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Post by NJtoTX on Mar 11, 2020 1:57:16 GMT
According to their total certified album units sold in the US (including streaming figures), as provided by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
1. The Beatles — 183 million units
2. Garth Brooks — 156 million units
3. Elvis Presley — 146.5 million units
4. Eagles — 120 million units
5. Led Zeppelin — 111.5 million units
6. Billy Joel — 84.5 million units
7. Michael Jackson — 84 million units
8. Elton John — 79 million units
9. AC/DC — 75 million units
10. Pink Floyd — 75 million units
11. George Strait — 69 million units
12. Barbra Streisand — 68.5 million units
13. Aerosmith — 66.5 million units
14. Mariah Carey — 66.5 million units
15. The Rolling Stones — 66.5 million units
16. Bruce Springsteen — 65.5 million units
17. Madonna — 64.5 million units
18. Metallica — 63 million units
19. Whitney Houston — 59 million units
20. Van Halen — 56.5 million units
21. Fleetwood Mac — 54.5 million units
22. U2 — 52 million units
23. Celine Dion — 50 million units
24. Neil Diamond — 49.5 million units
25. Journey — 48 million units
26. Kenny G — 48 million units
27. Shania Twain — 48 million units
28. Kenny Rogers — 47.5 million units
29. Alabama — 46.5 million units
30. Eminem — 46 million units
31. Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band — 44.5 million units
32. Guns N’ Roses — 44.5 million units
33. Taylor Swift — 44 million units
34. Alan Jackson — 43.5 million units
35. Santana — 43.5 million units
36. Reba McEntire — 41 million units
37. Eric Clapton — 40 million units
38. Chicago — 38.5 million units
39. Simon & Garfunkel — 38.5 million units
40. Foreigner — 38 million units
41. Rod Stewart — 38 million units
42. Tim McGraw — 37.5 million units
43. Backstreet Boys — 37 million units
44. Tupac Shakur — 36.5 million units
45. Bob Dylan — 36 million units
46. Def Leppard — 35.5 million units
47. Queen — 35 million units
48. Bon Jovi — 34.5 million units
49. Britney Spears — 34.5 million units
50. Dave Matthews Band — 34.5 million units
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Post by bravomailer on Mar 11, 2020 2:31:38 GMT
I recall how big Garth Brooks was about 20 years but wouldn't have figured him to be that high.
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Post by cypher on Mar 11, 2020 3:16:16 GMT
You'd think Beyoncé would be in the top 50.
I had to google Alan Jackson...
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Post by bravomailer on Mar 11, 2020 3:23:41 GMT
Interesting - and gratifying - that the #1 act hasn't recorded in half a century and #3 hasn't since '77 or so.
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Post by darknessfish on Mar 11, 2020 10:04:36 GMT
Quite impressive that there are names that no-one in the UK would recognise there in Alan Jackson, Reba McIntire, and Tim McGraw. Also, Bob Seger has sold more albums than Dylan? You lot are weird.
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driftin
Sophomore
@driftin
Posts: 144
Likes: 93
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Post by driftin on Mar 11, 2020 11:03:24 GMT
I had to look up George Strait and I lasted 14 seconds on the first video that popped up. I don't think I need to look up any of the others I don't recognise.
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Post by staggerstag on Mar 11, 2020 12:16:30 GMT
At least 48.9 million certified units in the United States alone but I'm unsure if that is exclusively albums. Even so, it's hard to look at that list and not to see Prince.
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Post by FrankSobotka1514 on Mar 11, 2020 16:17:57 GMT
At least 48.9 million certified units in the United States alone but I'm unsure if that is exclusively albums. Even so, it's hard to look at that list and not to see Prince. Other than Purple Rain were his albums among the top sellers? I got the impression he was more of a singles kind of artist or where a greatest hits covered the essentials. |
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Post by staggerstag on Mar 11, 2020 16:45:40 GMT
At least 48.9 million certified units in the United States alone but I'm unsure if that is exclusively albums. Even so, it's hard to look at that list and not to see Prince. Other than Purple Rain were his albums among the top sellers? I got the impression he was more of a singles kind of artist or where a greatest hits covered the essentials. Yes, I've been looking into it a bit more. Purple Rain album has certified sales of +13 million in the United States; the rest really come nowhere near the million mark with 1999 at +400k. Albums including Controversy, Around The World In A Day, and Batman all went double platinum (+200k) and Diamonds and Pearls, Parade, Sign O The Times went +100k - amongst others. Personally I'm an album fan with Prince and I think I got a bit carried away with the sheer size of the United States and just always assumed he'd sold many, many more millions of albums there than he has. So I reckon by looking at all the individual US album sales, or most of them, he may have shifted in the region of, say, not quite 20 million albums in the US, unfortunately not enough to make the list.
