NME.com: Top 50 Best Selling Albums

[areyoureadytojump]

Based on NME.com this is the top 50 selling albums ever

1. Micheal Jackson, 'Thriller' (1982). Copies sold: 110 million
2. AC/DC, 'Back In Black' (1980). Copies sold: 49 million
3. Pink Floyd, 'Dark Side of the Moon' (1973). Copies sold: 45 million
4. Whitney Houston/Various Artists, 'The Bodyguard' (1992). Copies sold: 44 million
5. Meat Loaf, 'Bat Out Of Hell' (1977). Copies sold: 43 million
6. Eagles, 'Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975)' (1976). Copies sold: 42 million
7. Various Artists, 'Dirty Dancing' (1987). Copies sold: 42 million
8. Backstreet Boys, 'Millennium' (1999). Copies sold: 40 million
9. Bee Gees/Various Artists, 'Saturday Night Fever' (1977). Copies sold: 40 million
10. Fleetwood Mac, 'Rumours' (1977). Copies sold: 40 million
11. Shania Twain, 'Come On Over' (1997). Copies sold: 39 million
12. Led Zeppelin, 'Led Zeppelin IV' (1971). Copies sold: 37 million
13. Alanis Morissette, 'Jagged Little Pill' (1995). Copies sold: 33 million
14. The Beatles, 'Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band' (1967). Copies sold: 32 million
15. Celine Dion, 'Falling Into You' (1996). Copies sold: 32 million
16. Mariah Carey, 'Music Box' (1993). Copies sold: 32 million
17. Micheal Jackson, 'Dangerous' (1991). Copies sold: 32 million
18. The Beatles, '1' (2000). Copies sold: 31 million
19. Celine Dion, 'Let's Talk About Love' (1997). Copies sold: 31 million
20. Elton John, 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road' (1973). Copies sold: 31 million
21. Bee Gees, 'Spirits Having Flown' (1979). Copies sold: 30 million
22. Bruce Springsteen, 'Born in the U.S.A.' (1984). Copies sold: 30 million
23. Dire Straits, 'Brothers In Arms' (1985). Copies sold: 30 million
24. James Horner, 'Titanic' (1997). Copies sold: 30 million
25. Madonna, 'The Immaculate Collection' (1990). Copies sold: 30 million
26. Micheal Jackson, 'Bad' (1987). Copies sold: 30 million
27. Pink Floyd, 'The Wall' (1979). Copies sold: 30 million
28. Abba, 'Gold' (1992). Copies sold: 28 million
29. Backstreet Boys, 'Backstreet's Back' (1997). Copies sold: 28 million
30. Bon Jovi, 'Slippery When Wet' (1986). Copies sold: 28 million
31. Guns N' Roses, 'Appetite For Destruction' (1987). Copies sold: 28 million
32. Various Artists, 'Grease' (1978). Copies sold: 28 million
33. Santana, 'Supernatural' (1999). Copies sold: 27 million
34. Nirvana, 'Nevermind' (1991). Copies sold: 26 million
35. Britney Spears, '...Baby One More Time' (1999). Copies sold: 25 million
36. Carole King, 'Tapestry' (1971). Copies sold: 25 million
37. Iron Butterfly, 'In-A-Gadda-da-Vida' (1968). Copies sold: 25 million
38. Mariah Carey, 'Daydream' (1995). Copies sold: 25 million
39. Queen, 'Greatest Hits' (1981). Copies sold: 25 million
40. Simon and Garfunkel, 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' (1970). Copies sold: 25 million
41. U2, 'The Joshua Tree' (1987). Copies sold: 25 million
42. Whitney Houston, 'Whitney Houston' (1985). Copies sold: 25 million
43. Backstreet Boys, 'Black and Blue' (2000). Copies sold: 24 million
44. Linkin Park, 'Hybrid Theory' (2000). Copies sold: 24 million
45. Madonna, 'True Blue' (1986). Copies sold: 24 million
46. Ace of Base, 'Happy Nation' (1994). Copies sold: 23 million
47. Spice Girls, 'Spice' (1996). Copies sold: 23 million
48. Oasis, '(What's the Story) Morning Glory?' (1995). Copies sold: 22 million
49. Dido, 'No Angel' (1999). Copies sold: 21 million
50. Madonna's 'Like A Virgin' (1984). Copies sold: 21 million.

source : www.nme.com/photos/the-50-best-selling-albums-ever/195120/1/1

[Peaches. [Ch, r. is]]

Nov 12, 2010 17:24:41 GMT -5 areyoureadytojump said:

39. Kelly Clarkson, 'Breakaway' (2004). Copies sold: 25 million

LEGEND :'(

[HolidayGuy]

Some of those numbers seem a little high to me. For the longest time, Thriller was reported as around 50m. I know MJ's sold a lot of albums in the last year and change, but 110 million?

