Bestselling Musical Artists/Groups of all Time
Created | Updated Nov 12, 2013
BEST-SELLING PERFORMING ARTISTS OF ALL TIME
List of best-selling music artists, excerpted from Wikipedia
with genre and country annotations by paulh. “GH” means that I
own a “greatest hits” cd for the artist or group. "1 Album" means that I own one album by the artist or group. "X" means that I heard the artist or group, and decided not to own any of their recordings.
Artists by reputed sales of recordings [estimated]
GH,1 ALBUM--The Beatles 1 billion [UK]
GH--Elvis Presley 1 billion [USA]
GH--Michael Jackson 750 million [USA]
GH--Madonna 300 million [USA]
GH--Elton John 300 million [UK]
GG--Led Zeppelin 300 million [UK] [BLUES/ROCK]
GH--Queen 300 million [UK]
GH--ABBA 300 million [SWEDEN
GH--Mariah Carey 200 million [USA]
GH--Celine Dion 200 million [CANADA]
X--AC/DC 200 million
GH--The Rolling Stones 200 million
GH--Bee Gees 200 million
GH--Whitney Houston 170 million
X--U2 150 million
GH--Billy Joel 150 million
GH--Phil Collins [UK] 150 million
X--Aerosmith 150 million
GH--Genesis 150 million
GH--Frank Sinatra 150 million
GH--Stevie Wonder 150 million
GH—Barbra Streisand 140 million
GH--David Bowie 140 million
GH--Backstreet Boys 130 million
1 ALBUM--Bon Jovi 130 million
GH--Garth Brooks 128 million
X--Chicago 122 million
GH--Eagles 120 million
GH--Bruce Springsteen 120 million
GH--Dire Straits 120 million
GH--Neil Diamond 120 million
X--Metallica 100 million
GH--Fleetwood Mac 100 million
GH--Rod Stewart 100 million
Britney Spears 100 million
Guns N' Roses 100 million
X--Prince 100 million
GH--Kenny Rogers 100 million
GH--Julio Iglesias 100 million
GH--George Michael 100 million
GH--The Carpenters 100 million
X--Bryan Adams 100 million
GH--Cher 100 million
GH--Lionel Richie 100 million
GH--Olivia Newton-John 100 million
GH--Tina Turner United States 100 million
Kiss 100 million
Depeche Mode [UK] 100 million
GH--The Who [UK] 100 million
GH--Johnny Hallyday [FRANCE] 100 million
GH--Paul McCartney 100 million
GH--Barry White 100 million
5 ALBUMS--Luciano Pavarotti 100 million
Scorpions 100 million
GH--Dolly Parton 100 million
100 million or more: 55
GH--Gloria Estefan 90 million
Eminem 86 million
Rihanna [BARBADOS] 85 million
Van Halen $85 million
GH--Santana 80 million
B'z [Japan] 80 million
GH--The Doors 80 million
GH--Barry Manilow 80 million
GH--Boney M. [Germany] 80 million
GH--Shania Twain 75 million [country]
GH--Journey 75 million
Album #4--Beyoncé 75 million
Tupac Shakur 75 million
Nirvana 75 million
GH--Spice Girls 75 million
GH--Eurythmics 75 million
GH--Kenny G 70 million
Foreigner 70 million
Enya [Ireland] 70 million
GH--Robbie Williams 70 million
GH, 1 ALBUM--Bob Dylan 70 million
1 ALBUM--Meat Loaf 70 million
GH--Andrea Bocelli [Italy] 70 million
Shakira [Colombia] 70 million
GH--New Kids on the Block 70 million
GH--Duran Duran 70 million
GH--UB40 70 million
GH--Iron Maiden 70 million
GH--George Strait 68 million
Def Leppard 65 million
Green Day 65 million
1 ALBUM--Usher 65 million
GH --The Beach Boys 65 million
GH--Village People 65 million
1 ALBUM--Lady Gaga 64 million
Pearl Jam 60 million
Boyz II Men 60 million
GH--Alanis Morissette 60 million [ROCK/POP]
GH--Ricky Martin [Puerto Rico] 60 million [POP]
Kylie Minogue 60 million [Australia] [DANCE/POP]
1 ALBUM--Luis Miguel [Mexico] 60 million
GH--Jethro Tull 60 million
GH--John Denver 60 million
GH--The Black Eyed Peas 56 million
GH--Reba McEntire 55 million [COUNTRY]
GH--Enrique Iglesias [Spain/United States] 55 million
GH--Dreams Come True [Japan] 55 million
GH--Roxette [Sweden] 55 million
1 ALBUM--Taylor Swift 52 million
GH--A-ha [Norway] 51 million
51 million or more: 50
R. Kelly 50 million
1 ALBUM--Adele [United Kingdom] 50 million
