The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) lists the best-selling musicians of all time, based on total certified album units sold in the US. It also includes streaming figures.
Artists from multiple different genres — pop, country, instrumental jazz, rap, metal — have earned their spots on this list.
Here are the top 25:
1. The Beatles
2. Garth Brooks
3. Elvis Presley
4. Eagles
5. Led Zeppelin
6. Billy Joel
7. Michael Jackson
8. AC/DC
9. Elton John
10. Mariah Carey
11. Pink Floyd
12. Bruce Springsteen
13. Metallica
14. Aerosmith
15. George Strait
16. Barbra Streiand
17. The Rolling Stones
18. Madonna
19. Whitney Houston
20. Eminem
21. Fleetwood Mac
22. Taylor Swift
23. Van Halen
24. Celine Dion
25. Journey
To see the entire list, please click here. Additionally, to view the 50 best-selling music artists of all time in the US by album sales, go here.
14 Responses
Seeing Swifty, just above, the mighty Van Halen, made me ill. Ditto, for some of the other artists, on this list. Cough, cough, Eminem.
Finally, I was not surprised, The Beatles topped the list, and actually expected to see them there. However, I was a bit shocked, at how low The Stones were on the list. I expected their position to be far higher, especially when compared to Barbra Streiand and George Strait (scratching my head).
In my opinion this list is total bullsh-t! No way some of these “artists” sold more albums or downloads (eye roll) than real legendary artists like The Rolling Sones, Van Halen, etc…
Doug,
This list is based solely on album sales, RIAA has no skin in the game. So, as infuriating, and unbelievable as this list may seem, it is more likely true, than not.
Well, it is still extremely difficult to believe, but I guess it is what it is, what is wrong with the world today?? Well my partner and I are going to see some real musicians tonight, The Dooble Brothers! And Jimmy Buffett’s Coral Reefer Band!
Keep The Party Going! 😉
Hi Doug,
I spoke with my old man, and he is also skeptical of these numbers.
He feels, that despite the RIAA stating, they only used sales to determine the outcome, he suspects they are also counting streams. Who knows? He maybe correct, it would not be the first, nor the last time, results have seemed off.
Personally, I was shocked to see how low, Madonna, was on the list. I thought for sure, she would be in the top 10, certainly the top 12. In her day, she was one the most popular pop stars on the planet and she was HUGELY suscessful. Far more popular than Swift is today, and she had longevity, due to her ability to always change and set trends. She always seemed to be three steps ahead of the curve. I don’t know too many artists, I can say that about, she drove pop culture.
Meh-tallica?! Really????? Toss out the commercial “Blah-k album”, and then let’s see the results…..
I’m surprised KI$$ didn’t chart on this list…..
I checked the list, and Boston is on there, amazing when you think that this is mostly from just 1 album (I’m sure the other 2 sold well, but their debut had to be the bulk of their sales).
I wonder if the Van Halen sales, included Hagar and Cherone as well, or was it strictly based on the Roth years?
I am going to venture to guess, it is the totality of album sales, including all lineups. Maybe, that is why they were lower on the list than some other artists? Perhaps, those poorer selling effortsm brought their average down?
Didn’t the Van Hagar albums sell more than the Roth albums?
Excellent question, I don’t believe so, I always thought the Roth era was far more successful, hold on….Yes, I was correct.
Here is the answer:
The David Lee Roth era of Van Halen sold significantly more albums than the Sammy Hagar era. While both eras achieved commercial success, the Roth era boasts higher overall sales numbers and includes two Diamond-certified albums (10 million+ sales each).
Here’s a more detailed breakdown:
David Lee Roth Era:
Estimated to have sold 57 million albums worldwide, with hits like em>Jump, Panama, and Runnin’ With the Devil. The albums Van Halen (self-titled debut) and 1984 each achieved Diamond status, selling over 10 million copies in the US.
Sammy Hagar Era:
Estimated to have sold 27 million albums worldwide. While all four of his studio albums with Van Halen reached #1 on the U.S. charts, they did not reach the same sales milestones as the Roth albums.
I believe it was sometime in the early to mid-80’s they started counting all the pre-and first week sales as the numbers for “Debut sales and #1 on the charts”
That’s why Sammy always claimed Van Halen didn’t have a #1 Album until he joined. Roth didn’t get the accounting benefit as the early year’s didn’t have the popular spike in sales, just slow and steady. Hagar came aboard right at peak popularity, hence all the #1’s.
Fuzzy Math for sure!
Total of albums/CDs I own by all the “artists” off the entire list, 22. And I own close to 4500 pieces of music