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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.
