spice Girls – Spice – 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. 1998 – Madonna – Ray Of Light – 16,000,000
73. 1995 – Shania Twain – The Woman in Me – 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. 1972 – Neil Young – Harvest – 15,325,000
87. 1977 – Billy Joel – The Stranger – 15,300,000
87. 2000 – NSYNC – No Strings Attached – 15,300,000
89. 2004 – Green Day – American Idiot – 15,250,000
90. 1979 – AC/DC – Highway to Hell – 15,150,000
91. 1983 – The Police – Synchronicity – 15,050,000
92. 1970 – Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – Déjà Vu – 14,600,000
93. 1986 – Paul Simon – Graceland – 14,570,000
94. 1999 – Dido – No Angel – 14,460,000
95. 1991 – Red Hot Chili Peppers – Blood Sugar Sex Magik – 14,430,000
95. 2000 – Enya – A Day Without Rain – 14,430,000
97. 1965 – The Beatles – Rubber Soul – 14,400,000
98. 1989 – Madonna – Like A Prayer – 14,275,000
99. 1990 – Mariah Carey – Mariah Carey – 14,050,000
100. 1984 – Wham! – Make It Big – 14,000,000
Hey chartmasters, June 26 marks the ariana grande’s 28th anniversary. She sets major records in the music industry and is one of the most successful female artist of all time.
In celebration of that can u please update her career sales and streaming total?
She might be in the future but dont think she is right now. In this list alone there are 24 women above her. And that doesnt include acts that havent been studied yet like Diana Ross, Olivia Newton John, Donna Summer, etc. Which would probably pass her too.
Hej. MJD did a comprehensive analysis of Bob Dylan’s sales 20/10.2016, week after Dylan won the Nobel literature prize, background work had probably been done over the years.
The Nobel is the prestigious award in the world. Dylan climbed in one fell swoop with Faulkner, Heminway, Steinbeck, into heavy weight series.
Dylan is said to have earned royalties up to $20 million per year, much from cover versions, Feel my love, Watchtower, Heavens door..
It would be nice to have an estimate of Dylan own current sales.
In “Discogs” Dylan is “most collected” artist before Beatles and David Bowie.
https://chartmasters.org/2016/10/cspc-bob-dylan-popularity-analysis/
Isn’t this his sales?
I don’t think it would’ve changed by a significant amount since 2016. Especially coz streams are automatically updated.
That gets $ 15-20 million royalties per year, needs to sell quite nicely. Dylan made biggest deal ever 12/2020, amount was 400 $ million only publishing rights. Premium-rate stuff. Hardly record company charity does.
“Update Bob Dylan” is better than “Update Ariana Grande”, that said I don’t see why he should be a priority over The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd…etc.
I think an update on legacy acts should be done when an artist’s total rises enough to ensure a rise of a couple of places (or just 1 in the top 10) on the all-time best sellers list or a significant rise for a huge album. That would allow Fleetwood Mac (Rumours!), AC/DC, Bob Marley or maybe Nirvana or Oasis to be updated sooner than Beatles, Floyd or Zep, although I would like to see them be updated as well
Let me tell you one thing. Led Zeppelin royalties 2011-2016 was 58,5 dollars to 12 million per year. That is 5 year. Dylan royalties was up to 20 million per year. Many of the bands you mentions are dead. Dylan “Rough ways” realisead last year and was number one in USA, UK, Germany.. really global success. Dylan still going strong.
I’m not denying this (haven’t said anything about Dylan), but in absolute numbers, he’s not increasing that much and doesn’t have really big albums to be updated, that’s all
So he had one album last year that sold, what, 300k ? Who cares, albums like Dark Side Of The Moon, Abbey Road or Rumours sell more than that every year, not to mention their massive streaming numbers.
And Led Zeppelin’s catalog is obviously much more popular than Dylan’s. Those “$58.5m in royalties” have to do with Stairway To Heaven, and as you said yourself Dylan’s royalties have a lot to do with covers (Adele, Hendrix, Guns N Roses…etc.).
Red Hot Chilly Peppers sold publishing rights to Hipgnosis Merck Mercuriadis, most hated man business (cause he pay more than others). Chilly Peppers royalties per year was 5-6 million dollars and normal factor is 5-20, but they got 23, and 23×6= 140 million dollars. And remember Led Zeppelin annual royalties is average 12 million dollars. I looked through the European album charts. +UK and Germany, France, Netherland, Italy, Spain Sweden almost every country. Led Zeppelin last entries end just in 2016. Zeppelin Oricon charts was very strong and records was big, expencive boxs. Oasis, almost nothing but Music Week’s UK… Read more »
ok
wayyy too wrong. Dark Horse sold less than Hot N Cold and I Kissed a Girl 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 Adele with the best-selling single, even digitally, in 2017 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
https://chartmasters.org/2019/06/katy-perry-albums-and-songs-sales/
Actually no. Dark horse is bigger than hot n cold as per this website. Also Dark Horse is still growing faster than Hot N Cold and it will only move further and bigger than Hot N Cold. Plus, according to Youtube views. I Kissed A Girl total official video youtube views all 220 million while Hot N Cold are at 1 billion already. So if anybody is wrong here it is u.