Best-Selling Albums of All Time

Table of Contents

Best-selling albums by equivalent album sales (EAS)

Remember to use the searching, filtering, and sorting options to make the most out of the ranking, like top sellers per year or per decade!

Please keep in mind that some artists are missing, because their analysis has not been done yet. Here is the complete list of covered artists.

The ranking

Album or artist :

Gender :

Language :

Genre :

Year :

g#	Album	Studio album (EAS)	Other LPs (EAS)	Physical singles (units sold)	Digital singles (units sold)	Streams	Daily streams	Total EAS	Gender	Language	Genre	Year
1	Thriller Michael Jackson	65,800,000	40,504,000	17,430,000	28,040,000	7,795,000 (06/14/25)	Av.: 2,410 LD: 4,000	123,534,000	Solo - Male	English	Pop	1,982
2	Hotel California Eagles	30,050,000	37,108,000	5,790,000	8,620,000	3,238,000 (06/14/25)	Av.: 1,040 LD: 1,480	73,426,000	Group - Male	English	Rock	1,976
3	Saturday Night Fever Bee Gees & Various Artists	34,800,000	24,813,000	19,810,000	8,900,000	4,791,000 (06/14/25)	Av.: 1,520 LD: 2,670	71,682,000	Various	English	Pop	1,977
4	Rumours Fleetwood Mac	37,836,000	21,113,000	5,900,000	15,000,000	7,013,000 (06/14/25)	Av.: 3,040 LD: 4,390	69,982,000	Group - Mixed	English	Rock	1,977
5	Bad Michael Jackson	33,600,000	22,287,000	13,160,000	16,010,000	4,548,000 (06/14/25)	Av.: 1,380 LD: 2,240	66,785,000	Solo - Male	English	Pop	1,987
6	Back In Black AC/DC	35,810,000	19,149,000	1,847,000	13,830,000	6,076,000 (06/14/25)	Av.: 2,040 LD: 2,710	63,664,000	Group - Male	English	Hard Rock / Metal	1,980
7	Nevermind Nirvana	27,750,000	21,026,000	3,590,000	13,800,000	9,648,000 (06/14/25)	Av.: 2,980 LD: 5,360	61,571,000	Group - Male	English	Rock	1,991
8	Abbey Road The Beatles	29,695,000	23,191,000	4,670,000	5,260,000	4,575,000 (06/14/25)	Av.: 1,940 LD: 1,990	59,652,000	Group - Male	English	Rock	1,969
9	Led Zeppelin IV Led Zeppelin	36,800,000	18,296,000	1,000,000	8,860,000	2,752,000 (06/14/25)	Av.: 980 LD: 1,080	59,477,000	Group - Male	English	Hard Rock / Metal	1,971
10	The Dark Side Of The Moon Pink Floyd	43,300,000	11,027,000	940,000	5,300,000	3,722,000 (06/14/25)	Av.: 1,140 LD: 1,960	59,126,000	Group - Male	English	Rock	1,973
11	The Bodyguard Whitney Houston & Various Artists	41,100,000	6,727,000	13,580,000	10,250,000	2,609,000 (06/14/25)	Av.: 780 LD: 1,300	56,048,000	Solo - Female	English	Pop	1,992