And, Dirty Dancing soundtrack at 42 million? And isn't 25m a little much for Breakaway? 40 million for Millennium?!?

[Minor Scratch]

There's nothing after 2000 on this list. Interesting.

[Deleted]

90% of the data = WRONG!

[worldwide]

Nov 12, 2010 17:27:26 GMT -5 Peaches. [Ch, r. is] said:

Nov 12, 2010 17:24:41 GMT -5 areyoureadytojump said:

39. Kelly Clarkson, 'Breakaway' (2004). Copies sold: 25 million

LEGEND :'(

and so false.

[Deleted]

Of course all this data is suspect. There is no real official source for this and no one really knows for sure how much a particular album has sold worldwide (in particular for the older albums, the US as well)

[when the pawn...]

Assuming it's correct (just for fun), it's interesting to see Dangerous having sold more than Bad

[slw84]

Nov 12, 2010 17:24:41 GMT -5 areyoureadytojump said:

Based on NME.com this is the top 50 selling albums ever

1. Micheal Jackson, 'Thriller' (1982). Copies sold: 110 million 2. AC/DC, 'Back In Black' (1980). Copies sold: 49 million
3. Pink Floyd, 'Dark Side of the Moon' (1973). Copies sold: 45 million
4. Whitney Houston/Various Artists, 'The Bodyguard' (1992). Copies sold: 44 million
6. Eagles, 'Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975)' (1976). Copies sold: 42 million
7. Various Artists, 'Dirty Dancing' (1987). Copies sold: 42 million
8. Backstreet Boys, 'Millennium' (1999). Copies sold: 40 million
9. Bee Gees/Various Artists, 'Saturday Night Fever' (1977). Copies sold: 40 million
10. Fleetwood Mac, 'Rumours' (1977). Copies sold: 40 million
11. Shania Twain, 'Come On Over' (1997). Copies sold: 39 million
13. Alanis Morissette, 'Jagged Little Pill' (1995). Copies sold: 33 million
14. The Beatles, 'Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band' (1967). Copies sold: 32 million 15. Celine Dion, 'Falling Into You' (1996). Copies sold: 32 million
16. Mariah Carey, 'Music Box' (1993). Copies sold: 32 million
17. Micheal Jackson, 'Dangerous' (1991). Copies sold: 32 million 18. The Beatles, '1' (2000). Copies sold: 31 million
19. Celine Dion, 'Let's Talk About Love' (1997). Copies sold: 31 million
20. Elton John, 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road' (1973). Copies sold: 31 million
21. Bee Gees, 'Spirits Having Flown' (1979). Copies sold: 30 million
22. Bruce Springsteen, 'Born in the U.S.A.' (1984). Copies sold: 30 million
25. Madonna, 'The Immaculate Collection' (1990). Copies sold: 30 million
26. Micheal Jackson, 'Bad' (1987). Copies sold: 30 million
28. Abba, 'Gold' (1992). Copies sold: 28 million 29. Backstreet Boys, 'Backstreet's Back' (1997). Copies sold: 28 million
30. Bon Jovi, 'Slippery When Wet' (1986). Copies sold: 28 million
31. Guns N' Roses, 'Appetite For Destruction' (1987). Copies sold: 28 million
32. Various Artists, 'Grease' (1978). Copies sold: 28 million
33. Santana, 'Supernatural' (1999). Copies sold: 27 million 34. Nirvana, 'Nevermind' (1991). Copies sold: 26 million
35. Britney Spears, '...Baby One More Time' (1999). Copies sold: 25 million YASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS36. Carole King, 'Tapestry' (1971). Copies sold: 25 million
38. Mariah Carey, 'Daydream' (1995). Copies sold: 25 million
39. Queen, 'Greatest Hits' (1981). Copies sold: 25 million
41. U2, 'The Joshua Tree' (1987). Copies sold: 25 million
42. Whitney Houston, 'Whitney Houston' (1985). Copies sold: 25 million
45. Madonna, 'True Blue' (1986). Copies sold: 24 million
46. Ace of Base, 'Happy Nation' (1994). Copies sold: 23 million
50. Madonna's 'Like A Virgin' (1984). Copies sold: 21 million.
source : www.nme.com/photos/the-50-best-selling-albums-ever/195120/1/1

So...all that are bolded are epic... the rest don't matter.

