Let's be honest: ranking metal bands by sales is weird. This is music born in opposition—loud, defiant, anti-commercial by nature. For a lot of fans, high numbers on a spreadsheet are almost a red flag. But that's precisely what makes this list so compelling. It reveals which bands managed to go big without selling out, the ones who carried the flag of metal through the decades and somehow sold millions doing it.

These artists took the sound of metal to stadiums, festivals, and playlists around the world, without losing the core of what the genre stands for. Sales don't define their worth, but they do show who resonated the loudest and longest.

Metal isn't just a louder branch of rock—it's a culture. Built on heaviness and honesty, it speaks to people who never fit the mold. From the early days of NWOBHM to modern metalcore breakdowns, it's a genre that keeps evolving while staying fiercely loyal to its roots. Thrash, death, doom, power, black, nu-metal, progressive—you name it, metal's done it with full conviction.

This list focuses strictly on bands that live in metal. No tourists allowed. If an artist only flirted with the genre in their early years, like Scorpions, or mainly rode the glam wave, like Def Leppard or Twisted Sister, they're not part of this. It's about consistency, identity, and commitment to the sound.

We've ranked artists based on Equivalent Album Sales (EAS), which accounts for physical sales, digital downloads, streaming, and appearances on compilations. It gives a complete picture, so whether a band moved vinyl in the '80s or racks up billions of streams today, they're measured on the same scale.

So who's in? The obvious titans—Metallica, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, among others. But also some that made their mark in less commercial corners of the genre. And a few fan favorites didn't quite cross the 15 million EAS line—Bring Me the Horizon, Nightwish, Lamb of God, Gojira, Sepultura, Manowar—huge names, just outside the cut.

Let's get to it. Here are the metal bands that didn't just play loud, they sold loud.

Best-Selling Metal Artists of All Time

#1 – Metallica – 180.0 million EAS

Metallica didn't just sell more than any other metal band; they are in a league of their own. With 180.0 million EAS, they're over 65 million ahead of second place. But what's wild isn't just the volume, it's how balanced the picture is. They moved 127.1 million studio albums, 15.5 million physical singles, 40.8 million digital singles, and 22.0 million from streaming. No weak spots, no lopsided formats. They crushed across the board.

Most bands get big by compromising somewhere. Metallica never really did. Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets, ...And Justice for All—none of these are accessible records in a traditional sense. But the band made them work for stadiums anyway. The Black Album just sealed the deal. Responsible for 53 million sales across all metrics, it's the 16th most successful album of all time.

This isn't legacy bloat inflating their totals. They're still out there headlining global tours, pulling streams by the billions, and pushing new material. The numbers don't just make them the biggest metal band ever—they make them one of the biggest bands in modern music, period.

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#2 – Linkin Park – 113.7 million EAS

Linkin Park reached 113.7 million EAS with fewer albums and less time than nearly every band around them. That's the story. Their 73.7 million digital singles sold is a record among metal acts, despite their peak preceding the iTunes era. Add another 34.4 million from streaming, and you've got a band that flat-out owned the digital era before most of the genre even figured it out.

But this wasn't just a tech story. Hybrid Theory sold like a monster during the tail end of the CD boom, and the band followed it up with more massive albums before anyone had a chance to call it a fluke. Their fusion of heaviness and hooks hit at precisely the right cultural moment.

Even now, their catalog hasn't cooled off, and even the tragic death of their lead vocalist, Chester Bennington, couldn't stop them. Tracks from two decades ago still fly on streaming charts, and their new lineup with Emily Armstrong smashed with From Zero. More than a side trend, Linkin Park helped redefine what heavy music could be in the 2000s and beyond.

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#3 – Iron Maiden – 91.0 million EAS

Here's the most impressive thing about Iron Maiden: they got to 91.0 million EAS without a single major chart hit. No radio takeover. No pop crossover. Just a mountain of studio and compilation sales, powered by one of the most loyal global fan bases in rock history.

