Yearly Most Successful Female Album: The beginning (1960-1982)

1972 – Carly Simon – No Secrets

The growing reputation of Carly Simon went through the roof in early 1973 when her ground breaking single You’re So Vain was released. The single and its parent album No Secrets made it to #3 in the UK, in the US they did even better as both made it to the top for 3 and 5 weeks respectively. They both sold well over a million units.

You’re So Vain is also the main traction (more than 65% of its strength) of The Best Of Carly Simon, a compilation which sold around 4 million units. The same situation is repeated for minor best of albums and live outputs. In total, No Secrets generated some 7 million equivalent album sales.

Challengers

After passing by 18 difficult months, Diana Ross returned to success thanks to the US #1 album Lady Sings the Blues. This soundtrack sold well over 2 million units on its own, but it falls under No Secrets due to the lack of enduring appeal of its songs which are non-factors as part of the artist’s compilations. Carole King‘s follow up to Tapestry, Music, shot to #1 too but the heavy anticipation vanished quickly.