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But can we call him a legend even when he hasnt really had extraordinary sales? i mean i know he currently ranks 9th best selling music artists ever and has total eas of nearly 200 million but again, he also released more than 35 albums.
Even Prince who has a lower total is being considered as a legend. I cant blame people saying Elton John is a legend cos at least his total eas shows it but Prince for me isnt.
And i agree with Justin Bieber saying Prince is not the last living legend and people were mad at Bieber about his comment even if what Justin said was true. We still have Celine and Mariah and if you dont consider them legends, then definitely you would agree that Madonna is a legend and still living.
MJD, so if we actually include Candle In The Wind for Queen Diana's death then, then Elton John should have reached more than 200 million EAS right?
Also i thought Skyline Pigeon is one of his bestselling singles. I was wrong.
MJD, you included 'Somebody to Love' live, 1993 – (400,000) in the Queen's physical Singles sales. This version was played at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, and was performed by George Michael. The track was released on an EP called Five Live (George Michael and Queen). If this version of 'Somebody to Love' is included in Queen's CSPC, then maybe Elton's version of CIDW from the 1997 should also be included in the Elton's CSPC as well?
I think AC/DC may have a shot at 200 million! Only them and Elvis are left. There are sources on the net that say AC/DC sold more albums than Queen, U2 or The Stones. It's gonna be close folks! Prepare for a surprise!
The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, Brian May, AC/DC, Metallica, Guns N Roses, Paul McCartney, Aerosmith, Dave Gilmour, Roger Waters, Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana, Black Sabbath. These guys are living legends!
I also think Candle in the Wind (the charity single) should be included in Elton John's total. It may be an outlier and not truly reflective of his popularity but Elton's popularity coupled with his musical ability in co-writing the song and adjusting the lyrics helped it sell 30 million copies. If that song had been recorded by any other singer (Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney, David Bowie, George Michael, Billy Joel, Liam Gallagher etc) it would not have sold any where near that number. The original was written about Marilyn Monroe and this version adapted for Lady Di, both women who were victims of hierarchal systems. This contributed greatly to the impact and sales of the Lady Di version. Elton is at 205 million for me.
I can see why MJD didnt include sales of the Titanic album soundtrack to Celine Dion's name but not including Candle In The Wind to Elton John's is definitely unacceptable.
Every generation has own legends/idols, whether we like it or not. For many (older) people the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Elton John...e.g. are not a true legends, but Fats Domino, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Muddy Waters....Legends never Die! 🙂
But Billboard awarded Celine the soundtrack's album of year award , and receive name also wrote her
You have a point. The Bodyguard sales was added to Whitney Houston's sales. And since Kevin Costner's name is also on the album cover, then Kevin Costner should also share the sales with Whitney.
I point Billboard recognizeed Titanic soundtrack as Celine's album, present award to her: the name refer to the award
https://www.billboardmusicawards.com/winners-database/?winnerKeyword=&winnerYear=1998&winnerCategory=
1998 Album of the Year
Celine Dion “Titanic”
1998 Soundtrack Album of the Year
Celine Dion “Titanic”
Hi QueenBarbra!
Come, let's get real, nobody really serious credits Titanic as a Celine Dion album. The BMA are no authority and the Billboard themselves always ranked Titanic as a 'Soundtrack' album with no mention to Celine 😉
Hi RLAAMJR!
Why so? It is a charity product before being a music single. You are a big fan of Celine - you say it is unfair to remove CITW 1997 (since all other versions are included) into Elton's tally. Do you think it is fair to delete 100% of Celine's singles sales? Because allowing 30m singles sales just like that to one artist, only because he was the original singer of the song used for the biggest charity event of the 90s, is exactly the same as taking off 30m to every other artist, in other words it is the same as discounting all singles sales of artists like Celine or Mariah which sounds very wrong to me!
Hi RLAAMJR!
How can it not be extraordinary? It isn't enough to pile albums to reach 200m. To get up to 35 albums you already need to be a legend. It isn't easy to get a contract to get global releases, let alone 35 different ones. Look at recent albums of stars from 15 years ago, they are barely adding a thing to their career to date total. It takes success to make a new release valuable, especially when you aren't on your hey-days anymore.