Their 56.8 million studio albums are impressive, but 25.5 million sales from compilations, live albums, and videos are also huge. People don't just stream The Number of the Beast; they go out and buy new formats of it. Again. And again. Maiden never tailored their sound to fit trends, and they never stopped releasing full albums packed with sprawling, proggy epics. And yet, the audience never left.

They toured harder, released longer records, and stuck to their guns. It didn't always get them headlines, but it sure got them numbers, as illustrated by their four decades of million-selling albums.

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#4 – Black Sabbath – 82.9 million EAS

Black Sabbath may not be the highest on the list, but they're the reason the list exists in the first place. And they're still pulling serious numbers: 82.9 million EAS, including 27.5 million in compilation sales, more than any other metal act.

That stat tells you precisely what you need to know: this is the band people keep going back to. Ozzy's run defined the genre, but the Dio years added real depth, and the sales reflect both. Their entire catalog is valuable, but Paranoid should still be highlighted. The table below reflects its insane success on streaming platforms, where it is the 10th most-streamed album from the 1970s, across all genres.

What's different about Sabbath is that their influence often overshadows their raw commercial power. But looking at these numbers, the power's there too. Their status in metal history is essential, but they're still selling like a foundational band should. The recent passing of Ozzy fueled their catalog even more, with many new fans discovering the greatness of their records.

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#5 – Ozzy Osbourne – 55.4 million EAS

You could argue Ozzy Osbourne had no business making a solo career this big. But here he is, clocking 55.4 million EAS and outscoring entire bands. It's not just the Sabbath halo effect either. His solo numbers are massive on their own: 39.8 million in studio albums, and a stunning 15.2 million digital singles, with long-lasting hits led by Crazy Train.

What makes that second number pop is its recency. Songs like Crazy Train and No More Tears never really went away, and younger listeners keep finding them—some through rock playlists, others through collabs with names like Post Malone. And yeah, the MTV show helped too.

Ozzy's solo path hasn't always been smooth, but it's been relentlessly successful. Somehow, through all the chaos and cartoonish moments, he's remained one of metal's most bankable names. That's not nostalgia, that's sustained relevance. And the thousands of fans who filled Birmingham's streets after his death only confirm it.

#6 – Korn – 49.0 million EAS

Korn arrived with something new, built a fanbase when the industry didn't take them seriously, and never lost that audience, even after the spotlight moved on. Their early albums defined a moment. Follow the Leader and Issues sold very well in the CD era, 8.53 million and 6.15 million pure copies, respectively, but the numbers also show something more durable.

Years later, people are still streaming them. The former stands as the 7th most-streamed metal album of the 1990s. No classic-rock glow-up, no cultural redemption arc. Just the same bruised, rhythmic heaviness doing its job.

Thanks to this continued interest, the band will soon become the 6th metal act ever to surpass 50 million EAS.

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#7 – Judas Priest – 47.0 million EAS

There's no clever twist in Judas Priest's commercial story. The numbers are exactly what you'd expect from a band that helped define metal and never left the road.

They were there before The Number of the Beast, before Master of Puppets, before the genre had a real name. And they kept showing up—with albums, with tours, with jackets full of studs—long after trends cycled through. What makes their position on this list meaningful isn't any single album or viral resurgence. It's accumulation. Their fans never needed convincing.

They total 47 million EAS with no album reaching 4 million copies pure. The closest, Screaming For Vengeance, stands at 3.88 million. In metal, reliability is currency. Judas Priest printed their own and cashed in over five decades.

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#8 – Limp Bizkit – 41.2 million EAS

Limp Bizkit didn't just sell. They flooded. For a few years in the early 2000s, they were everywhere—and the data proves it wasn't just hype. These weren't niche victories. These were mall-wide takeovers.

The band dropped albums that moved millions before critics figured out how to categorize them, before fans could even decide if they were in on the joke. Then they disappeared. But the music didn't. Tracks like Behind Blue Eyes and Rollin' have been passed around ever since, not out of irony, but because they still hit. And Break Stuff is coming for a billion streams on Spotify.

