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Revision as of 03:36, 3 September 2006 by 64.12.116.130 (talk) (→World's best seller)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)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 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.
Possible biases of this page
- Bias towards acts who have had success in the United States of America. Though on the one hand the USA provides the largest music markets in the world, the RIAA, which records sales figures in the country, has 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 . When selling over 250 million records - as is claimed for several artists - these figures make a notable difference, although most of the population resides in poorer countries who buy less music than richer countries. 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. This could be for publicity reasons, or under the belief that quantity of sales suggests a greater quality of music.
- Certain artists who have sold millions of albums over their career, will be excluded from the list. George Michael, for example, does not appear, despite claims for over 80 million record sales , as he achieved fewer than fifty million as Wham!, and fewer than fifty million as 'George Michael'.
World's best seller
Main article: Best-selling music artistThe actual best 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, Pee Wee Herman and Elvis Presley are all, however, regularly cited as being the top sellers. Less common claims are made for a number of other artists though these are usually taken as less valid.
Artists claimed to have sold 250 million records or more
- In alphabetical order
ABBA Sweden 70s-80s Rock/Pop/Schlager Alla Pugacheva Russia 70s-00s Pop The Beatles UK 60s-70s Rock/Pop Guinness estimate Bing Crosby U.S. 20s-70s Pop (Traditional) Chubby Checker U.S. 60s-00s Pop/R&B Sir Cliff Richard UK 50s-00s Pop Sir Elton John UK 70s-00s Piano Rock Elvis Presley U.S. 50s-70s Rock'N'Roll/Pop/Country/Gospel Frank Sinatra U.S. 30s-90s Pop (Traditional) Julio Iglesias Spain 70s-00s Pop (Latin) Led Zeppelin UK 60s-80s Hard Rock/Blues Rock/Heavy Metal Madonna U.S. 80s-00s Pop/Dance/Electronica/R&B Michael Jackson U.S. 60s-00s Pop/R&B/Rock/Disco/Soul/Dance/ Gospel/Ballads/Rap Nana Mouskouri Greece 60s-00s Pop Queen UK 70s-00s Arena/Glam/Heavy Metal/Progressive Rock Tino Rossi France 30s-80s Pop
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. |
AC/DC Australia 70s-00s Hard Rock Aerosmith U.S. 70s-00s Hard Rock A. R. Rahman India 90s-00s Classic (Soundtracks) Barbra Streisand U.S. 60s-00s Vocal/Pop Barry White U.S. 70s-00s Pop/R&B The Beach Boys U.S. 60s-90s Pop/Surf Rock The Bee Gees UK/Australia 60s-00s Pop/Disco Billy Joel U.S. 70s-00s Piano Rock Bon Jovi U.S. 80s-00s Hair Metal Brenda Lee U.S. 50s-60s Pop/Country The Carpenters U.S. 60s-80s Pop Céline Dion Canada 80s-00s Pop Charles Aznavour France 50s-00s Pop Cher U.S. 60s-00s Pop/Rock/Disco/Dance Chicago U.S. 60s-00s Pop Creedence Clearwater Revival U.S. 60s-70s Pop/Rock David Bowie UK 60s-00s Rock/Pop Deep Purple UK 60s-00s Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Dionne Warwick U.S. 60s-00s Pop/R&B Dolly Parton U.S. 60s-00s Country/Pop Donna Summer U.S. 70s-00s Disco/Pop Duane Eddy U.S. 50s-80s Rock Eagles U.S. 70s-00s Rock Engelbert Humperdinck UK 60s-00s Pop Fats Domino U.S. 40s-00s Rock/R&B Fleetwood Mac UK/U.S. 60s-00s Rock Frankie Laine U.S. 40s-00s Jazz/Pop/Gospel/Country Garth Brooks U.S. 80s-00s Country Gene Autry U.S. 20s-90s Country Genesis UK 70s-00s Progressive Rock / Pop Rock The Jacksons U.S. 60s-80s Pop/R&B/Disco/Rock/Soul John Denver U.S. 60s-00s Folk/Rock Johnny Hallyday France 50s-00s Pop Johnny Mathis U.S. 50s-00s Pop (Traditional) Joni James U.S. 50s-60s Pop (Traditional) Kenny Rogers U.S. 50s-00s Country Lionel Richie U.S. 80s-00s R&B Luciano Pavarotti Italy 60s-00s Opera Mariah Carey U.S. 90s-00s Pop/R&B Mireille Mathieu France 60s-00s Pop Modern Talking Germany 80s-00s Pop/Dance Neil Diamond U.S. 60s-80s Pop Patti Page U.S. 40s-00s Pop/Country Perry Como U.S. 30s-00s Pop Phil Collins UK 80s-00s Soft Rock Pink Floyd UK 60s-00s Psychedelic Rock/Progressive Rock Prince U.S 70s-00s Pop/R&B/Funk/Soul/Rock Ricky Nelson U.S. 50s-80s Pop/Country Rod Stewart UK 60s-00s Pop/Rock The Rolling Stones UK 60s-00s Rock The Royal Canadians Canada 30s-50s Pop (Big Band) Stevie Wonder U.S. 60s-00s Pop/R&B Tommy James U.S. 60s-00s Rock U2 Ireland 70s-00s Rock Vicky Leandros Greece 60s-00s Pop Wei Wei China 80s-00s Pop Whitney Houston U.S. 80s-00s Pop/R&B/Gospel/Soul The Who UK 60s-00s Hard Rock