[dbt88]

A little too inflated. Product of labels hyping up their acts

[Deleted]

at this list.

[Cerbius]

The figures look rather inflated, but overall, interesting list.

[HolidayGuy]

slw, all of the ones you bolded are epic.... for you, perhaps. :) Some of them, sure, but not all.

[dbt88]

Nov 12, 2010 19:05:29 GMT -5 HolidayGuy said:

slw, all of the ones you bolded are epic.... for you, perhaps. :) Some of them, sure, but not all.

Exactly. Don't see why he included all those Madonna albums

[HolidayGuy]

^Haha Well, Immaculate undoubtedly is epic- and True Blue and Like a Virgin have epic tracks, but I don't know if I'd describe the albums as a whole as epic. Like a Prayer and Ray of Light, no doubt, but they didn't sell as much.

Most of those albums would not be categorized as epic (in artistic terms, save for maybe 10-15 albums that actually were sizable critical successes- LAV and TB actually have fared OK in that respect), for any reason other than their sales. Since this is a sales list- they're all epic in that sense. :)

[c0ldasfire]

Bowing down to Britney

[slw84]

Nov 12, 2010 19:05:29 GMT -5 HolidayGuy said:

slw, all of the ones you bolded are epic.... for you, perhaps. :) Some of them, sure, but not all.

I know...these are the albums that I have...an emotional moment at first glance. The bold represent the epic artists IMO.

Even my favorite artist on the list has their worst album...ironically sold the most (IMO). ;)

[Enigma.]

LOL at the sales of Thriller

It's hilarious how it suddenly got 40 millions of sales couple of years ago. And people really believe it?

[F.A.M.O.U.S.]

Nov 13, 2010 11:40:25 GMT -5 Enigma. said:

LOL at the sales of Thriller

It's hilarious how it suddenly got 40 millions of sales couple of years ago. And people really believe it?

[Enigma.]

Thriller is at 55-60 million max.

[Deleted]

There is no way Thriller has sold 110 million albums worldwide.

[Deleted]

Nov 13, 2010 13:45:47 GMT -5 Enigma. said:

Thriller is at 55-60 million max.

I'd say 65m...

[wunderkind]

Didn't Breakaway sell 6 million in the US (or 6.5 mil) ?

There is no way she is at 25 million worldwide - probably half that at best. Breakaway did sell well in other countries but not THAT well. The US was her main market.

[Fat Ass Kelly Price]

@ you people actually believing Breakaway was on the list.

[Deleted]

This isn't a list to take too seriously

[HolidayGuy]

LMAO I didn't even notice that Clarkson wasn't listed- I had only seen that bottom response that quoted Breakway at 39.

The numbers for some titles on the list look plausible, but for others, a little much.

[Rεvôlvεr†]

Shania is a legend.

The Woman In Me- 15 million
Come On Over- 39 million
Up!- 18 million
Greatest Hits- 7 million

Three diamond albums in a row, is absolutely amazing. Almost 2 double diamond albums, and one almost quadruple diamond.. she's definitely a force to be reckoned with ;)

[Peaches. [Ch, r. is]]

Nov 14, 2010 0:57:21 GMT -5 Fat Ass Kelly Price said:

@ you people actually believing Breakaway was on the list.

:kii:

[1shot]

Nov 13, 2010 20:58:29 GMT -5 @peigan68 said:

There is no way Thriller has sold 110 million albums worldwide.

I was gonna post this too. Haha.

While I don't dispute the fact that it is the biggest selling album of all time, that number is absolute horse crap. Some (probably more accurate estimates) are around 60-70 millions copies sold.

[Enigma.]

www.mediatraffic.de/alltime-album-chart.htm

This is probably as correct as it can get with the information available.
According to this, Thriller is at 68 million.