Few acts on this list did more damage in less time. Even fewer left behind hits that still move this well.

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#9 – System of a Down – 39.9 million EAS

System of a Down is a case study in efficiency. One decade, five albums, zero pandering—and they're sitting in the top 10. That's not normal.

Most bands work their way up. This one shot out of a cannon. Toxicity arrived and rewired what a metal album could be: political, theatrical, furious, and actually fun. The band never diluted that formula, even when commercial stakes got higher. Then they stopped.

And yet, their music kept growing. A band that walked offstage two decades ago still fills playlists today. Few careers make that kind of exit, and leave their numbers climbing. With the third-highest total on Spotify from this list, with 10.7 billion streams, they are poised to continue to rise.

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#10 – Creed – 38.6 million EAS

Creed didn't build a catalog. They launched a moment. Their sales don't come from long-haul consistency or digital discovery. They come from a brief period when this band dominated American rock radio so thoroughly that it felt like a glitch in the system.

You couldn't avoid them. Not at school, not at the gym, not even in your car on the way to somewhere cooler. Their success didn't leave room for cult status or reappraisal. It simply happened at scale. Albums like Human Clay weren't hits—they were events.

Critics rolled their eyes. Everyone else bought in. The numbers never flinched. With only 3.3 million EAS coming from streams, though, they are unlikely to maintain their place in this top 10 in the future.

#11 – Rage Against the Machine – 35.3 million EAS

Rage Against the Machine built a discography like a pressure cooker—short, concentrated, and explosive. With only four studio albums, they landed just outside the top 10, and that's no accident. Every track they released still gets played like it just dropped.

This is music that never settled. Killing in the Name, Bulls on Parade, Guerrilla Radio—they weren't written to chart, but they became permanent fixtures anyway. The catalog is tight and defiant, and it performs like it was built for legacy status from the start. Their self-titled album, despite charting low upon release, has sold 11.22 million pure units.

Most bands need longevity to hit these numbers. Rage needed conviction, execution, and zero filler.

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#12 – Evanescence – 35.3 million EAS

Evanescence is here almost entirely on the back of one record, and that's what makes their placement remarkable. Fallen wasn't just a breakthrough. It was a detonation.

That album didn't follow the nu-metal playbook, yet it exploded inside the same ecosystem. Orchestral drama, gothic piano, soaring vocals—none of it should've slotted easily into rock radio, but Bring Me to Life and My Immortal hit like anthems and never left. The band has released other albums, but Fallen alone earned them long-term status.

This is what happens when a debut hits hard enough to carry an entire career into the history books.

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#13 – Megadeth – 34.4 million EAS

Megadeth never won the popularity contest, but they outlasted most of the bands who did. Their catalog doesn't lean on one classic. It moves because fans still treat it like required listening.

Dave Mustaine's bitterness fueled some of the most enduring metal of the last 40 years. Rust in Peace, 5.5 million seller Countdown to Extinction, Peace Sells—these weren't trend-chasing records. They were high-skill, high-speed declarations of intent. Even now, fans revisit them with the kind of loyalty that powers long-term sales.

Megadeth wasn't built for mainstream moments. They were built to endure. The numbers make that case without blinking.

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#14 – Rammstein – 33.8 million EAS

Rammstein proved that language was never a barrier for spectacle. Their presence on this list—without crossover hits, English lyrics, or US radio support—underscores the global reach of metal when it's delivered with absolute precision.

They cultivated image and sound with industrial discipline. The visuals were as aggressive as the guitars, and everything felt tightly controlled. But behind the fireballs and latex, the songs landed. Du Hast still roars in clubs and gyms worldwide. And their fanbase doesn't stream casually—it sticks. Most legacy acts average between 5 and 7 tracks streamed monthly per listener. Rammstein hit an impressive 9.0.

Plenty of bands chased international relevance. Rammstein planted a flag and made the world come to them.