Red Hot Chili Peppers 50 million
GH--Alan Jackson 50 million
GH--Bob Seger 50 million
Jay-Z 50 million
Linkin Park 50 million
Coldplay 50 million
R.E.M. 50 million
X--Michael Bolton 50 million
GH--The Police 50 million
GH--Sade 50 million
GH--Willie Nelson 50 million
GH--Christina Aguilera 50 million
Nickelback [Canada] 50 million
X--Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers 50 million
Destiny's Child 50 million
Mr. Children [Japan] 50 million
Oasis 50 million
GH--Jennifer Lopez 50 million
Mötley Crüe 50 million
GH--Ayumi Hamasaki [Japan] 50 million
GH-- Johnny Cash 50 million
1 CHR ALBUM--Mary J. Blige 50 million
GH--The Monkees 50 million
MC Hammer 50 million
GH]--Ace of Base [Sweden] 50 million
GH--Electric Light Orchestra 50 million
GH--Hank Williams, Jr. 50 million
GH--Anne Murray 50 million
Cyndi Lauper 50 million
GH--Black Sabbath 50 million
GH--Pet Shop Boys 50 million
GH--Nat King Cole 50 million
Alice Cooper 50 million
James Last [Germany] 50 million
GH--Vicente Fernández [Mexico] 50 million
GH--Tony Bennett 50 million
GH--Ray Conniff 50 million
50 million or more: 39
---------------------------------------------
Supplementary list, taken from other sources:
Herb Alpert & Tijuana Brass: 72 million
GH--Glen Campbell – 50 million
Kenny Chesney: 30 million
GH--Patsy Cline: 20 million
GH--Perry Como: 100 million
GH--Harry Connick Jr: 25 million
GH--Bing Crosby: 500 million
GH--Aretha Franklin: 45 million
GH--Grateful Dead: 25 million
GH--Engelbert Humperdinck: 130 million
GH--Tom Jones: 100 million
Pink Floyd: 150 million
GH--Linda Ronstadt: 100 million
GH—Tim McGraw: 40 million
GH—Mamas and the Papas: 40 million
GH--Johnny Mathis: 350 million
GH—Tony Orlando & Dawn: 30 million
GH—Little Richard: 20 million?
GH—Artie Shaw: 100 million
2 ALBUMS—Paul Simon: 40 million
GH—Simon and Garfunkel
GH—B J Thomas: 70 million
GH--Dionne Warwick: 100 million records
GH--Diana Ross and the Supremes: 100 million
List of best-selling music artists, excerpted from Wikipedia
with genre and country annotations by paulh. “GH” means that I
own a “greatest hits” cd for the artist or group. "1 Album" means that I own one album by the artist or group. "X" means that I heard the artist or group, and decided not to own any of their recordings.
Artists by reputed sales of recordings [estimated]
GH,1 ALBUM--The Beatles 1 billion [UK]
GH--Elvis Presley 1 billion [USA]
GH--Michael Jackson 750 million [USA]
GH--Madonna 300 million [USA]
GH--Elton John 300 million [UK]
GG--Led Zeppelin 300 million [UK] [BLUES/ROCK]
GH--Queen 300 million [UK]
GH--ABBA 300 million [SWEDEN
GH--Mariah Carey 200 million [USA]
GH--Celine Dion 200 million [CANADA]
X--AC/DC 200 million
GH--The Rolling Stones 200 million
GH--Bee Gees 200 million
GH--Whitney Houston 170 million
X--U2 150 million
GH--Billy Joel 150 million
GH--Phil Collins [UK] 150 million
X--Aerosmith 150 million
GH--Genesis 150 million
GH--Frank Sinatra 150 million
GH--Stevie Wonder 150 million
GH—Barbra Streisand 140 million
GH--David Bowie 140 million
GH--Backstreet Boys 130 million
1 ALBUM--Bon Jovi 130 million
GH--Garth Brooks 128 million
X--Chicago 122 million
GH--Eagles 120 million
GH--Bruce Springsteen 120 million
GH--Dire Straits 120 million
GH--Neil Diamond 120 million
X--Metallica 100 million
GH--Fleetwood Mac 100 million
GH--Rod Stewart 100 million
Britney Spears 100 million
Guns N' Roses 100 million
X--Prince 100 million
GH--Kenny Rogers 100 million
GH--Julio Iglesias 100 million
GH--George Michael 100 million
GH--The Carpenters 100 million
X--Bryan Adams 100 million
GH--Cher 100 million
GH--Lionel Richie 100 million
GH--Olivia Newton-John 100 million
GH--Tina Turner United States 100 million
Kiss 100 million
Depeche Mode [UK] 100 million
GH--The Who [UK] 100 million