If Elton is legend with 35 albums, then what to say about Frank Zappa? Frank Zappa has released 119 albums! 100 studio albums, 13 compilations and 6 rock operas. MJD can you imagine the time needed for Zappa's CSPC? 🙂
To confirm all doubts, here are the top selling album artists in Australia for artists studied so far, with figures provided by MJD:
1. ABBA 5,705,000
2. Elton John 5,440,000
3. The Beatles 5,377,000
4. MJ 5,360,000 (without J5, who sold 1,100,000)
These 4 artists are the only artists studied so far that have crossed the impressive 5m mark. AC/DC are real contenders to top this list with certs at over 6m, though they are sometimes often misleading. Artists below the list who crossed 4m include Pink Floyd (4,82m), Billy Joel (4,63m) and Madonna (4,36m)
As for Elton, what is most intriguing is that he doesn't have a huge selling album (relatively speaking) compared to the other artists on this list, though his consistency there is truly magnificent! His biggest selling studio album there (GYBR) is "only" at 350K, but he managed to achieve platinum albums even when he was doing poorly in the main markets. And while he was achieving platinum albums in the 80's and 90's in the US, most of them were 3XP or close in Australia. His compilations are definitely better sellers, but even the biggest of them (TVBO 1990) sold "only 550K, while MJ, Madonna, Mariah etc. all achieved 10XP sellers despite totals falling behind Elton. To summarize, Elton remained relevant and sold decent to good numbers in Australia for a very long time, accumulating to the great total everyone is talking!
Hi RLAAMJR!
With all due respect, although this is a site about charts and sales, the matter of a fact is that legendary status is not solely based on commercial success. As MJD pointed out, having a vast catalog and being able to produce music for so long is a proof of a long lasting appeal of an artist.
Moreover, aside from commercial success, legendary status, while subjective sometimes, is also based on a mix of cultural impact, longevity, artistic influences etc. Take MJ as an example, when people think of the legacy of Thriller, most would not automatically think of its sales or success first, but the cultural impact and innovative videos of the album. Most people would also think of the legacy of Michael as a groundbreaking performer with influence on practically every artist that debuted after him than his legacy as a best selling act. In fact, a "legendary music seller" is rarely heard than a "legendary artist", because the latter is the more important aspect.
Prince, Mariah, Celine, Elton etc, all of them can be considered legends as they have all been in the game for so long and have laid the foundation for many artists of today, and they were all successful before. I hope you may respect the legacy of these artists, especially that of one who passed away not that long ago using a claim from a relatively new artist. Only time can tell whether Justin on any artist from this generation will be considered legend in the future, but as of right now, the case is very obvious.
Hi RLAAMJR!
I assume you're talking about the units showed on page 85.
Firstly. those numbers refer to success of the song rather than sales (meaning using ratios in the analysis to calculate the success of a song), in case you didn't know that!
Second, having a song at nearly 19m equivalent units is already huge! Think of the most streamed pre-2000 song on Spotify, Wonderwall by Oasis. Even that song has equivalent sales of under 15m units! The same case for all Mariah Carey singles, but are they not hugely successful? Absolutely not! In the case of Elton's Your Song, its figure are truly extraordinary as it consists 95% of its parent albums' success, an album which sold relatively low units initially but managed to accumulate sales from compilations on the back of that one song!
Third, one reason why most artists like Elton don't have singles at 20m+ units is because their biggest albums contains lots of hits. Take Elton's GYBR as an example, it has a huge 31m+ equivalent units, but its biggest track is at 13m. That's because the success of the album was divided by many songs on the album that each had decent success, lowering the share of units from the biggest single. Even MJ's Billie Jean, although at a huge 40m+ units, barely represents 35% of Thriller's success!
A little unrelated, but how do Raffi, MJD and some other people have a profile pic, while the rest have just a white figure? It that just for the site's managers? 🙂
I was thinking about this matter last night and today and thinking Madonna shouldnt be credited for the sales of Evite because it was for Evita. But when i tried to weigh things more, I have realized that you are more right than what i think is right. So im sorry but now, I agree with you. 🙂
Hi MJD, perhaps a bonus article for your top 10 greatest superbowl halftime shows ever?
Legends aren't based soley on numbers of albums sold.
It is about so many things.........many of them intangible.
Creating a new style of music, making a style of music popular that wasn't before, being one of the most popular stars of their generation, longevity over decades, timeless songwriting, stage presence, influence on other artists, things they do outside of music.......like charity and philanthropy, being versatile outside of music.........like acting, etc.etc.
Nirvana are Legends( One could argue that Jane's Addiction paved the way for grunge..........making them Legends)
Frank Zappa could be considered a legend
Bob Marley could be,..........no, IS a Legend
Miles Davis..........IS a Legend (what you think his album sales are? Haha, 10 million?) Doesn't matter, he's a GOD
etc,etc,...........and oh yeah, Elton John is ABSOLUTELY a Legend..........even if he sold half the albums he did