12	21 Adele	30,380,000	2,851,000	110,000	59,220,000	12,883,000 (06/14/25)	Av.: 5,540 LD: 4,820	55,030,000	Solo - Female	English	Soul / Motown R&B	2,011
13	The Wall Pink Floyd	31,300,000	15,459,000	6,077,000	8,000,000	4,915,000 (06/14/25)	Av.: 1,500 LD: 2,640	54,697,000	Group - Male	English	Rock	1,979
14	Grease Various Artists	38,100,000	5,605,000	24,400,000	6,340,000	2,528,000 (06/14/25)	Av.: 1,060 LD: 1,370	54,504,000	Various	English	Musical	1,978
15	Slippery When Wet Bon Jovi	23,600,000	22,492,000	4,400,000	14,800,000	4,480,000 (06/14/25)	Av.: 1,920 LD: 1,950	54,112,000	Group - Male	English	Hard Rock / Metal	1,986
16	Appetite For Destruction Guns N' Roses	30,770,000	10,822,000	2,800,000	20,680,000	7,270,000 (06/14/25)	Av.: 2,310 LD: 3,810	52,804,000	Group - Male	English	Hard Rock / Metal	1,987
17	Metallica (Black Album) Metallica	30,790,000	8,707,000	6,480,000	16,670,000	7,499,000 (06/14/25)	Av.: 2,600 LD: 4,260	51,441,000	Group - Male	English	Hard Rock / Metal	1,991
18	The Joshua Tree U2	26,800,000	17,389,000	4,050,000	12,300,000	3,132,000 (06/14/25)	Av.: 1,170 LD: 1,260	50,481,000	Group - Male	English	Rock	1,987
19	Born In The U.S.A. Bruce Springsteen	29,300,000	13,852,000	9,360,000	7,100,000	3,267,000 (06/14/25)	Av.: 1,010 LD: 1,850	50,292,000	Solo - Male	English	Rock	1,984
20	Brothers In Arms Dire Straits	30,850,000	12,534,000	3,950,000	5,080,000	2,723,000 (06/14/25)	Av.: 870 LD: 1,750	48,054,000	Group - Male	English	Rock	1,985
21	Dangerous Michael Jackson	29,550,000	11,404,000	10,120,000	6,910,000	2,557,000 (06/14/25)	Av.: 780 LD: 1,360	47,584,000	Solo - Male	English	Pop	1,991
22	Come On Over Shania Twain	33,500,000	7,644,000	9,630,000	6,000,000	2,470,000 (06/14/25)	Av.: 1,060 LD: 1,390	47,403,000	Solo - Female	English	Country	1,997
23	Let's Talk About Love Céline Dion	29,800,000	12,117,000	11,000,000	4,700,000	1,452,000 (06/14/25)	Av.: 530 LD: 600	47,374,000	Solo - Female	English	Pop	1,997
24	Bridge Over Troubled Water Simon & Garfunkel	19,580,000	21,072,000	10,840,000	6,020,000	1,749,000 (06/14/25)	Av.: 540 LD: 580	46,556,000	Group - Male	English	Folk	1,970
25	Help! The Beatles	11,240,000	28,635,000	11,073,000	2,870,000	2,105,000 (06/14/25)	Av.: 730 LD: 660	45,732,000	Group - Male	English	Rock	1,965
	Album								Gender	Language	Genre	Year

