AC/DC albums and songs sales

AC/DC, the Thunder from Down Under, were formed in Sydney, Australia, in 1973 by Malcolm Young and his schoolboy uniform wearing little brother Angus. After finding international success in 1979 with the seminal Highway to Hell album, they were suddenly struck by mortality. However, when lead singer Bon Scott died aged 33 in February 1980 they replaced one legendary front man with another. With Brian Johnson at the microphone they soon released their landmark Back in Black album, which transformed them into superstars of the Hard Rock genre.

Today, the future of the band is uncertain. Brian Johnson almost lost his hearing, forcing AC/DC to finish their latest tour in 2016 with singer Axl Rose of Guns ‘N Roses stepping in. Add to this, sadly, in November 2017 Malcolm Young died following years of dementia, leaving Angus Young as the only member left from the classic line-up.

Many claims have been made about AC/DC‘s record sales. Supposedly they’re over 200 million. Back in Black has been heralded by some as the 2nd biggest album of all time behind Michael Jackson‘s Thriller. While this may not be the case, we do know AC/DC are one of the strongest catalog sellers in the business. But how do they stack up against other Hard Rock behemoths like Metallica and Led Zeppelin? It’s time to find out.

As usual, I’ll be using the Commensurate Sales to Popularity Concept in order to relevantly gauge their results. This concept will not only bring you sales information for all AC/DC‘s albums, physical and download singles, as well as audio and video streaming, but it will also determine their true popularity. If you are not yet familiar with the CSPC method, the next page explains it with a short video. I fully recommend watching the video before getting into the sales figures. Of course, if you are a regular visitor feel free to skip the video and get into the figures.

The Commensurate Sales to Popularity Concept (CSPC)

There are two ways to understand this revolutionary concept. The first is the Scribe video posted below. If you are unaware of the CSPC method, you will get the full idea within just a few minutes.

If you are a mathematical person, and want to know the full method as well as formulas, you can read the full introduction article.

Now let’s get into the artist’s sales figures in detail in order to apply this concept and define the act’s true popularity!

AC/DC’s original albums sales

High Voltage (1976)

• America
  • US – 3,800,000
  • Canada – 400,000
  • Argentina – N/A
  • Brazil – N/A
  • Mexico – N/A
• Asia – N/A
  • Japan – N/A
• Oceania
  • Australia – N/A
  • New Zealand – N/A
• Europe – 2,460,000
  • UK – 240,000
  • France – 355,000
  • Germany – 750,000
  • Italy – 180,000
  • Spain – 160,000
  • Sweden – 80,000
  • Netherland – 75,000
  • Switzerland – 100,000
  • Austria – 50,000
  • Finland – N/A
• World – 7,550,000

Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (1976)

Let There Be Rock (1977)

Powerage (1978)

Highway to Hell (1979)

Back in Black (1980)

For Those About to Rock We Salute You (1981)

Flick of the Switch (1983)

Fly on the Wall (1985)

Blow Up Your Video (1988)

The Razors Edge (1990)

Ballbreaker (1995)

Stiff Upper Lip (2000)

Black Ice (2008)

Rock or Bust (2014)

• America
  • US – 575,000
  • Canada – 115,000
  • Argentina – N/A
  • Brazil – 50,000
  • Mexico – 15,000
• Asia – N/A
  • Japan – 33,000
• Oceania
  • Australia – 130,000
  • New Zealand – 10,000
• Europe – 1,970,000
  • UK – 280,000
  • France – 385,000
  • Germany – 760,000
  • Italy – 80,000
  • Spain – 55,000
  • Sweden – 40,000
  • Netherland – 23,000
  • Switzerland – 85,000
  • Austria – 55,000
  • Finland – 12,000
• World – 3,010,000

Original Album Sales – Comments

Unsurprisingly, Back in Black stands head and shoulders above the rest of their studio albums. At 35,81 million regular album sales it has almost equaled the combined sales of their 2nd, 3rd and 4th biggest albums!

Although they’ve had their share of ups and downs, there’s more to AC/DC than making one of the biggest selling albums ever. Highway to Hell sold an impressive 15,15 million and 3 other albums top the 10 million mark. In fact, over their 40 year long career ALL their full length studio albums, including so called flops and recent releases, have sold more than 3 million copies each! In total: 123,47m spread over 15 studio albums!

