So, what are the best-selling albums and artists of all time?
Last year, according to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the Eagles’ Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975 ranked as the top-selling album in history. The album has sold the equivalent of 38 million copies in the US.
Now, the RIAA has updated its list. While not much has changed, we’ve included the Top Artist (Albums) certified Gold and Platinum in the US as well.
Take a look.
The Top 100 Albums in the US.
1. Eagles – Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975 (38 million).
2. Michael Jackson – Thriller (33 million).
3. Eagles – Hotel California (26 million).
4. AC/DC – Back in Black (25 million).
5. The Beatles – The Beatles (24 million).
6. Billy Joel – Greatest Hits Volume I & Volume II (23 million).
7. Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin IV (23 million).
8. Pink Floyd – The Wall (23 million).
9. Garth Brooks – Double Live (21 million).
10. Hootie & The Blowfish – Cracked Rear View (21 million).
11. Fleetwood Mac – Rumours (20 million).
12. Shania Twain – Come On Over (20 million).
13. Garth Brooks – No Fences (18 million).
14. Guns N’ Roses – Appetite for Destruction (18 million).
15. Whitney Houston – The Bodyguard [Soundtrack] (18 million).
16. Boston – Boston (17 million).
17. Elton John – Greatest Hits (17 million).
18. The Beatles – The Beatles 1967 – 1970 (17 million).
19. Alanis Morissette – Jagged Little Pill (16 million).
20. Bee Gees – Saturday Night Fever (16 million).
21. Led Zeppelin – Physical Graffiti (16 million).
22. Metallica – Metallica (16 million).
23. Bob Marley & The Wailers – Legend (15 million).
24. Bruce Springsteen – Born in the U.S.A. (15 million).
25. Journey – Greatest Hits (15 million).
26. Pink Floyd – Dark Side of the Moon (15 million).
27. Santana – Supernatural (15 million).
28. The Beatles – The Beatles 1962 – 1966 (15 million).
29. Adele – 21 (14 million).
30. Backstreet Boys – Backstreet Boys (14 million).
31. Britney Spears – …Baby One More Time (14 million).
32. Garth Brooks – Ropin’ The Wind (14 million).
33. Meat Loaf – Bat Out Of Hell (14 million).
34. Simon & Garfunkel – Simon & Garfunkel’s Greatest Hits (14 million).
35. Steve Miller Band – Greatest Hits 1974 – 1978 (14 million).
36. Backstreet Boys – Millennium (13 million).
37. Bruce Springsteen – Bruce Springsteen & E Street Band Live 1975 – ’85 (13 million).
38. Carole King – Tapestry (13 million).
39. Pearl Jam – Ten (13 million).
40. Prince & The Revolution – Purple Rain [Soundtrack] (13 million).
41. Dixie Chicks – Wide Open Spaces (13 million).
42. Whitney Houston – Whitney Houston (13 million).
43. Bon Jovi – Slippery When Wet (12 million).
44. Boyz II Men – II (12 million).
45. Celine Dion – Falling Into You (12 million).
46. Def Leppard – Hysteria (12 million).
47. Jewel – Pieces of You (12 million).
48. Kenny G – Breathless (12 million).
49. Kenny Rogers – Kenny Rogers’ Greatest Hits (12 million).
50. Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin II (12 million).
51. Linkin Park – Hybrid Theory (12 million).
52. Matchbox Twenty – Yourself Or Someone Like You (12 million).
53. Phil Collins – No Jacket Required (12 million).
54. Shania Twain – The Woman In Me (12 million).
55. Forrest Gump [Soundtrack] (12 million).
56. The Beatles – Abbey Road (12 million).
57. The Rolling Stones – Hot Rocks (12 million).
58. TLC – Crazysexycool (12 million).
59. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – Greatest Hits (12 million).
60. Adele – 25 (11 million).
61. Aerosmith – Aerosmith’s Greatest Hits (11 million).
62. Creed – Human Clay (11 million).
63. Eagles – Eagles Greatest Hits Volume II (11 million).
64. James Taylor – James Taylor’s Greatest Hits (11 million).
65. Kid Rock – Devil Without A Cause (11 million).
66. Led Zeppelin – Houses of the Holy (11 million).
67. ‘N Sync – No Strings Attached (11 million).
68. Notorious B.I.G. – Life After Death (11 million).
69. Outkast – Speakerboxx / The Love Below (11 million).
70. Shania Twain – Up! (11 million).
71. Dirty Dancing [Soundtrack] (11 million).
72. Titanic [Soundtrack] (11 million).
73. The Beatles – 1 (11 million).
74. The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (11 million).
75. Dixie Chicks – Fly (11 million).
76. 2 Pac – Greatest Hits (10 million).