GH--Johnny Hallyday [FRANCE] 100 million
GH--Paul McCartney 100 million
GH--Barry White 100 million
5 ALBUMS--Luciano Pavarotti 100 million
Scorpions 100 million
GH--Dolly Parton 100 million
100 million or more: 55
GH--Gloria Estefan 90 million
Eminem 86 million
Rihanna [BARBADOS] 85 million
Van Halen $85 million
GH--Santana 80 million
B'z [Japan] 80 million
GH--The Doors 80 million
GH--Barry Manilow 80 million
GH--Boney M. [Germany] 80 million
GH--Shania Twain 75 million [country]
GH--Journey 75 million
Album #4--Beyoncé 75 million
Tupac Shakur 75 million
Nirvana 75 million
GH--Spice Girls 75 million
GH--Eurythmics 75 million
GH--Kenny G 70 million
Foreigner 70 million
Enya [Ireland] 70 million
GH--Robbie Williams 70 million
GH, 1 ALBUM--Bob Dylan 70 million
1 ALBUM--Meat Loaf 70 million
GH--Andrea Bocelli [Italy] 70 million
Shakira [Colombia] 70 million
GH--New Kids on the Block 70 million
GH--Duran Duran 70 million
GH--UB40 70 million
GH--Iron Maiden 70 million
GH--George Strait 68 million
Def Leppard 65 million
Green Day 65 million
1 ALBUM--Usher 65 million
GH --The Beach Boys 65 million
GH--Village People 65 million
1 ALBUM--Lady Gaga 64 million
Pearl Jam 60 million
Boyz II Men 60 million
GH--Alanis Morissette 60 million [ROCK/POP]
GH--Ricky Martin [Puerto Rico] 60 million [POP]
Kylie Minogue 60 million [Australia] [DANCE/POP]
1 ALBUM--Luis Miguel [Mexico] 60 million
GH--Jethro Tull 60 million
GH--John Denver 60 million
GH--The Black Eyed Peas 56 million
GH--Reba McEntire 55 million [COUNTRY]
GH--Enrique Iglesias [Spain/United States] 55 million
GH--Dreams Come True [Japan] 55 million
GH--Roxette [Sweden] 55 million
1 ALBUM--Taylor Swift 52 million
GH--A-ha [Norway] 51 million
51 million or more: 50
R. Kelly 50 million
1 ALBUM--Adele [United Kingdom] 50 million
Red Hot Chili Peppers 50 million
GH--Alan Jackson 50 million
GH--Bob Seger 50 million
Jay-Z 50 million
Linkin Park 50 million
Coldplay 50 million
R.E.M. 50 million
X--Michael Bolton 50 million
GH--The Police 50 million
GH--Sade 50 million
GH--Willie Nelson 50 million
GH--Christina Aguilera 50 million
Nickelback [Canada] 50 million
X--Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers 50 million
Destiny's Child 50 million
Mr. Children [Japan] 50 million
Oasis 50 million
GH--Jennifer Lopez 50 million
Mötley Crüe 50 million
GH--Ayumi Hamasaki [Japan] 50 million
GH-- Johnny Cash 50 million
1 CHR ALBUM--Mary J. Blige 50 million
GH--The Monkees 50 million
MC Hammer 50 million
GH]--Ace of Base [Sweden] 50 million
GH--Electric Light Orchestra 50 million
GH--Hank Williams, Jr. 50 million
GH--Anne Murray 50 million
Cyndi Lauper 50 million
GH--Black Sabbath 50 million
GH--Pet Shop Boys 50 million
GH--Nat King Cole 50 million
Alice Cooper 50 million
James Last [Germany] 50 million
GH--Vicente Fernández [Mexico] 50 million
GH--Tony Bennett 50 million
GH--Ray Conniff 50 million
50 million or more: 39
---------------------------------------------
Supplementary list, taken from other sources:
Herb Alpert & Tijuana Brass: 72 million
GH--Glen Campbell – 50 million
Kenny Chesney: 30 million
GH--Patsy Cline: 20 million
GH--Perry Como: 100 million
GH--Harry Connick Jr: 25 million
GH--Bing Crosby: 500 million
GH--Aretha Franklin: 45 million
GH--Grateful Dead: 25 million
GH--Engelbert Humperdinck: 130 million
GH--Tom Jones: 100 million
Pink Floyd: 150 million
GH--Linda Ronstadt: 100 million
GH—Tim McGraw: 40 million
GH—Mamas and the Papas: 40 million
GH--Johnny Mathis: 350 million
GH—Tony Orlando & Dawn: 30 million
GH—Little Richard: 20 million?
GH—Artie Shaw: 100 million
2 ALBUMS—Paul Simon: 40 million
GH—Simon and Garfunkel
GH—B J Thomas: 70 million
GH--Dionne Warwick: 100 million records
GH--Diana Ross and the Supremes: 100 million