One of the reasons their entire catalog continues to sell so well is the absence of any Greatest Hits albums. They never released any.  Thus leaving consumers no choice but to dig into their vast catalog. That said, AC/DC have released a number of live albums and soundtracks, which over the years have somewhat filled the void left by the missing compilation. We’ll get on to those albums later though.

It should be noted that their international debut release High Voltage is a compilation album consisting of tracks from their first two Australian only albums High Voltage and T.N.T. Also Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap was initially rejected by their American record company only to be released in the wake of Back in Black, causing it to hit #3 on Billboard.

1976 High Voltage – 7,550,000
1976 Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap – 10,970,000
1977 Let There Be Rock – 6,200,000
1978 Powerage – 5,220,000
1979 Highway to Hell – 15,150,000
1980 Back in Black – 35,810,000
1981 For Those About to Rock We Salute You – 10,040,000
1983 Flick of the Switch – 3,900,000
1985 Fly on the Wall – 3,510,000
1988 Blow Up Your Video – 3,860,000
1990 The Razors Edge – 10,670,000
1995 Ballbreaker – 5,420,000
2000 Stiff Upper Lip – 4,160,000
2008 Black Ice – 7,000,000
2014 Rock or Bust – 3,010,000

AC/DC’s physical singles sales

As a reminder, the weighting is done with a 10 to 3 ratio between one album and one physical single.

The 70s

The earliest AC/DC singles only charted in Australia, where High Voltage, It’s a Long Way To the Top and Jailbreak all reached the top 10. Whole Lotta Rosie and Rock ‘n’ Roll Damnation were the first to chart in the UK thus reaching 200,000. But the big one here is obviously Highway to Hell breaking into most markets including the US, where it reached the top 50. With the addition of the decent follow-up Touch Too Much the album gets a respectable 411,000 EAS.

High Voltage (1976) – 65,000 equivalent albums

Can I Sit Next to You Girl – 10,000
Love Song/Baby, Please Don’t Go – 25,000
High Voltage – 80,000
It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘n’ Roll) – 80,000
T.N.T. – 20,000

Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (1976) – 39,000 equivalent albums

Jailbreak – 80,000
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap – 30,000
Love at First Feel – 10,000
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (1993, live) – 10,000

Let There Be Rock (1977) – 75,000 equivalent albums

Dog Eat Dog – 10,000
Let There Be Rock – 40,000
Whole Lotta Rosie – 200,000

Powerage (1978) – 69,000 equivalent albums

Rock ‘n’ Roll Damnation – 230,000

Highway to Hell (1979) – 411,000 equivalent albums

Highway to Hell – 760,000
Girls Got Rhythm – 20,000
Touch Too Much – 480,000
Highway to Hell (1992, live) – 110,000

The 80s

Somewhat surprisingly, Back in Black is only the 3rd biggest single from their 1980 smash. The biggest one is the album’s lead single You Shook Me All Night Long – their first top 40 hit in the US. For Those About To Rock also delivered two decent singles, but AC/DC‘s drop in album sales during the rest of the 80s is mirrored in these single sales.

Back in Black (1980) – 554,000 equivalent albums

You Shook Me All Night Long – 740,000
Hells Bells – 540,000
Back in Black – 320,000
Rock and Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution – 150,000
You Shook Me All Night Long (1986, reissue) – 90,000
Shoot to Thrill (2011) – 5,000

For Those About to Rock We Salute You (1981) – 228,000 equivalent albums

Let’s Get It Up – 410,000
For Those About to Rock (We Salute You) – 350,000

Flick of the Switch (1983) – 102,000 equivalent albums

Guns for Hire – 230,000
Nervous Shakedown – 70,000
Flick of the Switch – 40,000

Fly on the Wall (1985) – 44,000 equivalent albums

Danger – 50,000
Sink the Pink – 5,000
Shake Your Foundations – 90,000

Blow Up Your Video (1988) – 90,000 equivalent albums

Heatseeker – 210,000
That’s the Way I Wanna Rock ‘n’ Roll – 90,000

The 90s and beyond

Although the single format was decreasing in popularity in the 90s, AC/DC still managed to release their 3 biggest singles since 1981. Thunderstruck, Moneytalks and Big Gun all top 300,000 sales.

So, without any million-selling singles in their entire career, AC/DC total 6,635,000 in this format. Not overwhelming, but respectable considering they never were a singles minded band.