77. 2 Pac – All Eyez On Me (10 million).
78. Beastie Boys – Licensed To Ill (10 million).
79. Billy Joel – The Stranger (10 million).
80. Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band – Greatest Hits (10 million).
81. Britney Spears – Oops!…I Did It Again (10 million).
82. Celine Dion – Let’s Talk About Love (10 million)
83. Creedence Clearwater Revival – Chronicle: 20 Greatest Hits (10 million).
84. Def Leppard – Pyromania (10 million).
85. Doobie Brothers – Best Of The Doobies (10 million).
86. Elvis Presley – Elvis’ Christmas Album (10 million).
87. Eminem – The Marshall Mathers LP (10 million).
88. Eminem – The Eminem Show (10 million).
89. Eric Clapton – Unplugged (10 million).
90. Garth Brooks – The Ultimate Hits (10 million).
91. Garth Brooks – Sevens (10 million).
92. Garth Brooks – The Chase (10 million).
93. Garth Brooks – Garth Brooks (10 million).
94. Garth Brooks – In Pieces (10 million).
95. Garth Brooks – The Hits (10 million).
96. George Michael – Faith (10 million).
97. Green Day – Dookie (10 million).
98. Hammer – Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em (10 million).
99. Lauryn Hill – The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (10 million).
100. Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin (10 million).
The Top 100 Artists, according to RIAA’s Certified Gold & Platinum Sales.
1. The Beatles – 183 million certified units.
2. Garth Brooks – 157 million certified units.
3. Elvis Presley – 146.5 million certified units.
4. Eagles – 120 million certified units.
5. Led Zeppelin – 111.5 million certified units.
6. Michael Jackson – 85 million certified units.
7. Billy Joel – 84.5 million certified units.
8. Elton John – 79 million certified units.
9. AC/DC – 75 million certified units.
10. Pink Floyd – 75 million certified units.
11. George Strait – 69 million certified units.
12. Barbra Streisand – 68.5 million certified units.
13. Mariah Carey – 68.5 million certified units.
14. Aerosmith – 66.5 million certified units.
15. The Rolling Stones – 66.5 million certified units.
16. Bruce Springsteen – 65.5 million certified units.
17. Madonna – 64.5 million certified units.
18. Metallica – 63 million certified units.
19. Whitney Houston – 60 million certified units.
20. Van Halen – 56.5 million certified units.
21. Fleetwood Mac – 54.5 million certified units.
22. U2 – 52 million certified units.
23. Celine Dion – 51 million certified units.
24. Neil Diamond – 49.5 million certified units.
25. Journey – 48 million certified units.
26. Kenny G – 48 million certified units.
27. Shania Twain – 48 million certified units.
28. Kenny Rogers – 47.5 million certified units.
29. Alabama – 46.5 million certified units.
30. Eminem – 46.5 million certified units.
31. Taylor Swift – 46 million certified units.
32. Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band – 44.5 million certified units.
33. Guns N’ Roses – 44.5 million certified units.
34. Alan Jackson – 43.5 million certified units.
35. Santana – 43.5 million certified units.
36. Queen – 43 million certified units.
37. Reba McEntire – 41 million certified units.
38. Eric Clapton – 40 million certified units.
39. Chicago – 38.5 million certified units.
40. Simon & Garfunkel – 38.5 million certified units.
41. Foreigner – 38 million certified units.
42. Rod Stewart – 38 million certified units.
43. Tim McGraw – 37.5 million certified units.
44. Backstreet Boys – 37 million certified units.
45. 2 Pac – 36.5 million certified units.
46. Bob Dylan – 36 million certified units.
47. Def Leppard – 35.5 million certified units.
48. Bon Jovi – 34.5 million certified units.
49. Britney Spears – 34.5 million certified units.
50. Dave Matthews Band – 34.5 million certified units.
51. John Denver – 33.5 million certified units.
52. Phil Collins – 33.5 million certified units.
53. James Taylor – 33 million certified units.
54. Dixie Chicks – 33 million certified units.
55. The Doors – 33 million certified units.
56. R. Kelly – 32 million certified units.
57. Pearl Jam – 31.5 million certified units.
58. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – 31.5 million certified units.