Want to see your favorite artist covered?
Vote for them in our requests leaderboard!

Join for free and vote!

Username

Password

E-mail Address

Full Name LEAVE THIS BLANK

I agree to the Terms of service

Highlights among the best-selling albums ever

The final ranking is full of surprises.

At the top, no shocker: Thriller dominates with over 120 million sales in total. Whether you count all units or stick strictly to pure studio album sales, it’s in a league of its own. Unsurprisingly, it’s also the biggest album of the 1980s, and of the entire 20th century.

Albums heavily pushed by their record labels since release, like Led Zeppelin’s IV and the iconic Dark Side of the Moon, land high at #8 and #9. Still, some might have expected them even higher. Regardless, they remain massive smashes.

Other albums rank lower here than on many other charts, especially those driven largely by U.S. popularity. Many rankings online rely heavily (and sometimes solely) on U.S. certifications, which inflates the global standing of artists like Garth Brooks. This distortion is made worse by the RIAA’s practice of multi-certifying albums with multiple discs. That’s how albums like Double Live by Garth Brooks or Greatest Hits Volume I & II by Billy Joel end up in some all-time global top 10s — which simply doesn’t hold up when looking at actual worldwide sales.

These types of compilations, which mostly recycle existing material, aren’t listed as standalone albums here. Instead, their sales are credited back to the original studio albums the tracks came from. That’s why you won’t find Legend by Bob Marley & the Wailers or ABBA‘s Gold on this list — but you will see Exodus and Arrival in their place.

On the flip side, some albums reveal their true impact thanks to consistent sales across all formats. Hotel California by the Eagles, Saturday Night Fever by the Bee Gees, Michael Jackson’s Bad, and Rumours by Fleetwood Mac all break into the top 5. The Eagles’ classic even takes the crown as the top album of the 1970s, beating up a tough competition.

Nirvana’s Nevermind has been climbing steadily year after year. Now at #7, it stands as the most successful album of the 1990s.

There’s a lot to notice outside the global top 10 as well. Elvis’ Christmas Album dominates among all pre-1960 records. The Beatles are, of course, well represented with Abbey Road leading the 1960s and five more albums making the top 10.

In more recent decades, iconic female artists take the lead. The Fame by Lady Gaga tops the 2000s, while 21 by Adele clearly leads the 2010s. As for the 2020s, the race is still wide open.

And the most successful female album of all time? That depends. If you count The Bodyguard soundtrack as a Whitney Houston album, it takes the spot. If not, then Adele’s 21 leads. And given her continued success, the British powerhouse may well secure the crown in the long run.

Why do we assign weights to different formats?

Ever since we talk about the best-selling albums of all time, we refer to pure sales of a specific release. American pop legend Michael Jackson‘s Thriller is often listed as the #1 album ever, accurately so, although many uneducated or pro-clickbait media (see [1][2][3]) used US-only RIAA certifications to claim that the Eagles‘ 71-75 Greatest Hits album holds the crown.

Taking indirect sales into account

Apart from the usual US vs World confusion, a more implicit issue has been corrupting the perception of the truly best selling albums of all time for the general public. That’s the difference between pure sales of a precise album, against sales of all records powered by one era.

This led the Worlds Music Awards to claim that Thriller had sold 104 million units as of 2006. In reality, these were total sales of all albums which included the song Thriller on their tracklist at that point, rather than sales of the 1982 pop LP.

It highlights the importance of indirect sales to gauge the real success of an album. For example, let’s take the fact that Pink Floyd‘s Dark side of the moon charted for roughly 740 weeks between 1973 and 1988. It’s true, but it’s only one part of the story.

Many studio albums would remain longer in charts if they weren’t replaced by subsequent compilation albums. This creates an unfair environment, where albums which were never challenged by subsequent best of albums seem much stronger than they really were, and vice versa.

That’s why we introduced our original CSPC approach, to put all albums on par, we account for every sale generated by one studio album, weight them on par with albums, and see which ones are indeed the best selling albums of all time.

It means we take streaming into account, as well as compilations which are linked to the studio albums they cover.

Conversion ratios between formats

The table above shows the best-selling albums ever using the following ratios:

Studio album: sales of the original album (ratio 1/1)
Other LPs: sales of compilations generated thanks to the album (ratio 1/1)
Physical singles: sales of physical singles from the album (added to CSPC total with a ratio 3/10 for 2-tracks, 5/10 for EPs and Maxis)
Digital singles: sales of digital singles from the album (ratio 1.5/10 for CSPC total)
Streaming: EAS of all the album tracks (ratio 1/1500 for Audio stream and 1/6750 for Video stream)

Sales figures reflect the value as collected at the time of the artist’s respective articles while streams are updated daily. Albums from unstudied artists which gained significant streams are listed but miss the sales component.

Best-selling studio albums in pure sales

For those of you who’d like to now focus on studio albums pure sales, this list reflects the top album based on pure sales. Studio albums alone are considered here. Compilations, lives, and box sets are not.

