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Revision as of 02:45, 20 December 2007
The world's best-selling music artists cannot be listed officially, as there is no organization that has recorded global music sales in the manner that the RIAA does in the United States. This page lists those artists who have had claims made to be among the top sellers. Within their sales brackets, artists are listed in alphabetical order, rather than by number of records sold. Equal weight is given to album and single sales, as well as paid downloads. Sources are typically fan sites, record labels, newspaper articles or manual addition of figures from various official sources. This means that these figures should be considered claims, not facts.
Constraints in establishing best-selling status
Although the criteria for the following list are intended to be expansive (including comparisons for total sales for all recording artists) there are certain limitations and constraints that may limit the conclusions that can be derived from this data.
Such constraints include:
- Bias towards acts who have had success in a specific country or region. The RIAA tracks and certifies sales for recordings sold in, or originating from, the United States, the world's largest single music market. While the RIAA's method and scope are exhaustive in this respect, figures for recordings produced and sold in other nations are not included, or at best are incomplete, in RIAA statistics. Since there are few authoritative or comprehensive counterparts to the RIAA which track the international music market, the RIAA's more certain sales figures tend to inflate the relative importance of the American market.
- Bias of fans, who feel that quantity of records sold, equates to quality of music
- Bias towards modern artists. Comparatively less successful modern artists will have sold more records, as both global spending power and population have increased (even though most of the world reside in poorer countries that buy little or no music). In 1950, the world's population was 2.5 billion; by 2000 it had risen to 6 billion. Also, older artists suffer from bias as their record sales are less likely to have been accurately tracked, and estimates of their early sales are likely to be more vague.
- Bias towards older artists. Particularly, those artists who began their recording careers since 1990 may have experienced some loss in sales from illegal downloading of tracks.
- Fan sites, press articles, certification authorities and record companies have been known to inflate record sales claims.
- Inflated claims for artists who performed in different acts during their careers. Sometimes all of the sales data is attributed to an individual artist. For the purposes of this list, an effort is made to separate the individual acts (e.g., the sales figures for The Beatles and Paul McCartney & Wings are mutually exclusive).
World's best seller
Main article: Best-selling music artistThe best-selling musical act in history can not be accurately determined. U.S. sales data before 1952 are incomplete. International sales, particularly in the developing world, continue to be poorly tracked, and sales data before the 1980s is rare or dubious. The Beatles, Michael Jackson, and Elvis Presley have all been given the title by various sources. Claims are made for a number of less common artists.
Artists Reputed Sales
500 million records or more
Artist Country Period Genre Source The Beatles U.K. 60s-70s Rock / Pop / Psychedelic Rock Bing Crosby U.S. 20s-70s Jazz / Swing / Vocal / Easy Listening / Pop Michael Jackson U.S. 60s-00s Pop / New Jack Swing / R&B / Rock / Funk / Disco / Gospel Elvis Presley U.S. 50s-70s Rock / R&B / Gospel / Blues / Rockabilly / Pop / Country Frank Sinatra U.S. 30s-90s Pop / Easy Listening / Vocal / Jazz / Swing
