List of best-selling music artists
The following list of best-selling music artists includes musical artists from the 20th century to the present with claims of 75 million or more record sales worldwide. The sales figures are calculated based on the formula detailed below.
The tables are listed with each artist's claimed sales figure(s) and their total independently certified units and are ranked in descending order by claimed sales. If two or more artists have the same claimed sales, they are then ranked by certified units. The claimed sales figure and the total of certified units (for each country) within the provided sources include sales of albums, singles, compilation-albums, music videos as well as downloads of singles and full-length albums. Sales figures, such as those from SoundScan, which are sometimes published by Billboard magazine, have not been included in the certified units column.
Definitions
Gold/Platinum certifications issued after 2016, especially on singles, are in some cases more than 50% streaming generated. Some of the 20th century artists can also have significant amount of streaming based certifications. The certified units of the newer artists may sometimes be higher than their listed claimed figures. This is because Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and almost all other certifying bodies count streaming towards Gold and Platinum thresholds required for Digital Single Award certification.[1][2][3] For this reason, some singles and even albums get over certified by hundreds of thousands of units. The over certified figures, however, are often in millions of units for RIAA certifications, one such example is Rihanna's single "We Found Love", which is certified at nine times Platinum by the RIAA, yet during the time of the certification, it had sold 5.4 million downloads.[4][5]
The certified units for some artists/bands who have multi-disc albums can be higher than their listed claimed figures due to the RIAA counting each unit within set as one unit toward certification. The certified units also can be inflated by the redundancy of certifications, because each of tracks downloads and streams contributed to the certifications of both of the single and the respective album. The RIAA counts 10 downloads of individual track as well as 1,500 audio/video streams as an equivalent to one unit of album, including those from singles released prior to the album release.[6] Theoretically, if one song were streamed 1.5 billion times on YouTube, the single would receive Diamond and the whole album could be certified Platinum,[7] thus creating a combined total of 11 million certified units without any sales. Kanye West's album The Life of Pablo achieved Platinum without selling a single copy and was only available for streaming.[8]
Issued certifications for songs which have been recorded by multiple artists including featured artists are added to each artist's total amount of certified units, as all the artists would have played a significant part in a song. For example, "This Is What You Came For" and "Where Them Girls At" include Rihanna and Flo Rida, Nicki Minaj as featured artists respectively, so the certifications issued for these songs are added to the total amount of certified units for all involved artists. However, the certifications issued for songs that have been recorded by four or more artists are not included as the artists involved would have played minor roles, examples of such songs are Kanye West's "Monster" and/or "All Day".[a]
Standards
- The figures of total certified units within the tables below are based on certified units of albums, singles (including digital downloads) and videos.
- Markets' order within the tables is based on Retail Value: each market generates respectively, the largest market at the top and smallest at the bottom.[9][10]
- The column for certified sales includes markets, the databases of which contain certifications representing figures of 100,000 and more.
