Top 10 Best-selling Albums of All Time

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The popularity of music albums best illustrates the distinction between appreciating a song by a certain artist and becoming a fan of that musician. The ... read more...

  1. Michael Jackson's Thriller remains the undisputed victor based solely on certified scales. It was a strange transitional period for music in 1982 when Disco and Funk were on their way out and Rock and Pop were on their way in. Michael made the best-selling record of all time by combining all four genres.

    The music videos for this album are regarded to have turned videos into an art form. The visuals for "Thriller," "Billie Jean," and "Beat It," as well as the album's seven hits, continued to drive sales for a long period. This is without a doubt one of the most essential albums ever made.


    Michael Jackson's album Thriller was the first to reach the top of the Billboard 200 list, which was then known as the Billboard Top LPs & Tapes chart. It remained at the top for 37 weeks. At the 1984 Grammy Awards, it reached 33 times platinum and won an unprecedented eight Grammy Awards.


    CERTIFIED SALES: 47.3 MILLION

    Michael Jackson - Thriller
    Michael Jackson - Thriller
    Michael Jackson - Thriller
    Michael Jackson - Thriller

  2. The Eagles' Greatest Hits includes all of their Country Rock, Folk Rock, and Soft Rock hits from 1971 to 1975. It was released in 1976 and has since grown in popularity as a collection of oldies music. The label claimed to have discovered ancient sales records, bringing their total sales to millions of dollars.


    Because the auditing window only extends back three years, the Michael Jackson Estate fought this claim, but The Eagles got to circumvent that limitation. Music industry drama is entertaining! None of the band members were involved in the release, and they believed it was a ruse by the record company to generate more money without incurring further costs. This collection includes singles from the Eagles' first four albums. A plastic cast of a genuine eagle skull was used to create the album cover by Boyd Elder. He was compensated $5,000 for his efforts (too bad he got no royalties).


    CERTIFIED SALES: 41.2 MILLION

    Eagles - Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975)
    Eagles - Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975)
    Eagles - Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975)
    Eagles - Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975)
  3. Shania Twain is a great Country crossover performer who has branched over into Pop. She was so popular at the time that her album Come On Over, released in 1997, is currently towards the top of our list. There was a time when you couldn't turn on the radio without hearing a Shania song. This was the best-selling country album of all time.


    The album has 16 songs on it, with 12 of them being released as singles over the span of three years. Songs like "You're Still the One," "That Don't Impress Me Much," and "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" would be instantly recognizable. It never had record-breaking sales weeks. It simply sold week after week, year after year. The album spent 52 weeks in the top 10, 112 weeks in the top 20, and 127 weeks in the top 40, setting a new record. It was the first album in the United States to sell 14 million and 15 million copies since 1991.


    CERTIFIED SALES: 29.6 MILLION

    Shania Twain - Come On Over
    Shania Twain - Come On Over
    Shania Twain - Come On Over
    Shania Twain - Come On Over
  4. Rumours was released in 1977 to the Soft Rock crowd, but it was clearly a hit with the general public. It topped the Billboard 200 and UK Albums charts, and each of its four singles, including "Go Your Own Way" and "Dreams," charted in the top ten in the United States. The Grammy Hall of Fame and the National Recording Registry have both honored the album.


    Because the album was so popular, the media began fabricating stories about the members in order to gain more attention (some things never change). It garnered 800,000 advance orders before it was even released. They backed up the sales with a seven-month tour across the United States. It was a huge success. Yesterday's Gone was the initial title of the album Rumours. The band and studio had an unrestricted budget, which meant they could do whatever they wanted, which caused the album's release to be delayed. Among the main professional ratings critic groups, the album has received a flawless score.


    CERTIFIED SALES: 27.9 MILLION
    Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
    Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
    Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
    Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
  5. Whitney Houston sang all of the R&B, Soul, and Pop songs on the Bodyguard album, which was released in 1992. The film is one of the finest music films ever made, which helped boost the soundtrack's sales. It featured several incredible singles that are still being played on the radio today. This album received the Grammy Award for Album of the Year and was certified 18 times platinum. It was accompanied over the course of a year by six singles, all of which did exceptionally well, particularly "I Will Always Love You," which was penned by Dolly Parton.


    According to SoundScan, this was the first album to sell over a million copies in a single week. Several songs were considered for the "big one," but Kevin Costner eventually suggested Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You." It was a wise decision since it was one of the best-selling singles of all time.


    CERTIFIED SALES: 28.4 MILLION

    Whitney Houston - The Bodyguard
    Whitney Houston - The Bodyguard
    Whitney Houston - The Bodyguard
    Whitney Houston - The Bodyguard
  6. Back in Black came out in 1980 at the height of the reign of Hard Rock, marking AC/DC's 7th studio album and the first with their new vocalist Brian Johnson. The name and cover were both meant as signs of mourning at the time. The band supported the album with a yearlong world tour, leading to its ultimate 25x Platinum certification.