The Razors Edge (1990) – 260,000 equivalent albums

Thunderstruck – 360,000
Moneytalks – 390,000
Are You Ready – 110,000
Rock Your Heart Out – 5,000

Ballbreaker (1995) – 47,000 equivalent albums

Hard as a Rock – 130,000
Hail Caesar – 15,000
Cover You in Oil – 5,000
Ballbreaker – 5,000

Stiff Upper Lip (2000) – 27,000 equivalent albums

Stiff Upper Lip – 70,000
Safe in New York City – 10,000
Satellite Blues – 10,000

Black Ice (2008) – 3,000 equivalent albums

Rock ‘n’ Roll Train – 10,000

Rock or Bust (2014) – 3,000 equivalent albums

Play Ball – 5,000
Rock or Bust – 5,000

Orphan – 144,000 equivalent albums

Who Made Who – 140,000
Big Gun – 330,000
Other singles – 10,000

AC/DC’s digital singles sales

As a reminder, the weighting is done with a 10 to 1,5 ratio between one album and one digital single.

The 70s

With four songs topping the million mark, AC/DC‘s 70s songs are still popular in the digital age. None more so than Highway to Hell of course. At 3,060,000, this must be one of the most popular Hard Rock songs of the decade in this format. Stairway to Heaven for example is the only Led Zeppelin song that tops this total.

High Voltage (1976) – 459,000 equivalent albums

It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘n’ Roll) – 1,080,000
T.N.T. – 1,530,000
Remaining tracks – 450,000

Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (1976) – 293,000 equivalent albums

Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap – 1,240,000
Ride On – 170,000
Big Balls – 390,000
Remaining tracks – 150,000

Let There Be Rock (1977) – 222,000 equivalent albums

Let There Be Rock – 460,000
Whole Lotta Rosie – 720,000
Remaining tracks – 300,000

Powerage (1978) – 30,000 equivalent albums

Remaining tracks – 200,000

Highway to Hell (1979) – 609,000 equivalent albums

Highway to Hell – 3,060,000
Girls Got Rhythm – 280,000
If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It) – 270,000
Remaining tracks – 450,000

The 80s

Back in Black has 4 digital million sellers, confirming its everlasting appeal. And while Back in Black trailed Hells Bells and You Shook Me All Night long in original singles sales, it is well ahead here at a massive 5,920,000. For Those About to Rock adds another million-seller to the catalog, but once again we see poor interest in the mid-late 80s period.

Back in Black (1980) – 2,075,000 equivalent albums

Hells Bells – 2,070,000
Shoot to Thrill – 1,100,000
Back in Black – 5,920,000
You Shook Me All Night Long – 3,690,000
Have a Drink on Me – 340,000
Rock and Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution – 360,000
Remaining tracks – 350,000

For Those About to Rock We Salute You (1981) – 179,000 equivalent albums

For Those About to Rock (We Salute You) – 1,140,000
Remaining tracks – 50,000

Flick of the Switch (1983) – 8,000 equivalent albums

Remaining tracks – 50,000

Fly on the Wall (1985) – 15,000 equivalent albums

Remaining tracks – 100,000

Blow Up Your Video (1988) – 15,000 equivalent albums

Remaining tracks – 100,000

The 90s and beyond

One more big smash in the 90s in Thunderstruck. At 4.3 million it’s second only to Back in Black overall. Who Made Who at 690k, released in 1986, is the biggest AC/DC song from that commercially disappointing period of their career.

The Razors Edge (1990) – 752,000 equivalent albums

Thunderstruck – 4,310,000
Moneytalks – 500,000
Remaining tracks – 200,000

Ballbreaker (1995) – 38,000 equivalent albums

Remaining tracks – 250,000

Stiff Upper Lip (2000) – 38,000 equivalent albums

Remaining tracks – 250,000

Black Ice (2008) – 57,000 equivalent albums

Rock ‘n’ Roll Train – 230,000
Remaining tracks – 150,000

Rock or Bust (2014) – 59,000 equivalent albums

Rock or Bust – 100,000
Play Ball – 190,000
Remaining tracks – 100,000

Orphan – 168,000 equivalent albums

Jailbreak – 230,000
Who Made Who – 690,000
Remaining tracks – 200,000

AC/DC’s streaming sales

Streaming is made up of two families – audio and video. Our CSPC methodology now includes both to better reflect the real popularity of each track. The main source of data for each avenue is respectively Spotify and YouTube. As detailed in the Fixing Log article, Spotify represents 132 million of the 212 million users of streaming platforms, while YouTube is pretty much the only video platform generating some revenue for the industry. Below is the equivalence set on the aforementioned article:

