Top 10. Certified sales per Wikipedia and number of studio/live/compilation/soundtrack albums released.

Note: appears to also include singles sales.

1. Rihanna 279.2M/19
2. Madonna 173.8M/28
3. Taylor Swift 214.9M/10
4. Mariah Carey 171.9M/23
5. Whitney Houston 137.9M/16 (7 released after her death)
6. Celine Dion 131.1M/53
7. Katy Perry 147.5M/7
8. Nicki Minaj 124.8/8
9. Barbra Streisand 98.2M/71
10. Beyoncé 97.5M/16

https://en.wikipedia.org/...ic_artists

I get Taylor Swift being so high up on the list even though I can't stand her music. A little depressing to see Katy Perry so high up there. Anyone surprising for you? Or someone you thought would be in the top 10 who's not there?

[Edited 6/25/20 6:44am]

rogifan said:

hollywood0024 said:

rogifan said:

Top 10. Certified sales per Wikipedia and number of studio/live/compilation/soundtrack albums released.

1. Rihanna 279.2M/19
2. Madonna 173.8M/28
3. Taylor Swift 214.9M/10
4. Mariah Carey 171.9M/23
5. Whitney Houston 137.9M/16 (7 released after her death)
6. Celine Dion 131.1M/53
7. Katy Perry 147.5M/7
8. Nicki Minaj 124.8/8
9. Barbra Streisand 98.2M/71
10. Beyoncé 97.5M/16

https://en.wikipedia.org/...ic_artists

I get Taylor Swift being so high up on the list even though I can't stand her music. A little depressing to see Katy Perry so high up there. Anyone surprising for you? Or someone you thought would be in the top 10 who's not there?

Madonna is number one.

Not according to Wikipedia.

Here's the top 10 best selling albums by female artists of all time.

1. Whitney Houston – The Bodyguard
2. Shania Twain – Come On Over
3. Alanis Morissette – Jagged Little Pill
4. Celine Dion – Falling Into You
5. Adele – 21
6. Madonna – The Immaculate Collection
7. Celine Dion – Let’s Talk About Love
8. Mariah Carey – Music Box
9. Norah Jones – Come Away With Me
10. Carole King - Tapestry

And female artists who have albums that have claimed sales of 20 million copies or more.

1. Celine Dion – 4

2. Madonna – 3

3. Whitney Houston – 3

4. Adele – 1

5. Britney Spears – 1

6. Mariah Carey – 1

7. Shania Twain - 1

8. Alanis Morissette – 1

9. Carole King – 1

10. Norah Jones – 1

11. Spice Girls – 1

12. Tracy Chapman – 1

Celine Dion having 4 albums with sales of 20 million or more is quite remarkable. A little sad though that so few women are on the list.

[Edited 6/24/20 8:06am]

It's not putting a dime in my pocket, so I don't care.

Playing with numbers.

Rihanna had one song - Umbrella. I trust Rogifan's list but that topic starter's list is made-up bullshit. Only hard sales should count anyway.

alphastreet said:

I never understood how Rihanna has the most sales. From what I remember, her singles sold way more than her albums and even those numbers weren’t very high in the us. Still a great accomplishment though

I figured Beyoncé would be higher on the list. But maybe she's more hype than actual sales.

rogifan said:

EmmaMcG said:

It's not really a surprising list. If I was asked to guess who the top 10 best selling female artists were, I'd probably have named at least 8 of those. Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera would probably replace Nicki Minaj and Katy Perry but other than that, it's exactly as I would have thought. Though it is proof, if ever you needed it, that "best selling" and "most talented" are two very, very different things.

Especially with Rihanna & Nicki Minaj

I love Rihanna but isn't her in number one spot because of streaming sales and all that?

slyjackson said:

mynameisnotsusan said:

slyjackson said:

I love Rihanna but isn't her in number one spot because of streaming sales and all that?

- it's the only way Katy Perry and Nicki Minaj are on that list as well [Edited 6/24/20 18:44pm]

Yes, I guess.