59. Willie Nelson – 31.5 million certified units.
60. Boston – 31 million certified units.
61. Kenny Chesney – 30.5 million certified units.
62. Linda Ronstadt – 30 million certified units.
63. Ozzy Osbourne – 29.25 million certified units.
64. Linkin Park – 28.5 million certified units.
65. Lynyrd Skynyrd – 28.5 million certified units.
66. Adele – 28 million certified units.
67. Bee Gees – 28 million certified units.
68. Creedence Clearwater Revival – 28 million certified units.
69. Mannheim Steamroller – 28 million certified units.
70. Michael Bolton – 28 million certified units.
71. ‘N Sync – 28 million certified units.
72. Nirvana – 28 million certified units.
73. Barry Manilow – 27.5 million certified units.
74. Brooks & Dunn – 27.5 million certified units.
75. Jay-Z – 27.5 million certified units.
76. John Mellencamp – 27.5 million certified units.
77. Boyz II Men – 27 million certified units.
78. Frank Sinatra – 27 million certified units.
79. Enya – 26.5 million certified units.
80. Janet Jackson – 26 million certified units.
81. Rush – 26 million certified units.
82. Drake – 25.5 million certified units.
83. Faith Hill – 25.5 million certified units.
84. Luther Vandross – 25.5 million certified units.
85. Steve Miller Band – 25.5 million certified units.
86. Creed – 25 million certified units.
87. Hootie & The Blowfish – 25 million certified units.
88. Motley Crue – 25 million certified units.
89. Red Hot Chili Peppers – 25 million certified units.
90. Toby Keith – 25 million certified units.
91. ZZ Top – 25 million certified units.
92. R.E.O. Speedwagon – 24.5 million certified units.
93. The Carpenters – 24.5 million certified units.
94. Green Day – 24 million certified units.
95. Kanye West – 24 million certified units.
96. Nickelback – 24 million certified units.
97. Vince Gill – 24 million certified units.
98. Earth, Wind, & Fire – 23.5 million certified units.
99. Johnny Cash – 23.5 million certified units.
100. Kid Rock – 23.5 million certified units.
Featured image by Rachel Kramer (CC by 2.0).
This is bullshit Riaa is just racist music biz Mj sold over billion albums and you just pit him down just because he’s black!!! Fuck off you fucking parasite cunt riaa
wrong
def leppard sold 25 million with hysteria
Number 55. Tom Perry and The Heartbreakers? Hmmmm, he must have been the new frontman.
This list is for sure flawed. RHCP have at least 3 albums that broke 10 million, and they’re approaching 90 million, not 25.
It sure is flawed.Elvis has sold way more albums than Garth Brookes and even he knows it.
That’s correct
Shut up nerd
wrong
def leppard sold 25 million with hysteria
this whole list is flawed beyond belief
The RIAA has never been very good to Elvis.I would put money on the fact he has outsold Garth Brookes and even he knows it.
That’s so correct
shut up nerd
Falta SUPERTRAMP
Gimme a beer San, and make it snappy. Pussio.
Kiss isnt even in any of this? This list is just the biggest joke i have ever seen!!
Yeah coz kiss suck nutsacks and you spelt dweeb wrong you gimpy gimp gimp. You also have a pretty shit life as all you do is write stupid little comments and criticise people. Such a sad liitle nonce, i hope you slip in the shwower
wrong
def leppard sold 25 million with hysteria
this whole list is flawed beyond belief
and mr IHAVEACLASSLIFE you complain about peoples spelling… then you say slip into the shwower lol…. idiot
Rush has sold more than 40 million albums. What a joke this list is.
this entire list is utter tripe and inaccurate
I can live with the list I mean not one of the albums I ever bought has ever paid my electricity bill so it doesn’t upset me where my favorite artists are! Lynyrd Skynyrd is on the list and so are the Doors so that’s good enough for me! God bless America and please stop hurting each other it’s jus a list!
Oh shut up me! Who do I think I am!! Why isn’t milli vinilli not on the list? Cause we don’t like mv anywho so go back to eating a bunch of junk and washing it down with mountain nasty fat boy! Hey me stop talking to us like a psycho!
Yeah shut up nerd. No one wants to listen to a silly little failed abortion. Twat.
iron maiden have sold over 100 million albums worldwide….. whoever made this list is a complete moron
I came to this link by mistake. It should say this just US sales… not worldwide and not really updated as is based on certifications. Many artists that change labels have a lot o under certified albums as labels have to pay for certifications in US (and it ain’t cheap!). So most labels won’t update certifications of artists they no longer represent. Also US most successful albums and artists are a lot different from worldwide ones. I mean, the world has 6 or 7 bilions people and US only 330 millions.
Jonny cash has sold over 90 million units!! Where do you get these numbers?