Audio Stream – 1500 plays equal 1 album unit
Video Stream – 11,750 views equal 1 album unit

Equivalent Albums Sales (EAS) = 212/132 * Spotify streams / 1500 + YouTube views / 11750

Streaming Part 1

Initially, none of AC/DC‘s early recordings became big hits outside their native Australia. However, after their popularity sky-rocketed a few years later many tracks from their international debut also became popular. The Jack remains a sing-along live favorite, while High Voltage, It’s A Long Way To the Top and especially T.N.T. became Classic Rock Radio stables. To this day those three songs are among their most popular, with T.N.T. closing in on 100 million Spotify streams! Thus providing the lion’s share of the impressive 200,000 EAS from that era.

Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap is highlighted by the title track of course. Over 50 million streams on Spotify makes it one of AC/DC‘s top 10 tracks. But the humorous Big Balls, the raucous Problem Child, the fierce Rocker (a leftover from Aussie album T.N.T.) and the poignant Ride On are all well remembered too. Adding up to over 90,000 EAS.

Streaming Part 2

At first, Let There Be Rock was bigger than its predecessors. It was AC/DC‘s first album to chart in the US, and first in the UK too, where it reached the Top 20. Since then it hasn’t been able to follow the sales of High Voltage and Dirty Deeds. Streaming figures show perfectly why. It lacks a classic hit the size of  T.N.T. or Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap. What it does have is live favorites. Of the album’s total 58 million Spotify streams, almost 40% come from live versions, easily the most of all their albums (Black Ice is 2nd with 20% – which is fueled by Live at River Plate recorded on the Black Ice Tour).

On Youtube live versions are always more popular due to the visual effect. Whole Lotta Rosie is close to 100 million views there and is actually bigger than Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap. Crabsody in Blue was replaced by Problem Child on the US release (now worldwide) and was considered a rarity until its inclusion on the Backtracks box set in 2009.

Powerage lacks both classic hits and live favourites. With the biggest track Sin City at  6 million  Spotify streams, it is easily their weakest 70’s LP on streaming platforms, just topping 25,000 EAS. But Powerage is the connoisseur’s choice. Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones calls it his favourite. For some reason Cold Hearted Man was rejected by their US record company in 1978. Like Crabsody in Blue it was a rarity until being included in the Backtracks box set. The healthy figure of almost 2 million Spotify streams is likely due to it’s presence on the Iron Man 2 soundtrack from 2010.

Then came the breakthrough! Produced by hit-maker Robert John “Mutt” Lange, Highway to Hell became a worldwide hit and their first US platinum album. With almost 200 million streams the title track is massive. In some regions, perhaps especially in Europe, it is still considered the quintessential AC/DC song. EAS for this song alone is 240,000. With 4 other tracks in the 10-20,000 region, and a total of 310,000 EAS, this album is bigger than High Voltage and Dirty Deeds combined.

Streaming Part 3

I don’t think any band ever replaced their singer with greater success than AC/DC. Back in Black not only became their biggest album, but one of the biggest albums of all time. These streaming figures will tell you why. Like the rest of the AC/DC catalog, Back in Black was not available on Spotify until June 30th 2015. Still, this 1980 album has well over 500 million streams, led by the iconic title track at 212 million. Even the smallest track, Shake A Leg, is close to 4 million. Four tracks are close to or above 60 million, an achievement only surpassed by 6 pre-2000 albums (Michael Jackson‘s Thriller & Bad, Dr. Dre‘s 2001, Pearl Jam‘s Ten, Nirvana‘s Nevermind and Metallica‘s Black Album) which are all younger than Back in Black and have also all  have been on Spotify a lot longer. This adds up to a massive 635,000 EAS.

