France Best Selling Albums Ever:
Update Part 2

Madonna – Ray Of Light (1998) : 1 015 000

Madonna is one of those acts that require no introduction. It doesn’t mean all her catalog albums are selling bucket loads though. Quite the opposite, the American legend past albums are struggling to sell well lately. During the 90s to the early 00s, while she was nowhere near classic rock stars in terms of catalog sales, The Immaculate Collection was still doing pretty well. Celebration took over from 2009 but without reproducing its impact. As for studio sets like Ray Of Light, they are selling low numbers now, mostly to newly gained fans only which aren’t numerous since a few years due to the lack of impact of the singer most recent albums.

Dido – No Angel (1999) : 1 250 000

After succeeding to follow up the huge breakthrough album No Angel with Life For Rent, Dido seemed to be here to stay. Both albums consistent catalog sales until 2006 surely confirmed that feeling. When she came back in 2008, all fans were gone though with Safe Trip Home ending as one of the most brutal flops of the last 10 years. Surprisingly, France was one of the best markets for this album, just like for 2013 set Girl Who Get Away. Her Greatest Hits album is eating most of the artist catalog sales, letting only a few ones to No Angel.

Mylène Farmer – Innamoramento (1999) : 1 140 000

It’s impossible to write an article about best selling albums in France without going by Mylène Farmer at some point. What isn’t expected is to see one of her blockbuster albums, here Innamoramento, featuring among the worst catalog sellers out of all million sellers. Her situation is very close to the one of Johnny Hallyday with past studio albums not selling much as all interested consumers already owning them, only being occasionally boosted by a new reissue, which happens quite often for them. Nothing came out in 2016 though so there have been no rebound for this 1999 smash.

Santana – Supernatural (1999) : 1 000 000

Just like Cher or Tom Jones strong returns, the incredible comeback enjoyed by Santana with his Supernatural album was short-lived. By 2005 his new albums were barely entering the Top 20 already. The album Supernatural itself hasn’t translated into a rock classic album at all with the artist previous records a la Abraxas selling much more units per year now.