Albums
The term album, as used today to mean a collection of songs (whether on LP, CD, or digital files), was once literal. Before the advent of 12” records that played at 33 1/3 RPM in 1948, music fans collected 78 rpm records in cases resembling photo albums.Try Musicnotes With a Free Sheet Music Download
The 100 Best Selling Albums of All Time
According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) (2017)
(Note: these are US-based numbers. The RIAA counts an "album sale" as either a direct album purchase, or the "album equivalent" of 10 downloaded singles from the same album, or 1,500 streams from the same album.)
1. Michael Jackson - Thriller (33 million certified units) 2. Eagles - Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975 (29 million) 3. Billy Joel - Greatest Hits Volume I & Volume II (23 million) 4. Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV (23 million) 5. Pink Floyd - The Wall (23 million) 6. AC/DC - Back In Black (22 million) 7. Garth Brooks - Double Live (21 million) 8. Fleetwood Mac - Rumours (20 million) 9. Shania Twain - Come On Over (20 million) 10. The Beatles - The Beatles (19 million) 11. Guns N’ Roses - Appetite for Destruction (18 million) 12. Boston - Boston (17 million) 13. Elton John - Greatest Hits (17 million) 14. Garth Brooks - No Fences (17 million) 15. The Beatles - The Beatles 1967-1970 (17 million) 16. Whitney Houston - The Bodyguard (Soundtrack) (17 million) 17. Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill (16 million) 18. Eagles - Hotel California (16 million) 19. Hootie & The Blowfish - Cracked Rear View (16 million) 20. Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti (16 million) 21. Metallica - Metallica (16 million) 22. Bee Gees - Saturday Night Fever (Soundtrack) (15 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. Backstreet Boys - Millennium (13 million) 36. Bruce Springsteen - Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band Live 1975-’85 (13 million) 37. Pearl Jam - Ten (13 million) 38. Prince & the Revolution - Purple Rain (Soundtrack) (13 million) 39. Steve Miller Band - Greatest Hits 1974-1978 (13 million) 40. Whitney Houston - Whitney Houston (13 million) 41. Bon Jovi - Slippery When Wet (12 million) 42. Boyz II Men - II (12 million) 43. Def Leppard - Hysteria (12 million) 44. Dixie Chicks - Wide Open Spaces (12 million) 45. Jewel - Pieces of You (12 million) 46. Kenny G - Breathless (12 million) 47. Kenny Rogers - Kenny Rogers’ Greatest Hits (12 million) 48. Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin II (12 million) 49. Matchbox Twenty - Yourself or Someone Like You (12 million) 50. Phil Collins - No Jacket Required (12 million) 51. Shania Twain - The Woman In Me (12 million) 52. Forest Gump (Soundtrack) (12 million) 53. The Beatles - Abbey Road (12 million) 54. The Rolling Stones - Hot Rocks (12 million) 55. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Greatest Hits (12 million) 56. ‘N Sync - No Strings Attached (11 million) 57. Aerosmith - Aerosmith’s Greatest Hits (11 million) 58. Celine Dion - Falling Into You (11 million) 59. Creed - Human Clay (11 million) 60. Eagles - Eagles Greatest Hits Volume II (11 million) 61. James Taylor - James Taylor’s Greatest Hits (11 million) 62. Kid Rock - Devil Without a Cause (11 million) 63. Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy (11 million) 64. Outkast - Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (11 million) 65. Shania Twain - Up! (11 million) 66. Dirty Dancing (Soundtrack) (11 million) 67. Titanic (Soundtrack) (11 million) 68. The Beatles - 1 (11 milllion) 69. The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (11 million) 70. TLC - Crazysexycool (11 million) 71. ‘N Sync - ‘N Sync (10 million) 72. 2 Pac - Greatest Hits (10 million) 73. 2 Pac - All Eyez on Me (10 million) 74. Adele - 25 (10 million) 75. Beastie Boys - Licensed to Ill (10 million) 76. Billy Joel - The Stranger (10 million) 77. Britney Spears - Oops! ...I Did It Again (10 million) 78. Carole King - Tapestry (10 million) 79. Celine Dion - Let’s Talk About Love (10 million) 80. Creedance Clearwater Revival - Chronicle: 20 Greatest Hits (10 million) 81. Def Leppard - Pyromania (10 million) 82. Dixie Chicks - Fly (10 million) 83. Doobie Brothers - Best of the Doobies (10 million) 84. Elvis Presley - Elvis’ Christmas Album (10 million) 85. Eminem - The Marshall Mathers EP (10 million) 86. Eminem - The Eminem Show (10 million) 87. Eric Clapton - Unplugged (10 million) 88. Garth Brooks - The Ultimate Hits (10 million) 89. Garth Brooks - Garth Brooks (10 million) 90. Garth Brooks - The Hits (10 million) 91. Garth Brooks - Sevens (10 million) 92. George Michael - Faith (10 million) 93. Green Day - Dookie (10 million) 94. Hammer - Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em (10 million) 95. Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin (10 million) 96. Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory (10 million) 97. Lionel Richie - Can’t Slow Down (10 million) 98. Madonna - The Immaculate Collection (10 million) 99. Madonna - Like a Virgin (10 million) 100. Mariah Carey - Daydream (10 million)