#15 – Nine Inch Nails – 32.7 million EAS

Nine Inch Nails blurred the line between industrial experimentation and commercial viability better than anyone before or since. The Downward Spiral and Pretty Hate Machine were real cultural events that redefined what heavy music could sound like in the mainstream without softening the edges.

The numbers here tell a deeper story. 32.7 million EAS is a remarkable total for a project that often refused traditional promotional playbooks. With limited radio support and cryptic visuals, Trent Reznor built a catalog that audiences returned to consistently—including during the digital age.

Few artists on this list influenced as many genres beyond metal while staying firmly within its emotional and aesthetic gravity. Nine Inch Nails didn’t tour like arena giants or sell physical albums in bulk beyond the ‘90s, but their reach—across time, formats, and sound—still lands them comfortably among metal’s commercial elite.

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#16 – Slipknot – 31.9 million EAS

Slipknot turned chaos into a brand—and that brand sold. The masks, the noise, the nine-member circus of it all could’ve been a gimmick. Instead, it became one of metal’s most successful modern identities.

Iowa and Vol. 3 weren’t built for the radio, but they gained traction anyway. The band channeled aggression into something that felt theatrical but sincere. Fans weren’t watching, they were joining. That connection aged well. Today, their catalog performs across every format, with streaming figures that rival younger bands.

Slipknot gave metal a modern shape, and they did it without shaving down the edges.

#17 – Marilyn Manson – 31.1 million EAS

Marilyn Manson didn’t sell millions by fitting in. He sold them by being impossible to ignore. The numbers reflect the pull of a cultural firestarter whose catalog remained in motion long after the headlines faded.

His records—especially Antichrist Superstar and Mechanical Animals—weren’t built for mainstream approval, yet they moved units like major-label pop. He got banned from malls; he made himself the center of a national panic, and that notoriety turned into sales. But the reason he’s still charting in this ranking isn’t the controversy. It’s the music’s sticking power.

Behind the shock was structure. The fans never left.

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#18 – Motörhead – 26.3 million EAS

Motörhead didn’t change much in 40 years—and that’s exactly why they made it this far, remaining a force until Lemmy's passing in 2015. Their catalog isn’t shaped by trend cycles or remaster campaigns. It sells because it represents something permanent.

Ace of Spades still leads the charge with 3.9 million sales for the studio album, but the rest of the discography hums with the same energy: fast, loud, and zero patience for polish. Lemmy wasn’t chasing hits; he was building a wall of noise that metal, punk, and rock fans all called home.

This isn’t a band defined by a moment. Motörhead became part of the wiring in every heavy genre that followed.

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#19 – Pantera – 25.9 million EAS

Pantera turned groove and aggression into a commercial weapon. Their climb up this ranking is especially sharp considering how little radio or crossover support they ever had.

This was a band that sounded dangerous on purpose—and stayed that way. Albums like Vulgar Display of Power and Far Beyond Driven didn’t chart because they softened their tone. They charted because they didn’t. The records were lean, the fans were locked in, and the band didn’t stick around long enough to wear out their welcome.

The result is a catalog that still hits at full force. No buildup, no fade-out, just impact.

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#20 – TOOL – 25.7 million EAS

TOOL proved that long songs, strange structures, and no compromises could still turn into massive sales. Their catalog reads like a rebuttal to the idea that attention spans run the market.

This is one of the bands that pushed the concept of albums to the extreme—not singles, not videos—drive the numbers. Nearly 80% of their total come from pure studio album sales. Lateralus, Ænima, and Fear Inoculum weren’t made to stream. They were made to sit with. And somehow, in an era dominated by speed and surface, they still got played.

With Ænima cracking 5 million sales, the band became one of the biggest metal acts from the alternative wave, bridging the decline of classic '80s heavyweights in the early '90s and the rise of nu metal.

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#21 – Slayer – 21.4 million EAS

Slayer always stayed aggressive, confrontational, and deliberately unpolished. The people who wanted cleaner sounds had other options. The people who didn’t kept buying Reign in Blood (2.54 million copies). Or Seasons In The Abyss (2.24 million), or South of Heaven (2.12 million).

