So, after checking all figures, what’s the most successful album by U2 and how many overall equivalent albums sales have they achieved? Well, at this point we barely need to do the addition of all figures defined all over this article!
In the following results table, all categories display figures in equivalent album sales. If different, pure sales are listed between parentheses.
artist_spotify_id
#
Cover
Album
Studio albums (EAS)
sales_update_date
Other LPs (EAS)
Physical singles (units sold)
Digital singles (units sold)
Streams
Streams increase
Total EAS
valid_as_of
streams_updated_value
album_id
51Blml2LZPmy7TTiAg47vQ
1
Boy
3,700,000
18.09.21
1,790,000
124,000(200,000)
56,000(370,000)
98,000 (03/30/23)
Av.: 50LD: 60
5,768,000
20,230,330
98,000
1,571
51Blml2LZPmy7TTiAg47vQ
2
October
3,600,000
18.09.21
706,000
110,000(150,000)
25,000(170,000)
43,000 (03/30/23)
Av.: 20LD: 20
4,484,000
20,230,330
43,000
1,572
51Blml2LZPmy7TTiAg47vQ
3
War
10,900,000
18.09.21
13,037,000
363,000(900,000)
342,000(2,280,000)
504,000 (03/30/23)
Av.: 250LD: 290
25,146,000
20,230,330
504,000
1,573
51Blml2LZPmy7TTiAg47vQ
4
The Unforgettable Fire
8,100,000
18.09.21
4,213,000
484,000(1,400,000)
281,000(1,870,000)
395,000 (03/30/23)
Av.: 200LD: 260
13,473,000
20,230,330
395,000
1,574
51Blml2LZPmy7TTiAg47vQ
5
The Joshua Tree
26,800,000
18.09.21
17,389,000
1,470,000(3,864,000)
1,690,000(11,270,000)
2,088,000 (03/30/23)
Av.: 1,000LD: 1,210
49,437,000
20,230,330
2,088,000
1,575
51Blml2LZPmy7TTiAg47vQ
6
Rattle And Hum
13,800,000
18.09.21
1,839,000
908,000(2,900,000)
217,000(1,450,000)
254,000 (03/30/23)
Av.: 120LD: 150
17,018,000
20,230,330
254,000
1,576
51Blml2LZPmy7TTiAg47vQ
7
Achtung Baby
17,500,000
18.09.21
5,025,000
1,323,000(4,050,000)
642,000(4,280,000)
900,000 (03/30/23)
Av.: 450LD: 520
25,390,000
20,230,330
900,000
1,577
51Blml2LZPmy7TTiAg47vQ
8
Zooropa
8,000,000
18.09.21
364,000
344,000(1,050,000)
92,000(610,000)
122,000 (03/30/23)
Av.: 60LD: 70
8,921,000
20,230,330
122,000
1,578
51Blml2LZPmy7TTiAg47vQ
9
Pop
6,700,000
18.09.21
248,000
701,000(2,048,000)
64,000(430,000)
79,000 (03/30/23)
Av.: 30LD: 30
7,792,000
20,230,330
79,000
1,579
51Blml2LZPmy7TTiAg47vQ
10
All That You Can't Leave Behind
12,300,000
18.09.21
6,784,000
667,000(1,850,000)
893,000(5,950,000)
789,000 (03/30/23)
Av.: 360LD: 460
21,433,000
20,230,330
789,000
1,580
51Blml2LZPmy7TTiAg47vQ
11
How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb
10,200,000
18.09.21
640,000
344,000(816,000)
346,000(2,310,000)
304,000 (03/30/23)
Av.: 140LD: 170
11,834,000
20,230,330
304,000
1,581
51Blml2LZPmy7TTiAg47vQ
12
No Line On The Horizon
4,400,000
18.09.21
46,000
182,000(50,000)
239,000(1,590,000)
127,000 (03/30/23)
Av.: 30LD: 30
4,993,000
20,230,330
127,000
1,582
51Blml2LZPmy7TTiAg47vQ
13
Songs Of Innocence
1,100,000
18.09.21
0
0(0)
75,000(500,000)
357,000 (03/30/23)
Av.: 90LD: 110
1,532,000
20,230,330
357,000
1,583
51Blml2LZPmy7TTiAg47vQ
14
Songs Of Experience (Deluxe Edition)
0
0
0(0)
0(0)
384,000 (03/30/23)
Av.: 0LD: 0
384,000
20,230,330
384,000
0
51Blml2LZPmy7TTiAg47vQ
15
Orphan
0
18.09.21
970,000
930,000(1,500,000)
30,000(200,000)
370,000 (09/18/21)
N/A
2,300,000
20,230,330
370,000
1,749
'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)
What do we see here? The Joshua Tree is the predictable winner. Up to an incredible 47,7 million, the only albums we studied so far topping it are Nirvana‘s Nevermind, the Grease Soundtrack and Led Zeppelin‘s fourth album, all over 52 million.
There is more to highlight. Whilst on pure sales Achtung Baby is their second biggest selling title by far, with the CSPC’s approach that crown goes to War at 24,6 million, something that not many would have seen coming a few pages earlier. Achtung Baby, on its own hand, still cumulated a great 24,4 million CSPC’s sales.
Driven by Beautiful Day, All That You Can’t Leave Behind reaches 20,5 million CSPC’s sales, proving, once again, it is far bigger than How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb, despite having similar pure album sales and being remembered as about equally successful. As it generates more yearly sales now than both Achtung Baby and War, it may even challenge the band discography runner up spot in the future.
The Unforgettable Fire looks now better with 13 million CSPC’s sales, although still lower than Rattle And Hum at 16,7 million. In the other side, Boy, October, Zooropa and Pop didn’t get much outside their original sales.
You may be wondering about U2‘s final CSPC total. Well, the final result is an astonishing 194,5 million, only 6 million short of Led Zeppelin‘s total.
Do not forget to check our amazing lists posted inside the CSPC: Data Collector which includes the full listing of all CSPC results compiled so far to better gauge their positionin the history of the music industry.
As usual, feel free to comment and / or ask a question!
54m, they probably have about 1m of catalog sales since the last update.
Antonio
3 months ago
I realized that you got the total of physical singles of The Joshua Tree wrong, on page 26 it reports 1,315,000 while on page 16 its total is 1,215,000 so The Joshua Tree total CSPC is 49,217,000 I hope you make this correction
Antonio
4 months ago
congratulations you have solved the problem on page 26, but only Songs of Experience is missing
Antonio
4 months ago
Good evening guys
you don’t see page 26 of the final albums results (CSPC)
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How many albums (all types) have U2 sold in the U.S.?
About 68m (top 20).
Thank you. Very much appreciated! I thought they’d be somewhere between 60 and 70 million. Roughly 52/53 million of those being studio albums?
54m, they probably have about 1m of catalog sales since the last update.
I realized that you got the total of physical singles of The Joshua Tree wrong, on page 26 it reports 1,315,000 while on page 16 its total is 1,215,000 so The Joshua Tree total CSPC is 49,217,000 I hope you make this correction
congratulations you have solved the problem on page 26, but only Songs of Experience is missing
Good evening guys
you don’t see page 26 of the final albums results (CSPC)