Artists by reputed sales
250 million or more records
Artist | Country | Period active | Release-year of first charted record | Genre | Total certified units (from available markets)[b] | Claimed sales |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Beatles | United Kingdom | 1960–1970[11] | 1962[11] | Rock / pop[11] | 295.5 million
| 600 million[43][44] 500 million[45][46] |
Michael Jackson | United States | 1964–2009[47] | 1971[47] | Pop / rock / dance / soul / R&B[47] | 290.5 million
| 500 million[45] 400 million[64] |
Elvis Presley | United States | 1953–1977[65] | 1956[65] | Rock and roll / pop / gospel / country[65] | 234.7 million
| 500 million[71] |
Elton John | United Kingdom | 1962–present[72] | 1970[72] | Pop / rock[72] | 215.1 million
| 300 million[76][77] 250 million[78][79] |
Madonna | United States | 1979–present[80] | 1982[80] | Pop / dance / electronica[80] | 191.1 million
| 300 million[87][88] 250 million[89] |
Queen | United Kingdom | 1971–present[90] | 1973[90] | Rock[90] | 190.1 million
| 300 million[93][94] 250 million[95] |
Led Zeppelin | United Kingdom | 1968–1980[96] | 1969[96] | Hard rock / blues rock / folk rock[96] | 143.1 million
| 300 million[100][101] 200 million[102][103] |
Rihanna | Barbados | 2003–present[104] | 2005[104] | R&B / pop / dance / hip-hop[104] | 403.2 million
| 250 million[108][109] 230 million[110] |
Pink Floyd | United Kingdom | 1965–1996, 2005, 2012–2014[111][112] | 1967[111] | Progressive rock / psychedelic rock[111] | 124.8 million
| 250 million[116][117] 200 million[118] |
The Rolling Stones | United Kingdom | 1962–present[119] | 1963[119] | Rock / blues rock[119] | 104.1 million
| 250 million[122][123] 200 million[124] |
200 million to 249 million records
Artist | Country | Period active | Release-year of first charted record | Genre | Total certified units (from available markets)[b] | Claimed sales |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Eminem | United States | 1996–present[125] | 1999[125] | Hip-hop[125] | 345.8 million
| 220 million[126] |
Mariah Carey | United States | 1988–present[127] | 1990[127] | R&B / pop / soul / hip-hop[127] | 225.2 million
| 220 million[131] |
Whitney Houston | United States | 1977–2012[132] | 1984[132] | R&B / soul / pop / dance-pop / gospel[132] | 164.9 million
| 220 million[136][137] |
Taylor Swift | United States | 2006–present[138] | 2006[138] | Pop / country / rock / folk / alternative[139] | 298.9 million
| 200 million[140] 170 million[141] |
Beyoncé | United States | 1997–present[142] | 2002[142][143] | R&B / pop / hip-hop[142] | 248.1 million
| 200 million[147] 160 million[148] |
AC/DC | Australia | 1973–present[149] | 1975[149] | Hard rock / blues rock / rock and roll[149] | 172.1 million
| 200 million[150] |
Eagles | United States | 1971–1980, 1994–present[151] | 1972[151] | Rock[151] | 153.7 million
| 200 million[153] |
Celine Dion | Canada | 1981–present[154] | 1981[154] | Pop / chanson / R&B / rock[154] | 145.48 million
| 200 million[159][160] |
120 million to 199 million records
Artist | Country | Period active | Release-year of first charted record | Genre | Total certified units (from available markets)[b] | Claimed sales |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Drake | Canada | 2001–present[161] | 2009[161] | Hip-hop / R&B / pop[161] | 553.8 million
| 170 million[162] |
Garth Brooks | United States | 1989–present[163] | 1989[163] | Country[163] | 170 million[165] | |
Kanye West | United States | 1996–present[166] | 2003[166] | Hip-hop / electronic / pop[166] | 160 million[168] | |
Billy Joel | United States | 1964–present[169] | 1971[169] | Pop / rock[169] | 160 million[171] | |
Justin Bieber | Canada | 2008–present[172] | 2009[172] | Pop / teen pop / dance-pop[172] | 308.46 million
| 150 million[173] |
Ed Sheeran | United Kingdom | 2004–present[174] | 2011[174] | Pop / folk pop[174] | 275.5 million
| 150 million[175] |
Bruno Mars | United States | 2004–present[176] | 2010[176] | Pop rock / R&B[176] | 206.7 million
