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Revision as of 15:14, 15 March 2006
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 made claims to be amongst the top sellers.
Within their sales-bands, 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.
Possible Biases of this page
- Bias towards acts who have had success in the United States of America. Though on the one hand this country provide the largest music markets in the world, the RIAA, who record sales figures in the country, have been accused of deliberately certifying certain American artists' records (and other Western acts who have been successful there) in order to boost their sales position .
- Bias towards modern artists. There are three reasons behind this. The first two concern the fact that comparatively less successful modern artists will have sold more records, as both global spending power and population have increased. In 1950, the world's population was 2.5 billion; by 2000 it had risen to 6 billion 7. When selling over 0.25 billion records - as is claimed for several artists - these figures make a notable difference, although most of the population reside in poorer countries that buy little or no music. Thirdly, older artists suffer from bias as their record sales are less likely to have been noted down; equally, this could cause vaguer estimates and figures to be the only available data.
- Fan sites, press articles, certification authorities and record companies are also accused of inflating record sales for publicity reasons.
World's biggest seller
Main article: Best-selling music artistThe actual biggest selling musician in the world will probably never be known. Records of sales in many countries, particularly in the developing world, are poor and date back less than 20 years. The Beatles, Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley are all, however, regularly cited as being the top sellers. Less common claims are made for ABBA and Alla Pugacheva.
Artists claimed to have sold 250 million records or more
Name Nationality Years Active Genre Source ABBA Sweden 70s-80s (1974-1982) Pop The Beatles UK 60-70s (1962 - 1970) Rock/pop Guinness estimate Bing Crosby US 1926-1977 Pop Led Zeppelin UK 60s-80s (1968-1980) Rock Madonna US 80s-90s-00s- Pop/Dance Nana Mouskouri Greece 60s- (1959-) Pop Michael Jackson US 1969- R&B/Rock/Pop Elvis Presley US 50s-70s Rock, Country Alla Pugacheva Russia 70s-00s (1976-) Rock/Pop Queen UK 70s-00s (1971-) Rock Cliff Richard UK 50s- (1958-2005) Rock/Pop Frank Sinatra US 1939-1995 Vocal
Artists claimed to have sold 100 million records or more
 | This list of songs or music-related items is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. |
Name Nationality Years Active Genre Source AC/DC Australia 70s-00s Rock Aerosmith US 70s-00s Rock Gene Autry US Country Charles Aznavour France 50s-00s Pop Bee Gees UK 60s-00s Pop Black Sabbath UK 70s-00s Heavy Metal Bon Jovi US 80s-00s (1984-present) Rock David Bowie UK 60s-00s (1969-2004) Rock Garth Brooks US 80s-00s (1989-2001) Country Mariah Carey USA 90s (1990-) Pop/R&B/ Chicago US 60s-00s (1967-) Rock Phil Collins UK 80s-00s (1981-1998) Rock Perry Como US 30s-00s Vocal Neil Diamond USA 60s-80s Rock 'n' Roll Celine Dion Canada 80s-00s (1981-) Rock/Pop Enigma Germany 90-00s Sophisticated pop Fleetwood Mac UK/US 60s-00s (1975-1990) Rock Genesis UK 70s-00s (1980-1997) Rock Johnny Hallyday France 50s-00s Pop Whitney Houston US 80s-00s (1985-) R&B/Pop Joni James US 50s-60s Traditional Pop Julio Iglesias Spain 70s-00s (1969-) Latino Pop Billy Joel US 70s-00s (1978-1983,1989-1993) Rock Sir Elton John UK 70s-00s (1970-1976,1989-1991,1997) Rock/Pop Frankie Laine US 1944-2006 Jazz/Pop/Gospel/Country Vicky Leandros Greece 1965 - 2006 Pop/Rock/International Brenda Lee US 50s-60s (1958-1963) Pop/Country Mireille Mathieu France 60s-00s Pop Johnny Mathis US 