For Those About to Rock was the 3rd album in a row produced by “Mutt” Lange, and their first US #1 (incredibly Back in Black stalled at #4). However, while it outdid its famous predecessor at first, it didn’t have the legs. The title track is a true classic, and has ended just about every AC/DC concert since, but at 22 million Spotify streams it would have ranked a distant 5th on Back in Black. The rest wouldn’t rank anywhere on it. As a consequence, the 40,000 EAS pales into insignificance compared to Back in Black. On a smaller note Evil Walks actually tops the single Let’s Get it Up for 2nd place on For Those About to Rock. Likely because the former was the only song from this album included on the Iron Man 2 soundtrack in 2010.

Streaming Part 4

Commercially, the mid to late 80’s were meagre years for AC/DC. For the 1983 LP Flick of the Switch, the Young brothers decided to end their partnership with hit producer “Mutt” Lange and started producing themselves. As a result this multi-platinum band suddenly struggled to reach platinum in the US. Spotify reflects this too. With little more than 7 million total streams, this is easily AC/DC‘s weakest LP. For the first time we see tracks struggling to reach 300,000 plays. Only the semi-classic Guns for Hire tops 1 million.

Fly on the Wall followed the same path. Self-produced, barely making platinum, and tracks struggling to top 300,000 streams. Always more Rock than Metal, their heaviest of albums does perform better than Flick of the Switch  though. There are 4 tracks in the 2-3 million region led by the two album tracks First Blood and Back in Business. I wonder if the latter is helped by sharing its initials with a certain other AC/DC track? People searching for Back in Black could end up listening to Back in Business, no?

I recall Heatseeker getting a fair amount of airplay on MTV, the single pushed Blow Up Your Video to the Top 5  in some countries and #12 in the US, their best showing since For Those About to Rock. Heatseeker is indeed the strongest track from these three albums on Spotify with 6.5 million streams. And the 2nd single, That’s the Way I Wanna R’n’R, is close to 2 million, but the rest of Blow Up Your Video is forgotten by most.

Combined EAS for these three albums are just 36,000. The most memorable track from these years are not listed here though. Who Made Who, the title track of the soundtrack to the 1986 Stephen King movie Maximum Overdrive, tops all of these. It is listed in the Orphan section. 

Streaming Part 5

Like the 80’s, AC/DC started the 90’s on a commercial high. You could say the Who Made Who and Heatseeker singles paved the way, but more likely it was the help of renowned producer Bruce Fairbairn that did the trick. The Razors Edge was arguably the most polished AC/DC record to date. Lead single Thunderstruck, and the catchy 2nd single Moneytalks, both became worldwide hits, the latter being their first and only Top 30 hit in the US. While Moneytalks has a strong 16 million Spotify streams, Thunderstruck became a true monster, right up there with the iconic Highway to Hell and Back in Black in the 200 million league! And on Youtube it is easily AC/DC‘s biggest track ever with 613 million views. All the album tracks are also above 1 million on Spotify for the first time since the Back in Black album. This adds up to a massive 316,000 EAS – the second highest figure in their catalog

Ballbreaker was the only other studio album released in the 90’s. Although it failed to match the success of The Razors Edge, it did reach the Top 5 in most countries including #4 in the US. And streaming wise it fares a lot better than their late 80’s albums, reaching 25,000 EAS. Hard As A Rock is a solid 9 million on Spotify, while most of the other tracks top the 1 million mark too.

Streaming Part 6

Stiff Upper Lip kept their 90’s momentum going into the new millennium, with 32,000 EAS actually topping its predecessor. The title track has over 10 million Spotify streams and all the others top 1 million.

Even so, it seemed the 2008 album Black Ice was yet another comeback album for the Classic Rock titans. Peaking at #1 in 29 countries, including their first US #1 in 27 years, this album firmly put AC/DC back on the map. Streaming platforms show it is not forgotten either. Approaching 25 million on Spotify, Rock ‘N Roll Train alone almost equals the total of the Stiff Upper Lip album. War Machine is also strong at 13 million, and two more tracks top 7 million. On Youtube it’s even bigger. Beginning your live show with a full size locomotive bursting on stage to the sound of Rock ‘N Roll Train will give you a few extra views – and almost 100,000 EAS.

At first glance it seems Rock or Bust is an even bigger album than Black Ice on Spotify. At 26 million Rock or Bust edges Rock ‘N Roll Train as their biggest song since Thunderstruck on that platform. However, Rock or Bust benefits from being released in the streaming era. It was released in November 2014, just 7 months before AC/DC first became available on Spotify (June 30th 2015). During the past two months the Rock or Bust total has increased by just 5.8% on Spotify (the least of all their albums), while the Black Ice total has increased by 8,9% (a catagory led by FOTW and DDDDC both above 11%). With that in mind, 100,000 EAS is not as impressive but no disappointment either.

