USA's All Time Best Selling Artists and Albums

by **blackbird** » Fri Sep 10, 2010 7:45 am

Artists With Most Gold Albums (500,000)

1 - Elvis Presley - 84
2 - Barbra Streisand - 51 "Love Is The Answer"
3 - The Beatles - 47
4 - Rolling Stones - 42
5 - Neil Diamond - 40
6 - Elton John - 38
6 - George Strait - 38 "Twang"
7 - Bob Dylan - 36
9 - Frank Sinatra - 34
10 - Kenny Rogers - 31

by **blackbird** » Fri Sep 10, 2010 10:20 am

Artists With Most Platinum Albums (1,000,000)

1 - Elvis Presley - 46
2 - The Beatles - 41
3 - George Strait - 33
4 - Barbra Streisand - 30
5 - Rolling Stones - 28
6 - Elton John - 26
7 - Neil Diamond - 21
8 - AC / DC - 20
8 - Alabama - 20
10 - Reba McEntire - 19
10 - Kenny Rogers - 19

by **blackbird** » Fri Sep 10, 2010 10:45 am

Artists With At Least 10 Multi-Platinum Albums (2,000,000)

1 - The Beatles - 26
2 - Elvis Presley - 24
3 - Garth Brooks - 15
4 - Led Zeppelin - 14
5 - George Strait - 13
5 - Barbra Streisand - 13
7 - AC / DC - 12
7 - Aerosmith - 12
7 - Billy Joel - 12
7 - Elton John - 12
7 - Madonna - 12
7 - Pink Floyd - 12
13 - Neil Diamond - 11
13 - Eagles - 11
13 - Rolling Stones - 11
13 - U2 - 11
17 - Alabama - 10
17 - Bruce Springsteen - 10
17 - Rod Steward - 10

by **jasonOG** » Fri Sep 10, 2010 2:49 pm

AJS2050 wrote:Eminem U.S. Album Sales: (upto Aug 2009)

1999: The Slim Shady LP - 5,100,000
2000: The Marshall Mathers LP - 11,600,000
2002: The Eminem Show - 10,200,000
2002: 8 Mile Soundtrack - 4,900,000
2004: Encore - 5,200,000
2005: Curtain Call - 3,000,000
2006: The Re-Up - 1,500,000
2009: Relapse - 1,500,000

Total U.S. Albums Sales - 43,000,000

do u have a source or are u just saying random numbers? this article as of december 2009 states that mmlp sold 10.2 milly and tes sold 9.8 milly...
http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news ... 8_ST_N.htm please...i want to kno where u got your information from because if ur info is from aug 2009...how could his overall numbers go down for those 2 albums?

by **AJS2050** » Fri Sep 10, 2010 3:46 pm

jasonOG wrote:
do u have a source or are u just saying random numbers? this article as of december 2009 states that mmlp sold 10.2 milly and tes sold 9.8 milly...
http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news ... 8_ST_N.htm please...i want to kno where u got your information from because if ur info is from aug 2009...how could his overall numbers go down for those 2 albums?

Hey there,

I just added the sales from BMG to MMLP but forgot to add them for SSLP too, heres a link:

http://www.mi2n.com/press.php3?press_nb=47877

But without BMG MMLP would be 10.2m, that is correct.

by **jasonOG** » Fri Sep 10, 2010 9:08 pm

AJS2050 wrote:
jasonOG wrote:
do u have a source or are u just saying random numbers? this article as of december 2009 states that mmlp sold 10.2 milly and tes sold 9.8 milly...
http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news ... 8_ST_N.htm please...i want to kno where u got your information from because if ur info is from aug 2009...how could his overall numbers go down for those 2 albums?
Hey there,

I just added the sales from BMG to MMLP but forgot to add them for SSLP too, heres a link:

http://www.mi2n.com/press.php3?press_nb=47877

But without BMG MMLP would be 10.2m, that is correct.

oh ok cool. this explains it. i just wanted to kno where you got ur info from. no biggie. it looks all correct to me

by **stevyy** » Fri Sep 10, 2010 9:11 pm

blackbird wrote:Artists With At Least 10 Multi-Platinum Albums (2,000,000)

