So Newsweek and the RIAA recently put out articles and figures for the best selling Albums ever in the USA. I could not help noticing that Michael Jackson topped the list but then did not return again. Led Zepplin is on several times, etc. Prince's "Purple Rain" is there too of course.

1.First Link: RIAA showing the top 100 albums on one page...Just keep clicking the link on the bottom to expand the page.

https://www.riaa.com/gold...ch_section

2. Second Link: Newsweek showing the album covers of the Top 50 albums. A countdown from album 50 to album 1.

http://www.newsweek.com/5...79337?rc=1

[Edited 5/6/18 16:29pm]

What is scary is how much the Eagles sold.

2freaky4church1 said:

What is scary is how much the Eagles sold.

I know right, but their best moment was on the night of their last show in 1980

"I felt Don Felder insulted Senator Cranston under his breath, and I confronted him with it. So now we're onstage, and Felder looks back at me and says, 'Only three more songs till I kick your ass, pal.' And I'm saying, 'Great. I can't wait,'". "We're out there singing 'Best of My Love,' but inside both of us are thinking, 'As soon as this is over, I'm gonna kill him.' That was when I knew I had to get out."

Man, I heard the audio and thought I was hearing things at first but I was LMAO. But this is what happens to bands that's VERY successful.

Garth Brooks has 7 diamond albums. Since it remained on the album chart over a decade I would have thought Dark Side Of The Moon sold more than The Wall.

Hudson said:

One album per page. Painful!

Hudson..use the second link...RIAA...That has the top hundred on one page.

Edit: I will edit my original post to make that clearer.

[Edited 5/6/18 16:21pm]

DonRants said:

MotownSubdivision said:

It really shouldn't be a surprise. Bad, his second highest-selling release, just went diamond in the US last year and the lowest-selling album on this list is 12 million. [Edited 5/6/18 8:35am]

Scroll down a little more on the RIAA link...the last couple albums are at the 10 million mark. But they got there before Bad.

MickyDolenz said:

Garth Brooks has 7 diamond albums. Since it remained on the album chart over a decade I would have thought Dark Side Of The Moon sold more than The Wall.

5 of his albums are right at the 10 million mark. The other two sold more. He clearly has a very loyal fan base.

Madonna, Prince and Michael Jackson. The three artist who ruled my generation...are only there once each. So although they had tremendous cultural impact...other artist were outselling them massively...in the USA, at least.

I am also surprised by the absence of QUeen, Nirvana and David Bowie....three bands/artists with massive cultural impact but not the sales.

Please correct me if my obeservations are wrong...would love to hear more of your thoughts on this. What surprises you, etc.

Years ago, I remember listening to a marketer talk about America and he said that we are not who we project or think we are. He said one way you see the true America is what folks will actually pay for versus what the media tells us we are or shows us to be. This chart is showing me the wisdom of his words.

^^Other than Let's Dance, I don't think David Bowie's albums were really all that popular in the USA. I don't think Queen & Abba was either. I think they were more popular in Europe than here. I don't remember hearing that much by any of those acts on the radio. Before Let's Dance, the only songs by Bowie I had heard was Fame & Young Americans. Heard a lot of Eagles, Journey, & Chicago though. Before Let's Dance, Bowie was probably more of a cult act in the US, not a Top 40 radio one. I heard Steve Miller Band on the radio more than Queen. Probably the music & image of Bowie & Queen did not appeal as well to heartland America who was into Bob Seger or John Denver or southern rock bands, nor the hard rock fans of KISS & Rush.

DonRants said:

5 of his albums are right at the 10 million mark. The other two sold more. He clearly has a very loyal fan base.

Garth and then Shania Twain & Dixie Chicks were really the first country related acts to get blockbuster sales like rock bands. Before Garth's success in the 1990s, Kenny Rogers was the most popular with the mainstream.

DonRants said:

Thanks for the great points MotownSubdivision and MickyDolenz.

MotownSubdivision said:

While many other artists and groups have sold more individual albums, many still rank much lower in terms of total albums sold. According to Wikipedia, Michael and Madonna rank in at #3 and #4 respectively behind only The Beatles and Elvis, both having sold 300 million+ albums worldwide. US-only, they rank much lower, however with Madonna peaking at 85 million while Michael hit 104. What I found most interesting was that both have individually sold more than The Beatles in the UK. They top out at 18 million while Michael stands at 28 and Madonna at 29. When you break down the lump sum of artist's sales, it really is pretty intriguing. [Edited 5/6/18 18:20pm]

I remember reading too that BAD outsold Thriller in England. Good point though about both MJ and Madonna being such strong sellers globally and overall.

DonRants said:

2freaky4church1 said:

What is scary is how much the Eagles sold.

Empress said:

DonRants said:

strong sellers globally and overall.

Theoretically, it is possible for a singer/band to sell only in China or India and have the biggest selling album in history. It wouldn't have to sell anywhere else because of the populations of those countries.

2freaky4church1 said:

Doalwa said:

I used to hate the Eagles. Now I don't remember why. They were awesome and I hope to see them in concert!

You think Thriller can save a party, but have you ever spun "Take It Easy"?

DonRants said:

Madonna, Prince and Michael Jackson. The three artist who ruled my generation...are only there once each. So although they had tremendous cultural impact...other artist were outselling them massively...in the USA, at least.

I am also surprised by the absence of QUeen, Nirvana and David Bowie....three bands/artists with massive cultural impact but not the sales.

Please correct me if my obeservations are wrong...would love to hear more of your thoughts on this. What surprises you, etc.

Years ago, I remember listening to a marketer talk about America and he said that we are not who we project or think we are. He said one way you see the true America is what folks will actually pay for versus what the media tells us we are or shows us to be. This chart is showing me the wisdom of his words.

Madonna and Michael Jackson are huge sellers around the world. The US market ist just part of the market. Garth Brooks for example is a very American market artist, he doesnt sell shit outside the US.

Michael Jackosn and Madonna sold out stadiums from south America to Japan to Europe to Russia to Australia.

Second, i think sales are not only what makes an artist a big artist. Its the whole picture. Prince was never a huge seller (expect for PR), but he was a huge presence. I don't see the Eagles having the influence Prince had. They were a rock band, with some great songs, but there were many of them.

That's why the death of David Bowie and Prince made such an impact. They had a huge influence on music.

I was mildly surprised to see that Stevie has sold less than 20 million albums.

Cinny said:

namepeace said:

I was mildly surprised to see that Stevie has sold less than 20 million albums.

Before around the 1980s, Motown generally didn't report sales to the RIAA. So they wouldn't know how much he sold like in the Little Stevie era. The RIAA is voluntary, it's not required for labels to report sales to them. Also the albums after In Square Circle didn't really crossover (in the US, I don't know what they did in other countries). That came out in 1985 and he's only released 4 albums since then, 5 if you count the live album. Maybe there's been 50 greatest hits/best of/#1s albums by Stevie since 1985. Motown is known for releasing endless compilations of the same songs.