Rock ‘N Roll Train has gained over 2.6 million streams in the past two months (over twice as many as the song Rock or Bust). This makes it not only their biggest song since Thunderstruck, but their 10th biggest song ever! Not bad four decades into their career!

Streaming Part 7

AC/DC never relied on orphan tracks, but among these early Aussie-only rarities and B-sides now available on Backtracks, three tracks stand out. Two of them are from soundtracks. Who Made Who from the aforementioned Stephen King flick is well over 12 million Spotify streams, and with 17,500 EAS, easily their most streamed song of the mid 80’s. Big Gun from the 1993 Arnold Schwarzenegger movie The Last Action Hero is approaching 6 million on Spotify. Jailbreak was first released on the Australian Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap LP and as a UK non-album single in 1976. In 1984 it was made available worldwide as part of the ’74 Jailbreak EP. With 5 million plays on Spotify, Jailbreak is still a fan favourite. However, the rest, including their first Australian top 20 hit Baby, Please Don’t Go, are largely forgotten.

AC/DC’s full length related record sales

It sounds fairly logical to add together weighted sales of one era – studio album, physical singles, downloads, streams – to get the full picture of an album’s popularity. For older releases though, they also generate sales of various live, music videos and compilation albums.

All those packaging-only records do not create value, they exploit the value originating from the parent studio album of each of its tracks instead. Inevitably, when such compilations are issued, this downgrades catalog sales of the original LP. Thus, to perfectly gauge the worth of these releases, we need to re-assign sales proportionally to its contribution of all the compilations which feature its songs. The following table explains this method.

Part 1 – Live albums

How to understand this table? If you check for example the If You Want Blood You’ve Got It line, those figures mean it sold 6,370,000 units worldwide. The second statistics column means all versions of all the songs included on this package add for 121,844 equivalent album sales from streams of all types.

The second part on the right of the table shows how many equivalent streams are coming from each original album, plus the share it represents on the overall package. Thus, streaming figures tell us songs from the Let There Be Rock album are responsible for  63% of the If You Want Blood track list attractiveness. This means it generated 3,987,000 of its 6,370,000 album sales and so forth for the other records.

Part 2 – Box sets

The following are mostly repackages of catalog albums in boxes, but also Bonfire, the 1997 ode to their late lead singer Bon Scott.

Part 3 – Box sets (continued)

Backtracks from 2009 is a selection of rarities. The remainder are more repackaging.

Part 4 – More Box sets!

Part 5 – Australian releases, Soundtracks and more

AC/DC‘s first two Australian albums are found here, mostly adding to the international release of High Voltage. The 1984 EP ’74 Jailbreak is an international  release containing Jailbreak and 4 other songs previously unavaible in the US and other regions. The most significant releases here are the two soundtracks. The inclusion of Hells Bells and You Shook Me All Night Long on Who Made Who re-assign most of those sales to the Back in Black LP.

Part 6 – Videos

The AC/DC catalog of home videos is massive. Almost 10 million in total, thanks in particular to Family Jewels and the huge Live at Donington. Back in Black obviously benefits the most, but Highway to Hell and The Razor’s Edge also get a nice piece of the pie!

Full Length related records Sales – Summary

Here is the most underestimated indicator of an album’s success – the amount of compilation sales of all kinds it generated. Due to the dependency of sales of the original studio albums on these releases, they are a key piece of the jigsaw.

With no Greatest Hits albums release it is insane to see Back in Black adding almost 20 million in sales in this catagory! The reason for this is AC/DC‘s very popular live albums & DVDs and big selling soundtracks. Notice that Let There Be Rock adds 4.4 million sales thanks to live albums alone, 2nd to Back in Black only.

