1950s

• The best-selling album of 1956 was Calypso, by Harry Belafonte.^[1]
• The best-selling album of 1957 was My Fair Lady, Original Cast Recording.^[2]
• The best-selling album of 1958 was My Fair Lady, Original Cast Recording.^[3]
• The best-selling album of 1959 was Music from Peter Gunn, by Henry Mancini.^[4]

[edit] 1960s

• The best-selling album of 1960 was The Sound of Music, Original Cast Recording.^[5]
• The best-selling album of 1961 was Camelot, Original Cast Recording.^[6]
• The best-selling album of 1962 was West Side Story Soundtrack.^[7]
• The best-selling album of 1963 was West Side Story Soundtrack.^[8]
• The best-selling album of 1964 was Hello, Dolly!, Original Cast Recording.^[9]
• The best-selling album of 1965 was Mary Poppins Soundtrack.^[10]
• The best-selling album of 1966 was Whipped Cream & Other Delights, by Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass.^[11]
• The best-selling album of 1967 was More of The Monkees, by The Monkees.^[12]
• The best-selling album of 1968 was Are You Experienced?, by The Jimi Hendrix Experience.^[13]
• The best-selling album of 1969 was In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, by Iron Butterfly.^[14]

[edit] 1970s

• The best-selling album of 1970 was Bridge Over Troubled Water, by Simon and Garfunkel.^[15]
• The best-selling album of 1971 was Jesus Christ Superstar Soundtrack.^[16]
• The best-selling album of 1972 was Harvest, by Neil Young.^[17]
• The best-selling album of 1973 was The World Is a Ghetto, by War.^[18]
• The best-selling album of 1974 was Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, by Elton John.^[19]
• The best-selling album of 1975 was Elton John's Greatest Hits, by Elton John.^[20]
• The best-selling album of 1976 was Frampton Comes Alive, by Peter Frampton.^[21]
• The best-selling album of 1977 was Rumours, by Fleetwood Mac.^[22]
• The best-selling album of 1978 was Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack.^[23]
• The best-selling album of 1979 was 52nd Street, by Billy Joel.^[24]

1980s

• The best-selling album of 1980 was The Wall, by Pink Floyd.^[25]
• The best-selling album of 1981 was Hi Infidelity, by REO Speedwagon.^[26]
• The best-selling album of 1982 was Asia, by Asia.^[27]
• The best-selling album of 1983 was Thriller, by Michael Jackson.^[28]
• The best-selling album of 1984 was Thriller, by Michael Jackson.^[29]
• The best-selling album of 1985 was Born in the U.S.A., by Bruce Springsteen.^[30]
• The best-selling album of 1986 was Whitney Houston, by Whitney Houston.^[31]
• The best-selling album of 1987 was Slippery When Wet, by Bon Jovi.^[32]
• The best-selling album of 1988 was Faith, by George Michael.^[33]
• The best-selling album of 1989 was Don't Be Cruel, by Bobby Brown.^[34]

[edit] 1990s

• The best-selling album of 1990 was Rhythm Nation 1814, by Janet Jackson.^[35]
• The best-selling album of 1991 was Ropin' The Wind, by Garth Brooks.^[36]
• The best-selling album of 1992 was Some Gave All, by Billy Ray Cyrus.^[37]
• The best-selling album of 1993 was The Bodyguard Soundtrack.^[38]
• The best-selling album of 1994 was The Lion King Soundtrack.^[39]
• The best-selling album of 1995 was Cracked Rear View, by Hootie and the Blowfish.^[40]
• The best-selling album of 1996 was Jagged Little Pill, by Alanis Morissette.^[41]
• The best-selling album of 1997 was Spice, by Spice Girls.^[41]
• The best-selling album of 1998 was Titanic Soundtrack.^[41]
• The best selling album of 1999 was Millennium, by Backstreet Boys.^[41]

[edit] 2000s

2000s

• The best-selling album of 2000 was No Strings Attached, by *NSYNC.^[41]
• The best-selling album of 2001 was Hybrid Theory, by Linkin Park.^[41]
• The best-selling album of 2002 was The Eminem Show, by Eminem.^[42]
• The best-selling album of 2003 was Get Rich or Die Tryin', by 50 Cent.^[43]
• The best-selling album of 2004 was Confessions, by Usher.^[44]
• The best-selling album of 2005 was The Emancipation of Mimi, by Mariah Carey.^[39]
• The best-selling album of 2006 was High School Musical Soundtrack.^[38]
• The best-selling album of 2007 was Noel, by Josh Groban.^[45]
• The best-selling album of 2008 was Tha Carter III, by Lil Wayne.^[46]
• The best-selling album of 2009 was Fearless, by Taylor Swift.^[47]

^{p.s. i don't what happen when the 2000's came}

[Edited 9/19/10 14:05pm]

HAPPYPERSON said:

• The best-selling album of 1984 was Thriller, by Michael Jackson.^[29]

So I clicked on the footnote link and got the top five albums of 1984 according to Billboard:

1			Michael Jackson Thriller
			Epic

2			Huey Lewis/The News Sports
			Chrysalis

3			Lionel Richie Can't Slow Down
			Motown

4			Billy Joel An Innocent Man
			Columbia

5			Culture Club Colour By Numbers
			Virgin/Epic

The Mary Poppins Soundtrack is a pretty bad ass album.

HAPPYPERSON said:

• The best-selling album of 1990 was Rhythm Nation 1814, by Janet Jackson.^[35]

[img:$uid]http://i52.tinypic.com/ixs550.gif[/img:$uid]

So, not to be nit-picky, but methinks this list has some flaws on it

I mean, I'm no music historian, but was the best-selling album of 1973 really The World Is a Ghetto by War? ...I guess it is a bad ass album

.

[Edited 9/19/10 19:49pm]

trueiopian said:

HAPPYPERSON said:

• The best-selling album of 1990 was Rhythm Nation 1814, by Janet Jackson.^[35]

[img:$uid]http://i52.tinypic.com/ixs550.gif[/img:$uid]

I love this!!

When you put it like that, popular music looks pretty lame!

sorry but this list aint right....lot of mistakes in it...for a start...purple rain was number one from july 1984 til the end of that year...sold a million in the first week...when on to sell ten million in six months ans you are trying to tell me that color by numbers by culture club outsold it ?.....i might give you thriller as number one in 1984 but i would argue that as well...thriller had most of its big sales in 83 i would argue....and the beatles didnt have the best selling album in the any of the 60s ???....come on....

blackbob said:

sorry but this list aint right....lot of mistakes in it...for a start...purple rain was number one from july 1984 til the end of that year...sold a million in the first week...when on to sell ten million in six months ans you are trying to tell me that color by numbers by culture club outsold it ?.....i might give you thriller as number one in 1984 but i would argue that as well...thriller had most of its big sales in 83 i would argue....and the beatles didnt have the best selling album in the any of the 60s ???....come on....

exactly; if BSB, NSYNC and Linkin Park all have a best selling album in 1999,2000 and 2001, respectively, then the Beatles MUST have at least one best selling album in the 60s, A Hard Day's Night in 1964, for example... and no Elvis in the 50s???

the best selling album of 84 must be PP or Like a Virgin...

the only decade with no mistakes here , in my opinion, is the 70s...and perhaps the 90s...

anyway, you can clearly see which has been the worst decade BY FAR: the friggin' 00s...