HIGHEST SELLING MUSIC ARTISTS

EAGLES – 130+ MILLION

Despite what Aerosmith might claim, according to the official numbers

the Eagles are the biggest-selling American band of all time, with an

estimated total of over 150 million records worldwide, which seems to

be realistic if one takes into account that their certified album sales are

over 130 million with a little more than 100 million of those in the US alone.

Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) shares the top spot with Michael Jackson’s

Thriller as the best-selling album ever in the US with 29 million copies sold

and is one of the highest-selling albums globally with 45 million copies

 sold worldwide.

LED ZEPPELIN – 140 MILLION

According to various sources, Led Zeppelin’s official record sales are

supposed to be somewhere between 200 and 300 million units worldwide.

With RIAA-certified sales of 111.5 million, they are the second best-selling

band in the United States behind the Beatles and one of the most

commercially successful music acts in history.

GARTH BROOKS – 145 MILLION

Garth Brooks is statistically the biggest-selling music artist in US

history and overall third behind the Beatles and Elvis Presley.

He’s the solo artist with the most diamond albums in RIAA’s history, with

six of his albums achieving sales of over 10 million copies. As of now

his albums continue to break records and according to Nielsen

Soundscan, his albums sales up to 2014 are about 70 million, which

makes him the best-selling artist in the United States since the advent of

the SoundScan era (1991 to the present). Simply put, Garth is

Country’s absolute king.

ELTON JOHN – 162 MILLION

Elton John ruled the pop and rock airwaves throughout the ‘70s,

allowing him to attain superstar status around the world by the time he

was thirty. The 1997 version of “Candle in the Wind,” which was

rewritten to celebrate the life of Princess Diana, sold over 33 million

copies worldwide and is considered to be the best-selling single of all time.

With estimated sales of more than 250 million records worldwide, Elton John

is the biggest-selling British solo artist ever, and the second best-selling

British musical act of all time, surpassed only by the Beatles.

MADONNA – 166 MILLION

Madonna is one of the very few artists in history who was inducted into

the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in her first year of eligibility.

Her record company claims that the phenomenal artist has sold more

than 300 million records worldwide. She has also been recognized as

the best-selling female recording artist of all time by the Guinness Book

of World Records and knowing Madonna’s global impact in the music

world we have no reason to doubt any of these facts. However, her

certified sales via the available official markets hardly reach 170 million.

MICHAEL JACKSON – 175 MILLION

Despite Michael Jackson and his record labels always exaggerating

to a great extent about their sales and achievements, there’s no

doubt that the “King of Pop” set numerous records during the course

of his epic career including the best-selling album of all time (Thriller),

the best-selling music video of all time, and winning more music awards

than any other musician or band in history. However, his claim of

750 million records sold is inaccurate and his certified sales don’t

Surpass 175 million at the moment, while his fans make claims of

estimated total sales of about 350–400 million globally.

ELVIS PRESLEY – 210 MILLION

“The King” is the only solo artist in history who has broken the

200 million barrier, and the scariest part is that the Recording Industry

Association of America (RIAA) first began tracking sales of Elvis

Presley’s music in 1958, which means that they don’t include many of the

successful recordings he released before that year. Even under these

circumstances, Elvis has more gold (90), platinum (52) and multi-platinum

(25) album awards than any artist and is the best-selling solo artist of

all time in the US. However, RCA’s claims that Elvis has sold more than

one billion records are ridiculous and it’s believed that Elvis hasn’t sold

more than 600 million records worldwide.

THE BEATLES – 265 MILLION

The Beatles hold pretty much every music record there is and that’s

not an exaggeration whatsoever: They have the most number one

albums on the US charts with 19; the most number one singles in the

US with 20; the most number one albums on the British charts, and

have sold more singles in the UK than any other act. According to the

RIAA, the Beatles are the best-selling music act in the United States, with

178 million certified units sold and they hold the same honour in the

UK, Germany, and the rest of Europe as well. Despite all the records

they have broken and being the most famous music band of the

twentieth-century, their claims of 1.5 billion records worldwide has

proved to be false even though it seems very possible for them to

become the first music act to soon break the 300 million barrier

of certified sales if their albums continue to sell as well as they

have for the past two decades.