1 - The Beatles - 26
2 - Elvis Presley - 24
3 - Garth Brooks - 15
4 - Led Zeppelin - 14
5 - George Strait - 13
5 - Barbra Streisand - 13
7 - AC / DC - 12
7 - Aerosmith - 12
7 - Billy Joel - 12
7 - Elton John - 12
7 - Madonna - 12
7 - Pink Floyd - 12
13 - Neil Diamond - 11
13 - Eagles - 11
13 - Rolling Stones - 11
13 - U2 - 11
17 - Alabama - 10
17 - Bruce Springsteen - 10
17 - Rod Steward - 10
17 - Mariah Carey - 10

by **thebigham** » Sat Mar 05, 2011 4:06 pm

Three new 5xp albums:

Elvis Presley, Elvis 5xp
Taylor Swift, Taylor Swift 5xp
Elton John, GH 70-02 5xp

by **matugama** » Sat Mar 05, 2011 5:10 pm

thebigham wrote:Three new 5xp albums:

Elvis Presley, Elvis 5xp
Taylor Swift, Taylor Swift 5xp
Elton John, GH 70-02 5xp

at the two e's still selling and taylor hopefully will go 6xplat.

by **thebigham** » Fri Mar 11, 2011 4:17 pm

Two new Diamond albums:

The Marshall Mathers LP, Eminem 10xp
The Eminem Show, Eminem 10xp

by **thebigham** » Fri Mar 11, 2011 4:18 pm

Basil, COME BACK!!!

Please?

by **thebigham** » Fri Mar 11, 2011 4:42 pm

More:

The Beatles 1967-1970 17xp

The Beatles, 1 11xp

Elvis Presley, Elvis 5xp

by **Basil** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 8:32 pm

thebigham wrote:Basil, COME BACK!!!

Please?

I've started to edit Page One

by **jbnva58** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 8:36 pm

Basil wrote:
thebigham wrote:Basil, COME BACK!!!

Please?
I've started to edit Page One

Basil-Great to see you back.
You have been missed!!

by **thebigham** » Tue Mar 29, 2011 1:20 pm

Basil wrote:
thebigham wrote:Basil, COME BACK!!!

Please?
I've started to edit Page One

THANK YOU!!!

by **Dane** » Tue Mar 29, 2011 2:19 pm

Hi Basil

by **Basil** » Tue Mar 29, 2011 4:21 pm

Many thanks for the welcome, I am glad to see so many old friends are still here.

Had not looked at the site in a long long time as it seemed to me a blight had long ruined it. Having glanced at the UKMix Forum page recently, I realised this had been permanently sorted by the moderators. Only wish I had looked months ago. And no, will not be going into any more detail there.

Will not have so much time as before, but have started to update my old threads and will gradually work through them.

Thanks to everyone's work, most of the information is already here somewhere. I just need to slot it into the right places.

I think the word Backlog can be brought into operation here.

by **Basil** » Mon Apr 04, 2011 11:35 am

Basil wrote:Total US Album Shipments to Apr 2011

1 - Elvis Presley - 172,000,000
2 - The Beatles - 170,000,000
3 - Led Zeppelin - 102,000,000
4 - Garth Brooks - 99,000,000
5 - The Eagles - 93,000,000
6 - Barbra Streisand - 85,000,000
7 - Elton John - 84,000,000
8 - The Rolling Stones - 80,000,000
8 - Pink Floyd - 80,000,000
10 - Frank Sinatra - 78,000,000

11 - AC/DC - 75,000,000
12 - Billy Joel - 74,000,000
12 - Aerosmith - 74,000,000
14 - Madonna - 71,000,000
15 - George Strait - 70,000,000
15 - Michael Jackson - 70,000,000
17 - Kenny Rogers - 69,000,000
18 - Mariah Carey - 66,000,000
19 - Neil Diamond - 63,000,000
20 - Bruce Springsteen - 63,000,000

20 - Metallica - 63,000,000
22 - U2 - 62,000,000
23 - Van Halen - 61,000,000
24 - Fleetwood Mac - 59,000,000
25 - Celine Dion - 57,000,000
25 - Santana - 57,000,000
27 - Whitney Houston - 56,000,000
28 - Eric Clapton - 55,000,000
29 - Kenny G - 52,000,000

OK, here is the first update of this list for 3 years.