250 million records or more
Artist Country Period Genre Source ABBA Sweden 70s-80s Pop / Disco Alla Pugacheva Russia 60s-00s Russian pop Cliff Richard U.K. 50s-00s Pop / Rock / Adult Contemporary Elton John U.K. 60s-00s Pop / Rock / Adult Contemporary Julio Iglesias Spain 60s-00s Latin Pop Led Zeppelin U.K. 60s-80s Hard Rock / Blues Rock / Heavy Metal / Folk Rock Madonna U.S. 80s-00s Pop / Dance / Disco / Electronica Nana Mouskouri Greece 50s-00s Pop / Folk / Jazz Pink Floyd U.K. 60s-90s Progressive Rock / Psychedelic Rock / Art Rock / Hard Rock Queen U.K. 70s-00s Hard Rock / Glam Rock / Heavy Metal / Pop Rock / Progressive Rock / Arena Rock Tino Rossi France 30s-80s Swing
100 million records or more/less
Artist Country Period Genre Source A. R. Rahman India 90s-00s Film score / Soundtrack AC/DC Australia 70s-00s Hard Rock / Heavy Metal Aerosmith U.S. 70s-00s Hard Rock / Heavy Metal / Blues Rock Backstreet Boys U.S. 90s-00s Pop / Rock / R&B / Soul / Dance Barbra Streisand U.S. 60s-00s Pop / Adult Contemporary / Classical / Easy listening / Showtunes Barry White U.S. 70s-00s Pop / Disco / R&B The Beach Boys U.S. 60s-00s Rock / Pop The Bee Gees Australia/U.K. 60s-00s Pop / Disco / Adult Contemporary / Blues / Blue-eyed Soul Billy Joel U.S. 60s-00s Pop / Rock / Adult Contemporary Black Sabbath U.K. 60s-90s Heavy Metal Bon Jovi U.S. 80s-00s Hard Rock / Glam Rock Boney M Germany 70s-90s Pop / Disco Brenda Lee U.S. 50s-00s Country Bruce Springsteen U.S. 70s-00s Rock The Carpenters U.S. 60s-80s Pop / Country / Adult Contemporary Celine Dion Canada 80s-00s Pop / Chanson / Rock / Adult Contemporary Charles Aznavour France 30s-00s Pop / Chanson Cher U.S. 60s-00s Pop / Dance / Disco / Rock / Folk / Country / Adult Contemporany Chicago U.S. 60s-00s Rock / Blues / Jazz / Adult Contemporary Creedence Clearwater Revival U.S. 60s-70s Rock Dalida France/Italy 50s-80s Pop / Disco David Bowie U.K. 60s-00s Pop / Rock / Folk Rock / Glam Rock / Hard Rock / Soul / Funk / Dance / Electronica Deep Purple U.K. 60s-00s Hard Rock / Heavy Metal Destiny's Child U.S. 90s-00s Pop / R&B / Hip Hop / Soul / Dance Diana Ross U.S. 60s-00s Pop / R&B / Soul / Disco / Funk Dionne Warwick U.S. 60s-00s Pop / R&B / Soul / Adult Contemporary Dire Straits U.K. 70s-90s Rock Dolly Parton U.S. 50s-00s Pop / Country / Folk / Bluegrass Donna Summer U.S. 70s-00s Pop / Disco / R&B / Dance Duane Eddy U.S. 50s-80s Rock The Eagles U.S. 70s-00s Rock / Country Engelbert Humperdinck U.K./U.S. 50s-00s Pop / Easy Listening / Vocal Fats Domino U.S. 40s-00s Rock / R&B Fleetwood Mac U.K./U.S. 60s-00s Rock / Blues Garth Brooks U.S. 80s-00s Country Gene Autry U.S. 30s-70s Country Genesis U.K. 60s-00s Progressive Rock / Pop Rock Gheorghe Zamfir Romania 70s-00s Instrumental Iron Maiden U.K. 80s-00s Heavy Metal / NWOBHM The Jackson 5 U.S. 60s-90s Pop / Disco / Funk / R&B Janet Jackson U.S. 80s-00s R&B / Soul / Dance / Pop Johnny Hallyday France 50s-00s Traditional Pop Johnny Mathis U.S. 50s-00s Jazz / Pop Joni James U.S. 50s-60s Rock Kenny Rogers U.S. 50s-00s Country / Pop Lionel Richie U.S. 60s-00s Pop / R&B / Soul / Disco / Dance / Adult Contemporary Luciano Pavarotti Italy 60s-00s Opera Mariah Carey U.S. 90s-00s R&B / Pop Mireille Mathieu France 60s-00s Pop Modern Talking Germany 80s-00s New Wave Neil Diamond U.S. 60s-00s Pop / Rock / Adult Contemporary Patti Page U.S. 40s-00s Country Perry Como U.S. 30s-00s Pop / Swing / Easy Listening Phil Collins U.K. 80s-00s Rock / Pop Prince U.S. 70s-00s Pop / Funk / R&B / Rock / Soul Ricky Nelson U.S. 50s-80s Pop Roberto Carlos Brazil 60s-00s Latin Rod Stewart U.K. 60s-00s Rock The Rolling Stones U.K. 60s-00s Rock / Hard Rock / Arena Rock Tina Turner U.S. 60s-00s Pop / R&B / Rock / Soul / Dance Status Quo U.K. 60s-00s Rock Stevie Wonder U.S. 60s-00s Pop / R&B / Disco / Soul / Funk Tommy James U.S. 60s-00s Rock U2 Ireland 70s-00s Rock Wei Wei China 80s-00s Pop Whitney Houston U.S. 80s-00s Pop / R&B / Adult Contemporary / Soul / Gospel / Dance The Who U.K. 60s-00s Rock / Arena Rock / Hard Rock / Heavy Metal / Art Rock