| 150 million[179] |
Britney Spears | United States | 1998–present[180] | 1998[180] | Pop / dance / dance-pop[180] | 152.17 million
| 150 million[184] |
Bruce Springsteen | United States | 1972–present[185] | 1973[185] | Rock[185] | 128.7 million
| 150 million[187] |
U2 | Ireland | 1976–present[188] | 1980[188] | Rock[188] | 116.7 million
| 150 million[192] |
Aerosmith | United States | 1970–present[193] | 1973[193] | Hard rock[193] | 105.4 million
| 150 million[195] |
Phil Collins | United Kingdom | 1980–2011, 2015–present[196] | 1981[196] | Rock / progressive rock / adult contemporary[196] | 101.3 million
| 150 million[199] |
Barbra Streisand | United States | 1960–present[200] | 1963[200] | Pop / adult contemporary[200] | 150 million[201] | |
ABBA | Sweden | 1972–1982, 2016–present[202] | 1972[202] | Pop / disco[202] | 72.21 million
| 150 million[211] |
Julio Iglesias | Spain | 1968–present[212] | 1968[212] | Latin[212] | 51.7 million
| 150 million[215] |
Frank Sinatra | United States | 1935–1971, 1973–1995[216] | 1940[216] | Pop / swing / easy listening[216] | 150 million[218] | |
Katy Perry | United States | 2001–present[219] | 2008[219] | Pop[219] | 190.4 million
| 143 million[220] |
Chris Brown | United States | 2005–present[221] | 2005[221] | R&B / hip-hop / pop[221] | 223.2 million
| 140 million[222] |
Jay-Z | United States | 1996–present[223] | 1996[223] | Hip-hop[223] | 125 million[224] | |
Metallica | United States | 1981–present[225] | 1983[225] | Heavy metal / thrash metal[225] | 107.8 million
| 125 million[227] |
Lady Gaga | United States | 2005–present[228] | 2008[228] | Pop / dance / electronic[228] | 168.05 million
| 124 million[229] |
Lil Wayne | United States | 1996–present[230] | 1999[230] | Hip-hop[230] | 120 million[231] | |
Maroon 5 | United States | 1994–present[232] | 2002[232] | Pop rock / funk rock / dance-pop[232] | 147.8 million
| 120 million[233] |
Adele | United Kingdom | 2006–present[234] | 2008[234] | Pop / soul[234] | 145.9 million
| 120 million[235] |
Red Hot Chili Peppers | United States | 1983–present[236] | 1987[236] | Funk rock / alternative rock[236] | 106.7 million
| 120 million[238] |
Fleetwood Mac | United Kingdom United States | 1967–present[239] | 1968[239] | Rock / pop[239] | 120 million[242] | |
Bon Jovi | United States | 1983–present[243] | 1983[243] | Hard rock / glam metal[243] | 113.2 million
| 120 million[246] |
Rod Stewart | United Kingdom | 1964–present[247] | 1969[247] | Rock / pop[247] | 84.9 million
| 120 million[250] |
Bee Gees | United Kingdom Australia[251][252] | 1963–2003 2009–2012[253] | 1963[253] | Pop / disco[253] | 75.5 million
| 120 million[256] |
100 million to 119 million records
Artist | Country | Period active | Release-year of first charted record | Genre | Total certified units (from available markets)[b] | Claimed sales |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nicki Minaj | Trinidad and Tobago | 2008–present[257] | 2010[257] | Hip-hop / pop[257] | 178.5 million
| 100 million[258] |
Coldplay | United Kingdom | 1997–present[259] | 1999[259] | Alternative rock / pop rock / pop[259] | 154.1 million
| 100 million[264] |
George Strait | United States | 1981–present[265] | 1984[265] | Country[265] | 100 million[266] | |
Linkin Park | United States | 1996–present[267] | 2000[267] | Alternative rock / nu metal / rap rock[267] | 114.4 million
| 100 million[268] |
Journey | United States | 1973–present[269] | 1975[269] | Rock / soft rock[269] | 100 million[271] | |
Pink | United States | 1995–present[272] | 2000[272] | Pop / pop rock / R&B[272] | 94.3 million
| 100 million[273] |
Shania Twain | Canada | 1993–present[274] | 1993[274] | Country pop[274] | 87.4 million
| 100 million[275] |
B'z | Japan | 1988–present[276] | 1988[276] | Rock / pop rock / hard rock[276] | 100 million[277] | |
Guns N' Roses | United States | 1985–present[278] | 1987[278] | Hard rock / heavy metal[278] |