Their spot here reflects the kind of loyalty few bands earn. The catalog was narrow, the sound extreme, and the tone unapologetically hostile to pop culture. They carved out a space so intense, it became self-sustaining.

Part of the so-called Big Four of thrash metal alongside Metallica, Megadeth, and Anthrax, their numbers may not rival Metallica’s, but they show consistent strength across the catalog, enough to land in metal's all time Top 20.

#22 – Queensrÿche – 20.8 million EAS

Queensrÿche rode a very specific wave to long-term visibility: the era where progressive metal met mainstream radio. It didn’t last long, but it lasted just long enough to secure a spot here.

The jump came with Operation: Mindcrime and Empire, albums that combined concept-driven ambition with just enough melody to land on US airwaves. Silent Lucidity broke through where most of their peers stalled. They didn’t become arena legends, but they didn’t fade, either.

This is what happens when a focused window of relevance turns into decades of catalog rotation. Not a household name, but always present.

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#23 – Avenged Sevenfold – 20.5 million EAS

Avenged Sevenfold did something few 2000s metal bands managed—they crossed into festival-headliner territory without abandoning the genre that brought them there.

Their climb wasn’t driven by a single moment. It was built brick by brick: early fans from the metalcore days, wider reach through City of Evil, and continued growth with albums like Nightmare and The Stage. They leaned into melody, theatrics, even orchestration—but without losing the identity that got them out of the gate.

They are perhaps the band that best reflect the soft spot of Southeast Asian fans with metal music. Their best market on both Spotify (see illustration) and YouTube is Indonesia, with numbers twice as high as in the US. Their top 3 is completed by Malaysia.

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#24 – Deftones – 19.8 million EAS

Deftones are a rare example of a band that sold more as time went on—not because of chart-topping hits, but because of slow-burn loyalty.

Their early nu-metal association never quite fit, and that mismatch turned into a strength. White Pony redefined their arc, pulling them toward something heavier, moodier, and harder to pin down. That sound became more relevant—not less—as new generations discovered them through streaming and critical reappraisal.

This is one of the most organic climbs in the ranking. No massive breakthrough, no nostalgia wave. Just a catalog that kept proving itself useful. It is on its way to surpass 20 million EAS.

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#25 – Dio – 18.3 million EAS

Ronnie James Dio had already helped define heavy metal before his solo career even started. But what followed—especiallythe 3.4 million seller Holy Diver—turned into its own legacy.

A legend thanks to his runs on Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, and Heaven & Hell, he went 'solo' in 1982, although Dio was effectively a band. They leaned into melody, fantasy, and classic structures. What pulled listeners in was the conviction. You didn’t have to grow up with his previous material to get it—Rainbow in the Dark still sells itself on first listen.

While 18.3 million EAS is a respectable total, it underrepresents Dio’s true place in metal history. If you include his remaining works, his cumulative impact would rank much higher.

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#26 – Five Finger Death Punch – 18.2 million EAS

Five Finger Death Punch doesn’t generate critical buzz, but they move units. That alone earns them attention in a field where credibility and success rarely travel together.

Their sound is built for repeat consumption—tight, punchy, no-nonsense tracks that slot perfectly into gym playlists and modern rock radio. They know their audience and serve it directly, no detours. That clarity of purpose has turned them into one of the most digitally effective metal bands in the US, as shown below. They are looking to enter the top 20 in the long run.

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#27 – Anthrax – 17.7 million EAS

Anthrax is the last member of the Big Four of thrash—but commercially, they always held the fourth slot. Their place here matches the narrative: influential, active, but commercially modest compared to Metallica or even Megadeth.

What keeps them in the conversation is catalog activity. Among the Living (1.77 million pure sales) still gets passed around by genre purists, and their touring never stopped.

This ranking reflects a long career with few peaks, but no real valleys either. That kind of steadiness adds up.