Album or artist :

Year :

g#	Album	Year	Units sold	As of
1	Thriller Michael Jackson	1982	65,800,000	09/27/17
2	The Dark Side Of The Moon Pink Floyd	1973	43,300,000	06/18/17
3	The Bodyguard Whitney Houston & Various Artists	1992	41,100,000	05/04/17
4	Grease Various Artists	1978	38,100,000	09/14/21
5	Rumours Fleetwood Mac	1977	37,836,000	06/15/25
6	Led Zeppelin IV Led Zeppelin	1971	36,800,000	09/07/21
7	Back In Black AC/DC	1980	35,810,000	02/20/18
8	Saturday Night Fever Bee Gees & Various Artists	1977	34,800,000	04/09/17
9	Bad Michael Jackson	1987	33,600,000	09/27/17
10	Jagged Little Pill Alanis Morissette	1995	33,570,000	06/05/18
11	Come On Over Shania Twain	1997	33,500,000	02/25/22
12	The Wall Pink Floyd	1979	31,300,000	06/18/17
13	Brothers In Arms Dire Straits	1985	30,850,000	03/23/18
14	Metallica (Black Album) Metallica	1991	30,790,000	02/13/19
15	Appetite For Destruction Guns N' Roses	1987	30,770,000	03/01/18
16	21 Adele	2011	30,380,000	06/21/22
17	Hotel California Eagles	1976	30,050,000	12/20/17
18	Dirty Dancing Various Artists	1987	29,970,000	01/13/18
19	Let's Talk About Love Céline Dion	1997	29,800,000	09/28/21
20	Abbey Road The Beatles	1969	29,695,000	06/15/25
21	Dangerous Michael Jackson	1991	29,550,000	09/27/17
22	Born In The U.S.A. Bruce Springsteen	1984	29,300,000	07/07/17
23	Titanic James Horner	1997	28,510,000	06/18/18
24	Falling Into You Céline Dion	1996	28,100,000	09/28/21
25	Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band The Beatles	1967	27,954,000	06/15/25
26	Nevermind Nirvana	1991	27,750,000	07/09/17
27	Bat Out Of Hell Meat Loaf	1977	27,410,000	06/16/18
28	The Joshua Tree U2	1987	26,800,000	09/18/21
29	Music Box Mariah Carey	1993	26,756,000	06/15/25
30	Supernatural Santana	1999	25,990,000	08/05/20
31	...Baby One More Time Britney Spears	1999	24,195,000	04/28/19
32	Come Away With Me Norah Jones	2002	23,900,000	01/16/22
33	Millennium Backstreet Boys	1999	23,800,000	04/02/22
34	Slippery When Wet Bon Jovi	1986	23,600,000	01/28/22
35	The Marshall Mathers LP Eminem	2000	23,340,000	06/22/21
36	No Jacket Required Phil Collins	1985	23,310,000	04/11/18
37	Purple Rain Prince And The Revolution	1984	23,030,000	10/04/18
38	The Eminem Show Eminem	2002	23,020,000	06/22/21
39	True Blue Madonna	1986	22,550,000	08/20/17
40	Tracy Chapman Tracy Chapman	1988	22,470,000	06/25/19
41	Boston Boston	1976	22,430,000	06/01/19
42	Wish You Were Here Pink Floyd	1975	22,300,000	06/18/17
43	Spice Spice Girls	1996	21,900,000	03/23/17
44	Led Zeppelin II Led Zeppelin	1969	21,900,000	09/07/21
45	Whitney Houston Whitney Houston	1985	21,900,000	05/04/17
46	Ten Pearl Jam	1991	21,372,000	06/15/25
47	Like A Virgin Madonna	1984	21,250,000	08/20/17
48	The Beatles (White Album) The Beatles	1968	21,027,000	06/15/25
49	25 Adele	2015	20,935,000	06/21/22
50	...But Seriously Phil Collins	1989	20,810,000	04/11/18