BONUS: Compilation Albums Sales

If You Want Blood You’ve Got It (1978)

Who Made Who (1986)

Live (1992)

• America
  • US – 4,800,000 (2,250,000)
  • Canada – 550,000 (250,000)
  • Argentina – N/A
  • Brazil – N/A
  • Mexico – N/A
• Asia – N/A
  • Japan – 125,000 (75,000)
• Oceania
  • Australia – 250,000 (350,000)
  • New Zealand – 30,000 (40,000)
• Europe – 2,550,000 (1,920,000)
  • UK – 225,000 (150,000)
  • France – 855,000 (310,000)
  • Germany – 450,000 (550,000)
  • Italy – 150,000 (100,000)
  • Spain – 175,000 (125,000)
  • Sweden – 50,000 (120,000)
  • Netherland – 35,000 (25,000)
  • Switzerland – 80,000 (80,000)
  • Austria – 20,000 (60,000)
  • Finland – N/A
• World – 9,380,000 (5,010,000)

Figures between parenthesis refer to sales of the 2CD Collector’s Edition of the album which are not included into the figure of the original release. For example, both sets sold 4,8 + 2,25 = 7,05 million in the US. Please notethat since charts and certifications of various countries were merged, the split may not be 100% accurate, however the combined total remains reliable.

Iron Man 2 (2010)

• America
  • US – 750,000
  • Canada – 100,000
  • Argentina – N/A
  • Brazil – 30,000
  • Mexico – 40,000
• Asia – N/A
  • Japan – N/A
• Oceania
  • Australia – 70,000
  • New Zealand – 10,000
• Europe – 1,160,000
  • UK – 440,000
  • France – 100,000
  • Germany – 240,000
  • Italy – 75,000
  • Spain – 35,000
  • Sweden – 50,000
  • Netherland – 13,000
  • Switzerland – 40,000
  • Austria – 30,000
  • Finland – 25,000
• World – 2,320,000

BONUS: Total Album (all types) Sales per Country

• America
  • US – 85,090,000
  • Canada – 10,165,000
  • Argentina – N/A
  • Brazil – N/A
  • Mexico – N/A
• Asia – 4,080,000
  • Japan – 1,830,000
• Oceania
  • Australia – 7,260,000
  • New Zealand – 825,000
• Europe – 50,810,000
  • UK – 7,595,000
  • France – 8,600,000
  • Germany – 13,580,000
  • Italy – 3,175,000
  • Spain – 2,995,000
  • Sweden – 1,740,000
  • Netherland – 1,200,000
  • Switzerland – 1,800,000
  • Austria – 1,075,000
  • Finland – 730,000
• World – 169,670,000

Please note that some of the countries totals may be slightly incomplete when the figure is N/A for minor releases. Countries with too much missing information to be precise enough are listed as N/A.

AC/DC CAREER CSPC RESULTS

So, after checking all the figures, how many overall equivalent album sales has each album by AC/DC achieved? Well, at this point we hardly need to add up all of the figures defined in this article!

In the following results table, all categories display figures in equivalent album sales. If different, pure sales are listed between parentheses.

'Av.' stands for Average, 'LD' for Last Day.

As a reminder:

• Studio Album: sales of the original album
• Other Releases: sales of compilations generated thanks to the album
• Physical Singles: sales of physical singles from the album (ratio 3/10)
• Download Singles: sales of digital singles from the album (ratio 1,5/10)
• Streaming: equivalent album sales of all the album tracks (ratio 1/1500 for Audio stream and 1/6750 for Video stream)

Artist career totals

See where the artist ranks among remaining singers

And the winner is…? Well, Back in Black of course. The real question is rather where does AC/DC‘s landmark album land on our list of CSPC albums? With a massive 58.224 million it ranks 6th, just ahead of another Hard Rock masterpiece, Led Zeppelin‘s IV. Also ahead of Nirvana‘s Nevermind, Bon Jovi‘s Slippery When Wet, Guns ‘N Roses‘ Appetite for Destruction and Metallica‘s Metallica. It ranks as the biggest Hard Rock/Heavy Metal album of all time!

The runner-up here is also no surprise. At 22.008 million Highway to Hell is a true smash. Followed by The Razor’s Edge at 17.665 million. With High Voltage, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, Let There Be Rock and For Those About to Rock (We Salute You) in the 12-13 million region, AC/DC have a total of 7 albums above 11.5 million!

Overall AC/DC‘s sales total 191,030,000. They’re well ahead of the Eagles and just behind Celine Dion on the all time artist list.

The following sections list their most successful songs as well as their records and achievements.

As usual, feel free to comment and / or ask a question!