Actually not that much movement, but a few have gone up, particularly - AC/DC, Michael Jackson, U2.

The Top 10 is still evenly split with 5 UK and 5 USA acts.

by **blackbird** » Mon Apr 04, 2011 3:04 pm

Basil wrote:Total Audited US Album Shipments

1 - The Beatles - 131.942m
2 - Garth Brooks - 99m
3 - Elvis Presley - 98.7m
4 - The Eagles - 89.75m
5 - Led Zeppelin - 89.46m

For The Beatles I have an audited total of 134.703m. See USA Albums.

Which one is right?

by **Basil** » Mon Apr 04, 2011 3:26 pm

blackbird wrote:
Basil wrote:Total Audited US Album Shipments

1 - The Beatles - 131.942m
2 - Garth Brooks - 99m
3 - Elvis Presley - 98.7m
4 - The Eagles - 89.75m
5 - Led Zeppelin - 89.46m
For The Beatles I have an audited total of 134.703m. See USA Albums.

Which one is right?

I am posting the updated parts here. Will take some weeks to update all of Page One. Have just updated this one now - see following post.

by **Basil** » Mon Apr 04, 2011 3:32 pm

Basil wrote:Total Audited US Album Shipments April 2011

1 - The Beatles - 135.4m
2 - Elvis Presley - 106.2m
3 - Garth Brooks - 99m
4 - The Eagles - 89.75m
5 - Led Zeppelin - 89.46m
6 - AC/DC - 69.2m
7 - Elton John - 69.25m
8 - Barbra Streisand - 68.25m
9 - Billy Joel - 67m
10 - Michael Jackson - 66m

11 - Aerosmith - 63.628m
12 - Mariah Carey - 63m
13 - Madonna - 61.5m
14 - George Strait - 59m
15 - Pink Floyd - 57.111m
16 - The Rolling Stones - 57m
17 - Van Halen - 55m
17 - Metallica - 55m
19 - Bruce Springsteen - 53.584m
20 - Whitney Houston - 53.5m

21 - Kenny Rogers - 51.75m
22 - U2 - 50.5m
23 - Celine Dion - 50m
24 - Fleetwood Mac - 48m
25 - Kenny G - 47.5m
26 - Neil Diamond - 45.667m
27 - Santana - 44.883m
28 - Eric Clapton - 39.5m
29 - Frank Sinatra - 26.792m

Few of these artists currently have all their albums fully certified - but these are the definitive audited shipments to date.

Compared to the last update 3 years ago:-

Elvis, Elton, Michael Jackson and U2 all move up.

by **blackbird** » Mon Apr 04, 2011 5:23 pm

Basil wrote:
Basil wrote:Total Audited US Album Shipments April 2011

1 - The Beatles - 135.4m
2 - Elvis Presley - 106.2m
3 - Garth Brooks - 99m
4 - The Eagles - 89.75m
5 - Led Zeppelin - 89.46m
6 - AC/DC - 69.2m
7 - Elton John - 69.25m
8 - Barbra Streisand - 68.25m
9 - Billy Joel - 67m
10 - Michael Jackson - 66m

11 - Aerosmith - 63.628m
12 - Mariah Carey - 63m
13 - Madonna - 61.5m
14 - George Strait - 59m
15 - Pink Floyd - 57.111m
16 - The Rolling Stones - 57m
17 - Van Halen - 55m
17 - Metallica - 55m
19 - Bruce Springsteen - 53.584m
20 - Whitney Houston - 53.5m

21 - Kenny Rogers - 51.75m
22 - U2 - 50.5m
23 - Celine Dion - 50m
24 - Fleetwood Mac - 48m
25 - Kenny G - 47.5m
26 - Neil Diamond - 45.667m
27 - Santana - 44.883m
28 - Eric Clapton - 39.5m
29 - Frank Sinatra - 26.792m

Few of these artists currently have all their albums fully certified - but these are the definitive audited shipments to date.