51	Hybrid Theory Linkin Park	2000	20,800,000	06/04/17
52	Daydream Mariah Carey	1995	20,553,000	06/15/25
53	Whitney Whitney Houston	1987	19,800,000	05/04/17
54	Dookie Green Day	1994	19,750,000	03/11/17
55	Bridge Over Troubled Water Simon & Garfunkel	1970	19,580,000	05/11/18
56	Hysteria Def Leppard	1987	19,547,000	06/15/25
57	Off The Wall Michael Jackson	1979	19,425,000	09/27/17
58	Oops!... I Did It Again Britney Spears	2000	19,305,000	04/28/19
59	Faith George Michael	1987	18,850,000	05/06/17
60	Use Your Illusion II Guns N' Roses	1991	18,800,000	03/01/18
61	HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I Michael Jackson	1995	18,625,000	09/27/17
62	Use Your Illusion I Guns N' Roses	1991	18,010,000	03/01/18
63	Tragic Kingdom No Doubt	1995	18,000,000	03/29/20
64	No Need To Argue The Cranberries	1994	17,840,000	01/25/18
65	Houses Of The Holy Led Zeppelin	1973	17,700,000	09/07/21
66	(What's The Story) Morning Glory? Oasis	1995	17,660,000	12/06/17
67	Achtung Baby U2	1991	17,500,000	09/18/21
68	Breakfast In America Supertramp	1979	16,760,000	08/13/19
69	Fallen Evanescence	2003	16,730,000	06/30/19
70	No Fences Garth Brooks	1990	16,640,000	01/05/19
71	The Colour Of My Love Céline Dion	1993	16,600,000	09/28/21
72	The Score Fugees	1996	16,525,000	02/18/21
73	Californication Red Hot Chili Peppers	1999	16,270,000	03/29/18
74	Let Go Avril Lavigne	2002	16,220,000	02/10/18
75	Out Of Time R.E.M.	1991	16,005,000	09/24/21
76	The Woman In Me Shania Twain	1995	16,000,000	02/25/22
77	Ray of Light Madonna	1998	16,000,000	08/20/17
78	Back To Black Amy Winehouse	2006	15,940,000	07/19/19
79	CrazySexyCool TLC	1994	15,900,000	04/07/19
80	…And Justice For All Metallica	1988	15,840,000	02/13/19
81	Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin	1969	15,800,000	09/07/21
82	Rubber Soul The Beatles	1965	15,760,000	06/15/25
83	The Fame / The Fame Monster Lady Gaga	2008	15,745,000	12/22/20
84	Face Value Phil Collins	1981	15,640,000	04/11/18
85	The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill Ms. Lauryn Hill	1998	15,610,000	02/21/21
86	Private Dancer Tina Turner	1984	15,594,000	06/15/25
87	Flashdance Various Artists	1983	15,590,000	12/05/18
88	Van Halen Van Halen	1978	15,575,000	08/14/20
89	Confessions Usher	2004	15,500,000	09/04/17
90	1984 Van Halen	1984	15,440,000	08/14/20
91	Harvest Neil Young	1972	15,325,000	05/16/21
92	The Stranger Billy Joel	1977	15,300,000	11/03/21
93	No Strings Attached NSYNC	2000	15,300,000	02/09/18
94	American Idiot Green Day	2004	15,250,000	03/11/17
95	Highway To Hell AC/DC	1979	15,150,000	02/20/18
96	Synchronicity The Police	1983	15,050,000	06/06/20
97	Déjà Vu Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young	1970	14,600,000	05/16/21
98	Graceland Paul Simon	1986	14,570,000	05/10/18
99	Revolver The Beatles	1966	14,543,000	06/15/25
100	No Angel Dido	1999	14,460,000	02/18/19
	Album	Year