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#28 – Faith No More – 17.5 million EAS

Faith No More weren’t designed to fit anywhere, and that turned into an asset. They made metal that didn’t sound like metal, and their best-known tracks (Epic, Midlife Crisis) felt like mainstream hits beamed in from another planet.

Their success was built on disruption. They didn’t tour endlessly, didn’t cater to fan expectations, and didn’t stick to one formula for long. But the records stuck, especially The Real Thing and Angel Dust. Enough people kept listening—some out of love, some out of confusion.

The catalog didn’t expand much, which reduces their impact on this list, but they are still a welcome addition.

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#29 – X JAPAN – 15.4 million EAS

X Japan earned their place here through concentrated regional dominance. In Japan, they’re icons. Globally, they’re a cult favorite. That contrast is baked into every part of their profile.

They thrived in the physical era, long before streaming could have helped export their catalog at scale. Ballads, shredding solos, glam flair, orchestral bombast—it all hit hard at home. And it kept selling. Western metal acts always sell good numbers there, but nowhere near the level reached by X Japan.

This is one of the clearest cases where geography restrained their legacy. The sales speak for themselves though, even if the West wasn’t listening.

What the Bestselling List Reveals About Metal’s Real History

This list reshapes the story of metal. Behind the sales figures is a map of where the genre gained ground, what stuck with listeners, and which scenes actually built long-term commercial weight. Metal didn’t need radio to thrive. It needed formats, communities, and catalogs worth returning to.

Traditional heavy metal remains the spine. Acts like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and Ozzy Osbourne didn’t chase singles—they built entire discographies that fans still collect. Most of their success came in the physical era, but the demand never dried up. These weren’t short cycles. They were long-term investments by listeners who bought in fully.

Thrash has one king. Metallica isn’t just ahead—it’s a gap no one else in metal comes close to closing. The other Big Four bands—Megadeth, Slayer, Anthrax—made the list, but by the numbers, this was never an even race. Thrash mattered, but only one band turned it into a commercial machine.

Nu-metal, often dismissed, shows up all over this list. Linkin Park, Korn, System of a Down, Slipknot, Limp Bizkit, Evanescence, Deftones, Creed—they’re not the exception; they are the pattern. Whether through digital singles, CD dominance, or ongoing streaming, these bands kept pulling numbers while the discourse moved on. The audience didn’t.

Elsewhere, industrial and alternative metal hit hard without relying on mainstream approval. Marilyn Manson, Rammstein, and TOOL built careers on confrontation and atmosphere. They didn’t make records for passive listeners, and the numbers suggest they never needed to.

Power, prog, and classic heavy rock show up more quietly. Artists like Queensrÿche, Dio, and Faith No More didn’t flood the charts, but they held onto listeners. Their presence here isn’t about volume—it’s about depth. These are catalogs with staying power, not singles that spiked.

Extreme metal gets one foot in the door with Pantera and Slayer, both powered by strong physical sales and unwavering fanbases. Beyond that, the absence of names like Gojira, Behemoth, or Death underlines how little room there is at the top for bands without industry infrastructure or format-friendly material. Cultural impact doesn’t always translate into total units.

Then there are the outliers. X JAPAN built their case inside one market. Five Finger Death Punch did it through U.S. radio and relentless streaming. Every path here looks different, but the destination is the same: enough listeners engaging deeply, over time, to keep the numbers moving.

In the end, subgenres didn’t just shape how metal sounded—they shaped how it sold. This list is what happens when volume meets loyalty. Some did it through the long game. Some did it in a single shot. Either way, the receipts are all here.

The best-selling artists list, updated

All-time lists evolve very quickly, some artists go up, others down, and new names like Bring Me The Horizon will soon enter it.

Our sortable and filterable list of the best-selling artists of all time is the perfect way to keep track of this ranking, and the evolution of sales and streams for artists. If you want to dig deeper into an artist's statistics, head to their Artist Dashboard page, as shown by this example of Metallica’s. If you want to compare two metal singers across a large set of statistics, this tool is your dream come true.

Want clarification or just feel like discussing the ranking? Join the conversation on our forum!

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