75 million records or more/less
Artist Country Period Genre Source a-ha Norway 80s-00s Pop / New Wave Adamo Belgium 60s-00s Pop Adriano Celentano Italy 60s-00s Pop Alabama U.S. 70s-00s Country The Andrews Sisters U.S. 30s-50s Swing B'z Japan 80s-00s Rock / Hard Rock Barry Manilow U.S. 70s-00s Pop / Easy Listening / Adult Contemporary Bob Dylan U.S. 60s-00s Folk / Rock / Country Bobby Vinton U.S. 60s-90s Pop Bonnie Tyler U.K. 70s-00s Pop / Rock / Adult Contemporary Britney Spears U.S. 90s-00s Pop Bryan Adams Canada 80s-00s Rock / Pop / Adult Contemporary Depeche Mode U.K. 80s-00s New Wave / Synthpop / Alternative Dance Donny Osmond U.S. 70s-00s Pop Duran Duran U.K. 80s-00s Pop / New Wave The Doors U.S. 60s-70s Rock / Psychedelic Rock / Blues Rock Earth, Wind & Fire U.S. 70s-00s Pop / R&B / Disco / Soul / Funk Eddy Arnold U.S. 40s-00s Country Eminem U.S. 90s-00s Hip-Hop Eurythmics U.K. 80s-00s Pop / Rock / New Wave Fairuz Lebanon 40s-00s Pop Gene Austin U.S. 20s-30s Country George Michael {and Wham!} U.K. 80s-00s Pop Gloria Estefan U.S. 80s-00s Latin / Dance Guns N' Roses U.S. 80s-00s Hard Rock / Heavy Metal Hank Snow Canada 30s-90s Country James Brown U.S. 50s-00s Soul / R&B / Funk Jean Michel Jarre France 70s-00s New Age Journey U.S. 70s-00s Rock Kenny G U.S. 80s-00s Instrumental / Jazz Kiss U.S. 70s-00s Rock / Hard Rock / Heavy Metal Linda Ronstadt U.S. 60s-00s Country / Pop Metallica U.S. 80s-00s Heavy Metal / Thrash Metal / Hard Rock Mina Italy 50s-00s Pop The Osmonds U.S. 70s-00s Rock R.E.M. U.S. 80s-00s Rock Roxette Sweden 80s-00s Pop / Rock Santana Mexico/U.S. 60s-00s Rock / Blues Scorpions Germany 70s-00s Hard Rock Sonny & Cher U.S. 60s-70s Pop / Rock Shania Twain Canada 90s-00s Country / Pop Van Halen U.S. 70s-00s Hard Rock The Ventures U.S. 50s-00s Instrumental Rock Tupac Shakur U.S. 90s-00s Hip-Hop Victor Silvester U.K. 30s-80s Dance Willie Nelson U.S. 50s-00s Country
50 million records or more/less
Artist Country Period Genre Source Alanis Morissette Canada 90s-00s Alternative / Folk Rock Alice Cooper U.S. 60s-00s Hard Rock / Heavy Metal / Shock Rock / Glam Rock Andre Kostelanetz U.S. 40s-70s Easy Listening Andrea Bocelli Italy 90s-00s Opera / Classical Anne Murray Canada 60s-00s Pop / Country Annie Lennox U.K. 90s-00s Rock / Soul Ayumi Hamasaki Japan 90s-00s Pops B.J. Thomas U.S. 60s-00s Country Blondie U.S. 70s-00s New Wave Bob Marley Jamaica 60s-80s Reggae Bob Seger U.S. 60s-00s Rock Bobby Womack U.S. 60s-00s Soul / R&B Boyz II Men U.S. 80s-00s R&B / Soul Camilo Sesto Spain 60s-00s Latin Cat Stevens U.K. 60s-00s Folk / Pop Charlie Daniels U.S. 70s-00s Country / Rock The Corrs Ireland 90s-00s Rock Def Leppard U.K. 70s-00s Hard Rock / Heavy Metal / NWOBHM Destiny's Child U.S. 90s-00s Pop / R&B / Dance The Diamonds Canada 50s-70s R&B The Doobie Brothers U.S. 70s-00s Rock Don Cornell U.S. 50s-90s Pop Enya Ireland 80s-00s New Age / Celtic Four Tops U.S. 50s-00s R&B George Strait U.S. 70s-00s Country Green Day U.S. 90s-00s Rock / Punk / Alternative Heino Germany 60s-00s Country Hank Thompson U.S. 40s-00s Country Herb Alpert U.S. 50s-90s Instrumental Pop / Easy Listening James Last Germany 60s-00s Instrumental / Classical Jethro Tull U.K. 60s-00s Progressive Rock / Hard Rock /Rock Johnny Cash U.S. 50s-00s Country Kylie Minogue Australia 80s-00s Pop / Dance Luis Miguel Mexico 80s-00s Latin Linkin Park United States 90s-00s Rock / Metal / Hip-Hop Meat Loaf U.S. 70s-00s Rock / Hard Rock Mills Brothers U.S. 30s-70s Pop Mötley Crüe U.S. 80s-00s Hard Rock / Heavy Metal / Glam Metal The Monkees U.S. 60s-90s Pop / Rock