Artists claimed to have sold 75 million records or more
| This list of songs or music-related items is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. |
Alabama U.S. 70s-00s Rock/Country The Andrews Sisters U.S. 30s-50s Pop (Swing)/Vocal B'z Japan 80s-00s Rock/Pop Backstreet Boys U.S. 90s-00s Pop Barry Manilow U.S. 70s-00s Pop Bob Dylan U.S. 60s-00s Folk/Rock Bobby Vinton U.S. 60s-90s Pop/Vocal Britney Spears U.S. 90s-00s Pop Dalida France/Italy 50s-80s Pop Earth, Wind & Fire U.S. 70s-00s R&B/Disco/Pop Eddy Arnold U.S. 40s-90s Country Eurythmics UK 80s-90s Pop/Rock Gene Austin U.S. 20s-30s Pop (Traditional) Guns N' Roses U.S. 80s-00s Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Hank Snow Canada 30s-90s Folk Jean-Michel Jarre France 70s-00s Pop (Synth) Journey U.S. 70s-00s Rock/Pop Kenny G U.S. 80s-00s Jazz KISS U.S. 70s-00s Rock Linda Ronstadt U.S. 60s-00s Country/Pop Metallica U.S. 80s-00s Heavy Metal/Thrash Metal Salvatore Adamo Belgium 60s-00s Pop Santana Mexico 60s-00s Rock/Blues Van Halen U.S. 70s-00s Hard Rock The Ventures U.S. 50s-00s Rock Victor Silvester UK 30s-80s Dance/Pop Willie Nelson U.S. 50s-00s Country
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. |
2Pac U.S. 90s-00s Rap Adriano Celentano Italy 60s-00s Pop A-ha Norway 80s-00s Pop/Rock Alanis Morissette Canada 90s-00s Rock Alice Cooper U.S. 60s-00s Heavy Metal Andre Kostelanetz U.S. 40s-70s Classic Andrea Bocelli Italy 90s-00s Classical Anne Murray Canada 60s-00s Country/Pop Annie Lennox UK 90s-00s Pop Bay City Rollers UK 70s Pop/Rock B.J. Thomas U.S. 60s-00s Country/Pop Blondie U.S. 70s-00s Rock (New Wave)/Pop Bob Marley Jamaica 70s-80s Reggae Bob Seger U.S. 60s-00s Rock Boyz II Men U.S. 80s-00s R&B/Pop Bruce Springsteen U.S. 70s-00s Rock Bryan Adams Canada 80s-00s Rock/Pop Cat Stevens UK 60s-00s Pop/Rock Charlie Daniels U.S. 70s-00s Country Def Leppard UK 70s-00s Hard Rock Depeche Mode UK 80s-00s Synth/New Wave Destiny's Child U.S. 90s-00s R&B The Diamonds Canada 50s-70s Pop/R&B Dire Straits UK 80s-90s Rock The Doobie Brothers U.S. 70s-00s Rock The Doors U.S. 60s-70s Psychedelic Rock Don Cornell U.S. 50s-90s Pop (Traditional) Duran Duran UK 80s-00s Pop/Rock Eminem U.S. 90s-00s Rap Enya Ireland 80s-00s New Age (Celtic) Foreigner U.S./UK 70s-00s Rock/Pop Four Tops U.S. 50s-00s R&B George Strait U.S. 70s-00s Country Gloria Estefan U.S. 80s-00s Pop (Latin) Green Day U.S. 90s-00s Alternative Rock/Punk Rock/Punk Pop Hank Thompson U.S. 40s-00s Country Iron Maiden UK 70s-00s Heavy Metal Janet Jackson U.S. 80s-00s Pop/R&B Jethro Tull UK 60s-00s Rock Johnny Cash U.S. 50s-00s Country Kylie Minogue Australia 80s-00s Dance Luis Miguel Mexico 80s-00s Pop (Latin) Meat Loaf U.S. 70s-00s Rock Michael Bolton U.S. 80s-00s Pop Mills Brothers U.S. 30s-70s Vocal Mina Italy 50s-00s Pop The Monkees U.S. 60s-90s Pop/Rock Nat King Cole U.S. 30s-60s Jazz Nirvana U.S. 80s-90s Rock (Grunge) Olivia Newton-John Australia 70s-00s Country/Pop Ozzy Osbourne U.S. 70s-00s Heavy Metal Paul Anka Canada 50s-00s Pop Pearl Jam U.S. 90s-00s Rock (Grunge) Petula Clark UK 50s-00s Pop The Police UK 70s-80s Rock (New Wave) Ray Conniff U.S. 50s-00s Pop/Easy Listening Reba McEntire U.S. 70s-00s Country Red Hot Chili Peppers U.S. 80s-00s Hard Rock/Funk Metal Richard Clayderman France 60s-00s Pop/Piano/Instrumental Ricky Martin Puerto Rico 90s-00s Pop (Latin) Robbie Williams UK 90s-00s Pop Roberto Carlos Brazil 60s-00s Pop (Latin) Roxette Sweden 80s-00s Pop Sade UK 80s-00s Pop/R&B The Seekers Australia 60s, 90s-00s Pop/Folk/Rock Shania Twain Canada 90s-00s Country/Pop Simply Red UK 80s-00s Pop Spice Girls U.K. 90s-00s Pop Three Dog Night U.S. 60s-70s Rock Tina Turner U.S. 60s-00s Rock/Pop/R&B Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers U.S. 70s-00s Pop/Rock Tony Bennett U.S. 50s-00s Pop (Traditional)/Jazz The Turtles U.S. 60s Pop/Rock UB40 UK 80s-00s Reggae ZZ Top U.S. 70s-00s Rock
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 plus category