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Post by Zos on Mar 11, 2020 18:51:09 GMT
No Throbbing Gristle? Something wrong, surely.
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Post by lowtacks86 on Mar 11, 2020 21:45:08 GMT
Crazy to know Hootie and the Blowfish still have one of the biggest selling albums of all time
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Post by someguy on Mar 11, 2020 22:06:06 GMT
Crazy to know Hootie and the Blowfish still have one of the biggest selling albums of all time Yes, they seem too generic to be as huge as they were, but I checked out Cracked Rear View recently and didn’t dislike it. It’s like a musical ham and cheese sandwich, nothing fancy, but good for what it is. |
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Post by Eva Yojimbo on Mar 12, 2020 2:43:19 GMT
At least 48.9 million certified units in the United States alone but I'm unsure if that is exclusively albums. Even so, it's hard to look at that list and not to see Prince. Other than Purple Rain were his albums among the top sellers? I got the impression he was more of a singles kind of artist or where a greatest hits covered the essentials. I'd argue that he was very much an album-oriented artist and his singles only tell a very small part of his story. Prince was one of the few genuine geniuses we've had in pop music and he released a ton of material, more of which deserves to be known. Granted, he also released a lot of shitty/mediocre stuff as well, but he's not alone in that category of a prolific artist who released a ton of material that runs the gamut of quality (Bob Dylan was another one).
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Post by sostie on Mar 12, 2020 18:49:09 GMT
Quite impressive that there are names that no-one in the UK would recognise there in Alan Jackson, Reba McIntire, and Tim McGraw. Also, Bob Seger has sold more albums than Dylan? You lot are weird. I'd be a surprised if a UK list shared more than 15 on the US list. They may be weird, but I'm sure the appearance of the likes Robbie Williams & Westlife (oh the shame) who would likely be on a UK list would seem just as odd over there I doubt Garth Brooks, George Strait, Journey, Kenny G, Kenny Rogers, Alabama, Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band, Alan Jackson, Reba McEntire, Foreigner or Dave Matthews Band would be in he UK 100....even 200
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Post by janntosh on Mar 12, 2020 22:08:23 GMT
no Bieber. Thank fuck
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Post by lowtacks86 on Mar 12, 2020 22:18:52 GMT
I don't see he would be, there's pretty much no artists on their that debuted after 2000. Album sales slowed down considerably when iTunes and illegal downloading took off.
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Post by someguy on Mar 12, 2020 23:45:03 GMT
I don't see he would be, there's pretty much no artists on their that debuted after 2000. Album sales slowed down considerably when iTunes and illegal downloading took off. If there were any artist debuting after 2000 on that list, I would expect it to be Adele, but I guess not. |
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Post by lowtacks86 on Mar 12, 2020 23:53:26 GMT
I don't see he would be, there's pretty much no artists on their that debuted after 2000. Album sales slowed down considerably when iTunes and illegal downloading took off. If there were any artist debuting after 2000 on that list, I would expect it to be Adele, but I guess not. Coldplay would be my best guess as to biggest selling artist that debuted after the 90s.
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Post by Eva Yojimbo on Mar 13, 2020 2:45:51 GMT
I don't see he would be, there's pretty much no artists on their that debuted after 2000. Album sales slowed down considerably when iTunes and illegal downloading took off. Taylor Swift is there and she debuted in '06.
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Post by FrankSobotka1514 on Mar 13, 2020 16:30:45 GMT
Other than Purple Rain were his albums among the top sellers? I got the impression he was more of a singles kind of artist or where a greatest hits covered the essentials. I'd argue that he was very much an album-oriented artist and his singles only tell a very small part of his story. Prince was one of the few genuine geniuses we've had in pop music and he released a ton of material, more of which deserves to be known. Granted, he also released a lot of shitty/mediocre stuff as well, but he's not alone in that category of a prolific artist who released a ton of material that runs the gamut of quality (Bob Dylan was another one). I wasn’t referring to the quality of his output, just how his albums other than Purple Rain weren’t always among other typical best-selling albums. |
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