Best-Selling Artist of Soundscan Era (1991-Now)

[Future Captain]

Here's a list of top selling artists (Album) since Soundscan era began (1991-Now)


1) Garth Brooks 69,730,000

2) Beatles 66,100,000

3) Metallica 54,600,000

4) Mariah Carey 54,600,400

5) Celine Dion 52,400,000

6) Eminem 45,160,000

7) George Strait 44,890,000

8) Tim McGraw 41,844,000

9) Alan Jackson 40,361,000

10) Pink Floyd 38,508,000



11) Jay Z (35,600,000)

12) Elvis Presley (35,555,000)

13) U2 (34,715,000)

14) Kenny G (34,248,000)*

15) Michael Jackson (34,723,000)

16) Shania Twain (34,500,000)

17) Britney Spears (33,100,000)

18) AC/DC (31,901,000)

19) Pearl Jam (31,785,000)

20) Aerosmith (31,702,000)



21) Dave Matthews Band (31,151,000)

22) Backstreet Boys (31,039,000)

23) Eagles (30,836,000)

24) Eric Clapton (30,832,000)

25) Reba McEntire (30,400,000)

26) Rod Stewart (30,000,000)

27) Toby Keith (30,000,000)

28) 2pac (29,235,000)

29) Frank Sinatra (28,737,000)

30) Madonna (28,200,000)



31) NSYNC (28,100,000)

32) Elton John (27,256,000)

33) Taylor Swift (27,830,000) (April 2015)*

34) Dixie Chicks (27,200,000)

35) Creed (27,079,000)

36) Enya (26,623,000)

37) Whitney Houston (26,617,000)

38) Kenny Chesney (26,600,000)

39) Nirvana (26,410,000)

40) Santana (26,331,000)



41) Jimmy Buffett (26,141,000)

42) Guns N' Roses (25,453,000)

43) Led Zeppelin (25,000,000) (December 2012)

44) Johnny Cash (25,000,000) (July 2013)

45) Kid Rock (25,000,000) (December 2013)

46) Linkin Park (25,000,000) (November 2014)

47) Mary J Blige (24,500,000)

48) Usher (23,800,000)

49) Nickelback (23,200,000)

50) Bob Dylan (23,000,000)


Will update this once anything come up, and for the newer acts who still put albums out, will be updated with their recent figures.  If you think that someone should be in this list, please notify me and give a receipt for the figure from a credible source. I don't take Certification, I want actual sales.

If any of you want to ask about why Taylor Swift is below Elton John and Mariah is below Kenny G, it's because Elton and Kenny's number is very outdated and they should be higher if any official number for them is out.

Some of these numbers were from ATRL and UKMix, credits for them.

[BlueSwan]

I'm actually shocked that Metallica are ahead of Mariah and Celine. I thought that their 1991 album was their only really huge seller.

[Glove Slap]

Uhhh all of Metallica's proper studio albums are multi-platinum, with 5 of them being at least 5X platinum.

Not releasing a proper compilation/GH set has really kept their entire 1983-1991 catalog selling well over the years. They'll distance themselves further from Mariah and Celine as the years go on, with that playing a significant part in it.