Compared to the last update 3 years ago:-

Elvis, Elton, Michael Jackson and U2 all move up.

Thanks.

Your Bob Dylan thread lists audited shipments of 32,251,000 in June 2007.
So he should be at #29.

by **jrh06** » Mon Apr 04, 2011 6:01 pm

Basil wrote:Total US Album Shipments to Apr 2011

1 - Elvis Presley - 172,000,000
2 - The Beatles - 170,000,000
3 - Led Zeppelin - 102,000,000
4 - Garth Brooks - 99,000,000
5 - The Eagles - 93,000,000
6 - Barbra Streisand - 85,000,000
7 - Elton John - 84,000,000
8 - The Rolling Stones - 80,000,000
8 - Pink Floyd - 80,000,000
10 - Frank Sinatra - 78,000,000

11 - AC/DC - 75,000,000
12 - Billy Joel - 74,000,000
12 - Aerosmith - 74,000,000
14 - Madonna - 71,000,000
15 - George Strait - 70,000,000
15 - Michael Jackson - 70,000,000
17 - Kenny Rogers - 69,000,000
18 - Mariah Carey - 66,000,000
19 - Neil Diamond - 63,000,000
20 - Bruce Springsteen - 63,000,000

20 - Metallica - 63,000,000
22 - U2 - 62,000,000
23 - Van Halen - 61,000,000
24 - Fleetwood Mac - 59,000,000
25 - Celine Dion - 57,000,000
25 - Santana - 57,000,000
27 - Whitney Houston - 56,000,000
28 - Eric Clapton - 55,000,000
29 - Kenny G - 52,000,000

To obtain these figures I've used :-

- riaa shipments with particular regard to dates and patterns of certification.

- soundscan figures to indicate catalogue sales.

- billboard album charts and runs.

- other figures from internet research and from this forum.

NOTE - The Top 10 is neatly divided with 5 UK acts and 5 USA acts.

Total Audited US Album Shipments April 2011

1 - The Beatles - 135.4m
2 - Elvis Presley - 106.2m
3 - Garth Brooks - 99m
4 - The Eagles - 89.75m
5 - Led Zeppelin - 89.46m
6 - AC/DC - 69.2m
7 - Elton John - 69.25m
8 - Barbra Streisand - 68.25m
9 - Billy Joel - 67m
10 - Michael Jackson - 66m

11 - Aerosmith - 63.628m
12 - Mariah Carey - 63m
13 - Madonna - 61.5m
14 - George Strait - 59m
15 - Pink Floyd - 57.111m
16 - The Rolling Stones - 57m
17 - Van Halen - 55m
17 - Metallica - 55m
19 - Bruce Springsteen - 53.584m
20 - Whitney Houston - 53.5m

21 - Kenny Rogers - 51.75m
22 - U2 - 50.5m
23 - Celine Dion - 50m
24 - Fleetwood Mac - 48m
25 - Kenny G - 47.5m
26 - Neil Diamond - 45.667m
27 - Santana - 44.883m
28 - Eric Clapton - 39.5m
29 - Frank Sinatra - 26.792m

Few of these artists currently have all their albums fully certified - but these are the definitive audited shipments to date.

Soundscan totals Mar 1991 to Dec 2007

1 - Garth Brooks - 67.4m
2 - The Beatles - 55.7m
3 - Mariah Carey - 49.9m
4 - Celine Dion - 49.7m
5 - Metallica - 48.7m
6 - George Strait - 39.2m
7 - Pink Floyd - 34.5m
8 - Kenny G - 33.1m
9 - Eric Clapton - 32.2m***
10 - U2 - 32.1m

11 - Elvis Presley - 29.5m
12 - Aerosmith - 28.7m
13 - The Eagles - 28.3m
14 - Frank Sinatra - 27.4m***
15 - Madonna - 27.4m***
16 - Elton John - 25.8m
17 - AC/DC - 25.7m
18 - Santana - 24.9m
19 - Whitney Houston - 23.6m***
20 - The Rolling Stones - 23.6m

21 - Led Zeppelin - 22.1m
22 - Barbra Streisand - 20.3m***
23 - Michael Jackson - 19m
24 - Bruce Springsteen - 18.2m
25 - Van Halen - 17.9m
26 - Billy Joel - 17.5m
27 - Fleetwood Mac - 16.2m
28 - Neil Diamond - 15.5m estimate
29 - Kenny Rogers - 13m estimate

***These 5 artist's totals include various soundtracks and collaborations that are included in their riaa totals.

The soundscan totals represent over the counter sales for the past 17 years.