Sources: IFPI, Spotify, YouTube, Chartmasters.org.

BIGGEST TRACKS – AC/DC

The list of most successful songs is compiled in album equivalent sales generated by each of them. It includes the song’s own physical singles sales with a 0,3 weighting, its download and streaming sales, and with appropriate weighting too, plus its share among sales of all albums on which it is featured.

The surprise here is not at the top, but rather near the bottom of the list. Moneytalks is AC/DC‘s only ever top 30 hit in the US (#23), but barely makes this list of their biggest tracks!

1. 1980 – Back in Black [Back in Black] – 21,680,000
2. 1980 – You Shook Me All Night Long [Back in Black] – 18,560,000
3. 1979 – Highway to Hell [Highway to Hell] – 17,950,000
4. 1990 – Thunderstruck [The Razors Edge] – 15,460,000
5. 1981 – For Those About to Rock (We Salute You) [For Those About to Rock We Salute You] – 9,120,000
6. 1976 – Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap [Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap] – 8,770,000
7. 1980 – Hells Bells [Back in Black] – 8,720,000
8. 1975 – T.N.T. [High Voltage] – 7,990,000
9. 1980 – Shoot to Thrill [Back in Black] – 5,990,000
10. 1977 – Whole Lotta Rosie [Let There Be Rock] – 4,570,000
11. 1977 – Let There Be Rock [Let There Be Rock] – 3,350,000
12. 2008 – Rock ‘n’ Roll Train [Black Ice] – 2,930,000
13. 1995 – Hard as a Rock [Ballbreaker] – 2,540,000
14. 1988 – Heatseeker [Blow Up Your Video] – 2,300,000
15. 1977 – Hell Ain’t a Bad Place to Be [Let There Be Rock] – 2,160,000
16. 1975 – It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘n’ Roll) [High Voltage] – 2,010,000
17. 2000 – Stiff Upper Lip [Stiff Upper Lip] – 1,730,000
18. 1984 – Jailbreak [Orphan] – 1,590,000
19. 1975 – The Jack [High Voltage] – 1,550,000
20. 1983 – Guns for Hire [Flick of the Switch] – 1,510,000
21. 1978 – Sin City [Powerage] – 1,500,000
22. 1978 – Rock ‘n’ Roll Damnation [Powerage] – 1,450,000
23. 1975 – High Voltage [High Voltage] – 1,250,000
24. 1976 – Problem Child [Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap] – 1,210,000
25. 2008 – War Machine [Black Ice] – 1,190,000
26. 1976 – Big Balls [Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap] – 1,140,000
27. 1990 – Moneytalks [The Razors Edge] – 1,100,000
28. 1977 – Dog Eat Dog [Let There Be Rock] – 1,060,000
29. 1979 – If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It) [Highway to Hell] – 1,050,000
30. 2014 – Rock or Bust [Rock or Bust] – 1,000,000

Records & Achievements

• At 58,224,000 equivalent album sales, Back In Black is the most successful Hard Rock/Heavy Metal album of all-time.
• At 58,224,000 equivalent album sales, Back In Black is the most successful album from 1980.
• At 58,224,000 equivalent album sales, Back In Black is the third most successful album from the 80s.
• At 22,008,000 equivalent album sales, Highway to Hell is the fourth most successful album from 1979.
• At 17,950,000 equivalent album sales, Highway to Hell is the most successful song from 1979.
• At 21,680,000 equivalent album sales, Back In Black is the most successful song from 1980.
• At 18,560,000 equivalent album sales, You Should Me All Night Long is the third most successful song from 1980.
• At 15,460,000 equivalent album sales, Thunderstruck is the most successful song from 1990.
• At 7,260,000 pure album sales, AC/DC is the highest selling artist of all-time in Australia.
• AC/DC released a record 14 consecutive studio albums with at least 1 million sales in each the US and Europe.
• AC/DC shipped well over 10 million albums in 2008, only Michael Jackson and Adele replicated this feat since.
• At 303, Back In Black is one of the two studio albums from the 80s with over 300 weeks charted inside the US BB200 Album Chart.

We have more for you…

… special focuses on AC/DC‘s best-selling albums in France:

• Back in Black (1980)
• Live by AC/DC (1992)
• and their whole discography

… checking out the upcoming artists or even voting for them!

… similar artists

… best-selling artists, albums, and singles