    Once the songs were written, rehearsals lasted one week and the recording took seven weeks, and the rest was history. In 2007 the album was certified 22x Multi-Platinum in the USA alone. It's one of the best arena rock albums ever and a "high watermark" for heavy metal music. It's ten tracks of high-energy that's still loved today. Due to schedule conflicts, the album was recorded in a low-cost studio in Nassau, Bahamas. The recordings were once interrupted by a crab shuffle on the hardwood floor.


    CERTIFIED SALES: 29.4 MILLION

    AC/DC - Back in Black
    AC/DC - Back in Black
    AC/DC - Back in Black
    AC/DC - Back in Black
  7. Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon is a critically regarded Progressive Rock album released in 1973. Being their eighth studio album, it had been a long time coming. It's a concept CD that employs a variety of experimental ways to produce previously unheard sounds. The amount of remasters and re-releases have contributed to the increase in sales.


    It garnered near-universal perfect marks from all critics, and it continues to do so retroactively. The members of the band are among the wealthiest musicians in the world, and the revenues were used to bankroll the production of the Monty Python and the Holy Grail film. Due to numerous artists continuing to release covers of the whole album, the record continues to sell roughly 10,000 copies every week.


    This album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 and spent 950 weeks on the charts. It was given a live press screening at the Rainbow Theatre a year before its debut, and the audience was ecstatic. Dark Side of the Moon: A Piece for Assorted Lunatics was the original title. Abbey Road Studios was used to record it.


    CERTIFIED SALES: 24.4 MILLION

    Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon
    Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon
    Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon
    Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon
  8. One of the finest movie soundtracks of all time is Saturday Night Fever. It was released in 1977 and is nearly completely made up of Bee Gees songs. The Bee Gees used so many songs in the soundtrack and movie that they effectively lost an album's worth of material. At this point, I doubt they care. Take a look at those sales figures!


    This monster of an album reached 16x Platinum, spent 24 weeks at the top of the Billboard 200, and spent a total of 120 weeks on the charts. The popularity may be attributed to three factors: it's a double album, so sales are counted twice, the movie was fantastic, and the Bee Gees were at the peak of their career at the time. In 2013, this album has been preserved by the Library of Congress in the National Recording Registry for being culturally significant. It won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, among five others including the Hall of Fame Award.

    CERTIFIED SALES: 21.7 MILLION

    Bee Gees - Saturday Night Fever
    Bee Gees - Saturday Night Fever
    Bee Gees - Saturday Night Fever
    Bee Gees - Saturday Night Fever
  9. Bat Out of Hell was a Hard Rock and Glam Rock album released in 1977. Some say that it belongs to the Progressive Rock genre, which has a dedicated following. This was Meat Loaf's first studio album, and it featured the hit "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad," which was undoubtedly his most popular.

    Bat Out of Hell was certified 14 times platinum and had the second-longest time on the UK Albums Chart, at 522 weeks. In 2017, it was adapted into a musical of the same name. It's not one of the finest musicals of all time, and it was even canceled in its early performances in the United States.


    There was a lot of drama in Bat Out of Hell. As a compromise for not being listed as "Jim Steinman presents..." or "Jim and Meat" as the artist, the bottom states "Songs by Jim Steinman." Despite the fact that Jim composed the majority of the material, the record label's marketing staff knew better. On the album, Max Weinberg performed drums.


    CERTIFIED SALES: 21.6 MILLION

    Meat Loaf - Bat Out of Hell
    Meat Loaf - Bat Out of Hell
    Meat Loaf - Bat Out of Hell
    Meat Loaf - Bat Out of Hell
  10. Bad was released in 1987, at a period when rock was on the decline and Pop and R&B were gaining popularity. Michael Jackson successfully fused all of them, as well as his signature Funk sound. It was backed up by a steady stream of nine singles over the course of two years, starting with "I Just Can't Stop Loving You." When there are just 11 overall tracks, nine singles is a lot. This CD is devoid of filler!


    Bad was dubbed the most anticipated album in history at the time, and possibly still is. For the first time since 1972, the Jackson 5 were on the road together. They broke the record by selling out Wembley Stadium for seven nights in a row. Three Guinness World Records were set during the trip.


    On the Billboard Top Pop Albums and Billboard 200 charts, Bad debuted at number one. It was marketed in conjunction with Michael Jackson's film Moonwalker. It was nominated for six Grammy Awards and won a few of them, as well as the Billboard Music Award for Album of the Year. Michael and Prince were supposed to sing "Bad" together.



    CERTIFIED SALES: 22.0 MILLION

    Michael Jackson - Bad
    Michael Jackson - Bad
    Michael Jackson - Bad
    Michael Jackson - Bad



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