50s-00s Pop/Standards Metallica US 80s-00s Heavy Metal Modern Talking Germany 80s-00s (1985-1987,1998-2003) Pop Ricky Nelson US 50s-80s (1958-1961) Pop/Country/Rock Patti Page US 40s-2000s Pop/Country/Rock Dolly Parton US 60s-00s (1981-1983) Country Luciano Pavarotti Italy 60s-00s (1972-) Opera Pink Floyd UK 60s-00s (1966-2005) Progressive Rock A. R. Rahman India 90s-00s (1992-) Indian Film Music Lionel Richie US 80s-00s (1981-1985) R&B Kenny Rogers US 50s-00s (1977-) Country Rod Stewart UK 60s-00s Rock/Pop Rolling Stones UK 60s-00s (1964-1981) Rock Donna Summer US 70s-90s (1977-1983) Disco The Bee Gees Isle of Man/Australia 60s-00s (1975-1979) Rock The Eagles US 70s-00s (1970-2005) Rock The Royal Canadians Canada 30s-50s Big Band The Jacksons US 60s-80s (1969-1988) R&B, Pop, Disco U2 Ireland 80s-00s (1980-) Rock Barry White US 70s-00s Pop/R&B/Disco Wei Wei China 80s-00s (1986-) Pop
Artists claimed to have sold 50 million records or more
| This list of songs or music-related items is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. |
Name Nationality Years Active Genre Source Salvatore Adamo Belgium 60s-00s Bryan Adams Canada 80s-00s Pop/Rock A-ha Norway 80s-00s (1985-1993,2000-) Pop Alabama US 70s-00s Country Paul Anka Canada 50s-00s Pop Eddy Arnold US 40s-90s Country Gene Austin US 20s-30s Pop/Crooner B'z Japan 80s-00s Rock/Pop Backstreet Boys US 90s-00s (1996-2000,2005-) Pop Bay City Rollers UK 70s (1974-1976) Pop/Rock Tony Bennett US 50s-00s Standards/Jazz Michael Bolton US 80s-00s Pop Blondie US 70s-00s Pop/Rock Boyz II Men US 80s-00s R&B/Pop Adriano Celentano Italy 60s-00s Pop Roberto Carlos Brazil 60s-00s Johnny Cash US 50s-00s Country Petula Clark UK 50s-00s Pop/Rock/Standards Nat King Cole US 30s-60s Jazz Dalida France 50s-80s (1956-1987) Def Leppard UK 80s-80s (1980-2004) Rock John Denver US 60s-00s Folk/Rock Depeche Mode UK 80s-00s) Rock Destiny's Child US 90s-00s (1997-2001,2004-2005) R&B Dire Straits UK 80s-90s Rock Duran Duran UK 80s-00s (1981-Present) Pop/Rock Bob Dylan US 60s-00s (1965-Present) Folk/Rock Earth, Wind & Fire US 70s-00s (1975) R&B/Funk/Disco/Pop Enya Ireland 80s-00s (1988-1991) New Age/Celtic Eminem US 90s-00s (1996-) Rap Gloria Estefan US 80s-00s (1988-1991) Latin Pop Foreigner US/UK 70s-90s Rock/Pop Guns N' Roses US 70s-00s (1985- ) Hard Rock Iron Maiden UK 70s-00s Heavy Metal Jean-Michel Jarre France 70s-00s (1976-1978) Synth Pop Jethro Tull UK 60s-00s Rock Journey US 70s-00s (1981) Rock/Pop KISS US 70s-00s Rock Andre Kostelanetz US 70s-00s Classic Annie Lennox UK 90s-00s Barry Manilow US 70s-00s Pop/Standards Bob Marley Jamaica 70s Reggae Meat Loaf US 70s-00s Rock Luis Miguel Mexico 80s-00s Latin Pop Mina Italy 50s-00s Pop Kylie Minogue Australia 80s-00s Pop Alanis Morissette Canada 90s-00s Rock Olivia Newton-John Australia 70s-00s Country/Pop Nirvana US 80s-90s (1987–1994) Grunge Pearl Jam US 90s-00s Grunge Linda Ronstadt US 60s-00s (1980-) Rock, Pop, Country Roxette Sweden 80s-90s-00s Pop Santana Mexico 60s-00s (1970-1972,1999-) Rock Britney Spears US 90s-00s (1999-) Pop Bruce Springsteen US 70s-00s (1980-1995,2002-) Rock George Strait US 70s-00s Country Barbra Streisand US 60s-00s (1963-1980) Pop Hank Snow Canada 30s-90s Folk The Carpenters US 60s-80s (1970-1975) Pop/Rock The Doobie Brothers US 70s-00s Rock The Doors US 60s-70s Rock The Police UK 70s-80s Rock The Seekers Australia 60s, 90s-00s Rock/Pop/Folk The Ventures US 50s-00s (1959-) Rock Hank Thompson US 40s-00s Country Three Dog Night US 60s-70s Rock Tupac US 90s (1991-1996) Rap Tina Turner US 70s-00s R&B Shania Twain Canada 90s-00s (1993-) Country/Pop UB40 UK 80s-00s (1980-) Reggae Van Halen US 70s-00s (1978-2004) Rock Stevie Wonder US 60s-00s (1972-1985) R&B
Notes
- Source states that Mark Knopfler's total career sales are 105 million albums. Removing his solo work, this places Dire Straits in the 50 million category.