Mr. Children Japan 80s-00s Rock Nat King Cole U.S. 30s-60s Jazz / Vocal / Pop Nelson Gonçalves Brazil 40s-90s Samba New Kids on the Block U.S. 80s-90s Pop Nirvana U.S. 80s-90s Grunge / Alternative Rock N'SYNC U.S. 90s-00s Pop Oasis U.K. 90s-00s Rock Orhan Gencebay Turkey 60s-00s Arabesque / Folk Paul Revere & The Raiders U.S. 60s-00s Pop Pearl Jam U.S. 90s-00s Grunge / Rock / Hard Rock Petula Clark U.K. 50s-00s Pop The Dave Clark Five U.K. 60s-70s Rock The Police U.K. 70s-80s, 00s Pop / New Wave / Rock Raphael Spain 60s-00s Latin Ray Conniff U.S. 50s-00s Pop / Easy Listening Reba McEntire U.S. 70s-00s Country Red Hot Chili Peppers U.S. 80s-00s Funk Rock / Alternative Rock Richard Clayderman France 60s-00s Easy Listening / Instrumental Pop Sade U.K. 80s-00s R&B The Seekers Australia 60s, 90s-00s Folk / Rock Shakira Colombia 90s-00s Latin / Pop Simon & Garfunkel U.S. 60s-70s Folk Rock Simply Red U.K. 80s-00s Pop / Rock / Adult Contemporary Spice Girls U.K. 90s-00s Pop / Dance / R&B Three Dog Night U.S. 60s-70s Rock Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers U.S. 70s-00s Rock The Turtles U.S. 60s Rock UB40 U.K. 80s-00s Reggae Vernon Dalhart U.S. 10s-40s Country Anna Vissi Greece 70s-00s Pop/Moderna Laika/Dance/Rock
References
- Guinness World records estimate over 1 billion records, CDs and singles sold
- First there was Beatlemania, now there's Googlemania Maney, Kevin; USA Today; 10 May, 2004; accessed December 2006; claims over 1 billion records
- Bing Crosby at Billboard Magazine billboard.com; accessed October 2007; claims over 500 million
- accessed September 2007; claims 750 million; in English language
- Claims over 1 billion in sales globally
- Frank Sinatra tele.at; accessed December 2006; claims 600 million; in German
- Abba, The Book Potiez, Jean-Marie; 15 August 2005; accessed December 2006; claims 350 million records sold as of 2000
- |- It's Abba on the phone making a lot more money, money, money Sherwin, Adam; The Times; April 19 2006; accessed December 2006; claims 370 million
- IMDB; accessed October 2007; claims 100 million recorda
- Life and Times; Cliff Richard.com; accessed December 2006; claims 250 million; (Primary source)
- Sanctuary for Elton Yahoo Music; accessed December 2006; claims 250 million
- The Iglesias dynasty Hello!; accessed December 2006; claims 250 million records
- Led Zeppelin wins Polar Prize The Local; 7 November 2005; accessed December 2006; claims more than 300 million
- ; claims 270 million
- ; claims 380 million
- Dreamsville.net, claim 250 million, retrieved 2 August2007
- Worldticketshop 2006 claims 250 million
- Surge Radio claims 300 million
- Queen Proves There's Life After Freddie Ohmy News; January 25 2006; accessed December 2006; claims 300 million
- Tino Rossi Ajaccio Tourist Information; accessed December 2006; claims 300 million
- Indian film composer for Rings
- Biography - Barbra Streisand
- Obituary: Barry White
- BeeGees - Sales
- http://www.geocities.com/thecherzone/biographie.html
- www.paris.fr Official Paris Website. Over 125 mln records
- http://www.gigwise.com/profile.asp?contentid=668
- "Diamond Award". World Music Awards. Retrieved April 7 2006.
- [http://www.pr-inside.com/entertainment-blog/2006/12/30/royal-honour-for-rod-stewart: (Claims over 200 million sold worldwide)/
- enote: Contempory Artists - Tina Turner biography(Claims over 180 million records sold by the year 2000)
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- http://wiki.theppn.org/All_Time_Top_50_Sales_%28Japan%29
- Destiney's Child Music World/Columbia Records: Music World/Columbia Records Announce the Release of 'Ms. Kelly,': claim 60 million: accessed 26 June 2007
- Enya.com Enya's official Web Site, from the FAQ. Accessed on May 8, 2007. Claims more than 70 million sold.
- www.motley.com
- Upperstreet: Danny