Best-selling studio album of the year (since the 1940s)

This final list is about the biggest album of every year. What was the one release that outsold all others each year?

Year	Album	EAS
1946	The Voice Of Frank Sinatra Frank Sinatra	2,168,000
1948	Christmas Songs By Sinatra Frank Sinatra	9,865,000
1954	Songs For Young Lovers Frank Sinatra	5,027,000
1955	In The Wee Small Hours Frank Sinatra	3,983,000
1956	Songs For Swingin' Lovers! Frank Sinatra	19,103,000
1957	Elvis' Christmas Album Elvis Presley	36,669,000
1958	Come Fly With Me Frank Sinatra	11,895,000
1959	Come Dance With Me! Frank Sinatra	4,823,000
1960	G.I. Blues Elvis Presley	4,476,000
1961	Blue Hawaii Elvis Presley	30,932,000
1962	Surfin' Safari The Beach Boys	4,885,000
1963	Please Please Me The Beatles	40,310,000
1964	A Hard Day's Night The Beatles	33,829,000
1965	Help! The Beatles	45,732,000
1966	Revolver The Beatles	32,027,000
1967	The Doors The Doors	40,314,000
1968	The Beatles (White Album) The Beatles	38,447,000
1969	Abbey Road The Beatles	59,652,000
1970	Bridge Over Troubled Water Simon & Garfunkel	46,556,000
1971	Led Zeppelin IV Led Zeppelin	59,477,000
1972	Machine Head Deep Purple	35,814,000
1973	The Dark Side Of The Moon Pink Floyd	59,126,000
1974	Natty Dread Bob Marley & The Wailers	15,099,000
1975	A Night At The Opera Queen	44,013,000
1976	Hotel California Eagles	73,426,000
1977	Saturday Night Fever Bee Gees & Various Artists	71,682,000
1978	Grease Various Artists	54,504,000
1979	The Wall Pink Floyd	54,697,000
1980	Back In Black AC/DC	63,664,000
1981	Escape Journey	35,437,000
1982	Thriller Michael Jackson	123,534,000
1983	Synchronicity The Police	39,353,000
1984	Born In The U.S.A. Bruce Springsteen	50,292,000
1985	Brothers In Arms Dire Straits	48,054,000
1986	Slippery When Wet Bon Jovi	54,112,000
1987	Bad Michael Jackson	66,785,000
1988	Tracy Chapman Tracy Chapman	28,865,000
1989	...But Seriously Phil Collins	31,076,000
1990	No Fences Garth Brooks	34,014,000
1991	Nevermind Nirvana	61,571,000
1992	The Bodyguard Whitney Houston & Various Artists	56,048,000
1993	Music Box Mariah Carey	35,785,000
1994	Dookie Green Day	28,825,000
1995	Jagged Little Pill Alanis Morissette	43,072,000
1996	Falling Into You Céline Dion	43,365,000
1997	Come On Over Shania Twain	47,403,000
1998	Ray of Light Madonna	21,629,000
1999	...Baby One More Time Britney Spears	33,579,000
2000	Hybrid Theory Linkin Park	38,941,000
2001	Laundry Service Shakira	19,366,000
2002	The Eminem Show Eminem	40,750,000
2003	Fallen Evanescence	25,903,000
2004	American Idiot Green Day	24,364,000
2005	All The Right Reasons Nickelback	20,135,000
2006	Back To Black Amy Winehouse	27,048,000
2007	Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded Rihanna	26,904,000
2008	The Fame / The Fame Monster Lady Gaga	43,306,000
2009	The E.N.D. Black Eyed Peas	22,434,000
2010	Doo-Wops & Hooligans Bruno Mars	32,115,000
2011	21 Adele	55,030,000
2012	Red Taylor Swift	28,346,000
2013	Frozen Various Artists	23,345,000
2014	1989 Taylor Swift	41,730,000
2015	25 Adele	34,276,000
2016	Starboy The Weeknd	22,195,000
2017	Divide (÷) Ed Sheeran	37,307,000
2018	Beerbongs & Bentleys Post Malone	19,190,000
2019	Lover Taylor Swift	21,847,000
2020	After Hours The Weeknd	19,625,000
2021	Sour Olivia Rodrigo	20,956,000
2022	Un Verano Sin Ti Bad Bunny	22,031,000
2023	One Thing At A Time Morgan Wallen	11,495,000
2024	The Tortured Poets Department Taylor Swift	14,439,000
2025	Debí Tirar Más Fotos Bad Bunny	5,906,000