Best-Selling Albums of All Time

Data

Note: The Best-Selling Albums of All Time and How They Got There

How album sales are counted

The sales figures on this page are worldwide, lifetime totals combining physical units (vinyl, cassette, CD), digital downloads, and streaming-equivalent album sales. Estimates vary by source because different bodies count streaming differently, but the rankings here reflect the widely accepted consensus for the biggest albums ever.

• Streaming-equivalent sales convert a large number of streams into one album sale.
• Compilations and soundtracks qualify, which is why two soundtracks appear on the list.
• Charted albums from the 1970s and 1980s keep selling on vinyl and CD even today.

The king: Thriller

Michael Jackson's Thriller (1982) leads at 70 million copies, the only album ever certified past that mark. Its run of hit singles, era-defining music videos, and near-universal appeal turned it into the biggest-selling album of all time, a crown it has held for decades. Jackson also charts with Bad (35M, 1987) and Dangerous (32M, 1991).

• Thriller's lead is 20 million copies over its closest rival.
• The album topped charts globally and produced a long string of hit singles.
• Jackson is the only artist with three albums in the top 20.

Classic rock's golden era

Rock albums from 1971-1980 make up a large share of the list. AC/DC's Back in Black (1980, 50M) is the best-selling rock album ever, followed by Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon (1973, 45M), the Eagles' Their Greatest Hits (1976, 44M) and Hotel California (1976, 42M), Fleetwood Mac's Rumours (1977, 40M), Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell (1977, 40M), and Led Zeppelin IV (1971, 37M).

• Back in Black was AC/DC's first album with new singer Brian Johnson, recorded after Bon Scott's death.
• The Dark Side of the Moon spent an astonishing 15 years on the US Billboard chart.
• Rumours was written during messy band breakups, yet still became a mega-seller.

Soundtracks and crossover hits

Two soundtracks cracked the top 20: The Bodyguard (Whitney Houston, 1992) at 45 million and Saturday Night Fever (Bee Gees, 1977) at 40 million, plus the Dirty Dancing soundtrack (1987) at 32 million. These albums fused film and music into a single cultural event and sold like pop records.

• The Bodyguard soundtrack is the best-selling soundtrack of all time.
• Saturday Night Fever rode the disco wave to 40 million copies.
• Soundtracks benefit from movie audiences discovering the music in theaters.

What the 1971-2011 timeline shows

The list spans Led Zeppelin IV (1971) to Adele's 21 (2011), with the most entries coming from 1976-1977 and 1991-1997. Only two albums released after 1997 appear: Adele's 21 (2011) and the Beatles' compilation 1 (2000), both at 31 million. That skew reflects the physical-album era's peak, before streaming scattered listening.

• Adele's 21 is the youngest album on the list and the biggest seller of the streaming era so far.
• The 1990s produced six entries, from Jagged Little Pill (33M) to Let's Talk About Love (31M).
• Country-pop crossover works like Shania Twain's Come On Over (40M) sold to audiences far beyond country radio.

Fun Facts

• Four albums on the list sit exactly at 40 million: Come On Over, Rumours, Bat Out of Hell, and Saturday Night Fever.
• Five albums are tied at 31 million at the bottom of the chart, the most crowded tier on the list.
• The Eagles appear twice with their 1976 output, Their Greatest Hits and Hotel California.
• Metallica's self-titled Black Album (1991) is the heaviest record in the top 20 at 31 million.
• Michael Jackson's three entries total 137 million copies, more than any two other albums combined.
• Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill (1995) is the highest-charting debut album on the list.
• Celine Dion appears twice, with Falling into You (32M) and Let's Talk About Love (31M).
• No album released after 2011 has yet reached the 30-million sales club.