The riaa total shipment list

This is the list on the riaa website and is the least useful list of all in that it counts "units" - so a double album counts twice, a 6CD box set six times! and so on.

The riaa one is out of date - so this is the updated list Jan 2008.

1 - The Beatles - 170m
2 - Garth Brooks - 128m
3 - Elvis Presley - 119.5m
4 - Led Zeppelin - 111.5m
5 - The Eagles - 100m
6 - Billy Joel - 79.5m
7 - Pink Floyd - 74.5m
8 - Barbra Streisand - 71m
8 - AC/DC - 71m
10 - Elton John - 69.5m

11 - George Strait - 67.5m
12 - Aerosmith - 66.5m
13 - The Rolling Stones - 66m
14 - Bruce Springsteen - 63.5m
15 - Mariah Carey - 64m
16 - Madonna - 63.5m
17 - Michael Jackson - 60.5m
18 - Metallica - 57m
19 - Van Halen - 56.5m
20 - Whitney Houston - 54m

21 - Kenny Rogers - 52m
22 - U2 - 51m
23 - Celine Dion - 50m
24 - Fleetwood Mac - 48.5m
25 - Neil Diamond - 48.5m
26 - Kenny G - 47.5m
27 - Santana - 44.5m
28 - Eric Clapton - 42.5m
29 - Frank Sinatra - 25.5m

what's the difference beetween "shipments" and "audited"?thanx. :wink:

by **Basil** » Mon Apr 04, 2011 7:33 pm

blackbird wrote:Your Bob Dylan thread lists audited shipments of 32,251,000 in June 2007.
So he should be at #29.

These lists only concern artists who I calculate have sold over 50 million albums in the USA.

The soundscan list only includes these artists. The others have been removed - for instance Eminem has a soundscan total of 39.6m, but his album total is not over 50m. Someone like Frank Sinatra has a lower soundscan total but has sold over 50 million albums because his sales start in 1945.

The full soundscan list is on the soundscan thread.

The Beatles thread is my next priority to update, but to update all these complex threads after 2 or 3 years is giong to take me several weeks!

by **Basil** » Mon Apr 04, 2011 7:51 pm

jrh06 wrote:what's the difference beetween "shipments" and "audited"?thanx.

Have not yet had time to update all the lists you quote.

There are 4 lists:-

US Shipments - updated April 2011.
This is the estimated list for all albums shipped to retailers from the dawn of time. In practise this is the early 40's when "albums" were a batch of 78's sold together or 10inch shellac discs. In 1947 actual 12inch vinyl albums came in. This mainly concerns Frank Sinatra.

RIAA Audited Shipments - updated April 2011.
Record Labels produce proof of shipments to retailers to the RIAA independent accountants. If the auditors are satisfied an RIAA award is produced - say a Gold Album if the Record Label can prove they have shipped 500,000 copies to retailers (minus returns).
However double albums and box sets are counted per unit. So a 4CD box set shipping 125,000 copies is given a Gold Award for 500,000 CD's shipped. On this list I count 125,000 box sets sold.
For instance, The Beatles have shipped 177million units according to the RIAA. But stripping out all the Box sets and double albums, I calculate they have only shipped 135.4 million items or titles.

Soundscan. Albums scanned in US stores since 1991. have yet to update this list.

RIAA Shipments.
This is the list from the riaa.com where all units are counted. These are audited shipments but double albums count twice, 4CD box sets count 4 times and so on.

For this reason the first 2 lists are the most relevant in determining actual total USA album sales.