I am confused by the list, It is listed here as number of albums but the link says the units include singles. Rhianna and Katy Perry were both very strong in single download sales when that format was at it's peak of popularity before streaming messed it up, whereas their album sales are relatively lacking compared to Madonna and Taylor. So the list does seem to be based on both singles and albums.

gandorb said:

I am confused by the list, It is listed here as number of albums but the link says the units include singles. Rhianna and Katy Perry were both very strong in single download sales when that format was at it's peak of popularity before streaming messed it up, whereas their album sales are relatively lacking compared to Madonna and Taylor. So the list does seem to be based on both singles and albums.

It could be. I was a little confused myself as to what was being counted.

According to Guiness Book Of World Records, Madonna is #1 with over 335 million albums/singles sales. Only Beatles, Elvis and MJ have sold more.

https://twitter.com/gwr/s...46?lang=en

rogifan said:

Top 10. Certified sales per Wikipedia and number of studio/live/compilation/soundtrack albums released.

1. Rihanna 279.2M/19
2. Madonna 173.8M/28
3. Taylor Swift 214.9M/10
4. Mariah Carey 171.9M/23
5. Whitney Houston 137.9M/16 (7 released after her death)
6. Celine Dion 131.1M/53
7. Katy Perry 147.5M/7
8. Nicki Minaj 124.8/8
9. Barbra Streisand 98.2M/71
10. Beyoncé 97.5M/16

https://en.wikipedia.org/...ic_artists

I get Taylor Swift being so high up on the list even though I can't stand her music. A little depressing to see Katy Perry so high up there. Anyone surprising for you? Or someone you thought would be in the top 10 who's not there?

Because you also give the numbers of albums it feels that this are totale albums sales.

But these are units sales, if you sell 10 singles it counts the same as seling 10 albums.

List makes not much sense that way.

rogifan said:

Here's the top 10 best selling albums by female artists of all time.

1. Whitney Houston – The Bodyguard
2. Shania Twain – Come On Over
3. Alanis Morissette – Jagged Little Pill
4. Celine Dion – Falling Into You
5. Adele – 21
6. Madonna – The Immaculate Collection
7. Celine Dion – Let’s Talk About Love
8. Mariah Carey – Music Box
9. Norah Jones – Come Away With Me
10. Carole King - Tapestry

And female artists who have albums that have claimed sales of 20 million copies or more.

1. Celine Dion – 4

2. Madonna – 3

3. Whitney Houston – 3

4. Adele – 1

5. Britney Spears – 1

6. Mariah Carey – 1

7. Shania Twain - 1

8. Alanis Morissette – 1

9. Carole King – 1

10. Norah Jones – 1

11. Spice Girls – 1

12. Tracy Chapman – 1

Celine Dion having 4 albums with sales of 20 million or more is quite remarkable. A little sad though that so few women are on the list.

These are the real numbers, although it seems to focus on solo acts where TLC would normally appears on both lists.

Cinny said:

rogifan said:

Here's the top 10 best selling albums by female artists of all time.

1. Whitney Houston – The Bodyguard
2. Shania Twain – Come On Over
3. Alanis Morissette – Jagged Little Pill
4. Celine Dion – Falling Into You
5. Adele – 21
6. Madonna – The Immaculate Collection
7. Celine Dion – Let’s Talk About Love
8. Mariah Carey – Music Box
9. Norah Jones – Come Away With Me
10. Carole King - Tapestry

And female artists who have albums that have claimed sales of 20 million copies or more.

1. Celine Dion – 4

2. Madonna – 3

3. Whitney Houston – 3

4. Adele – 1

5. Britney Spears – 1

6. Mariah Carey – 1

7. Shania Twain - 1

8. Alanis Morissette – 1

9. Carole King – 1

10. Norah Jones – 1

11. Spice Girls – 1

12. Tracy Chapman – 1

Celine Dion having 4 albums with sales of 20 million or more is quite remarkable. A little sad though that so few women are on the list.

These are the real numbers, although it seems to focus on solo acts where TLC would normally appears on both lists.

TLC sold that many albums?

All of them. Who the hell are the people listening and buying Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Nicki Minaj and Beyonce??? I don't know anyone.

rogifan said:

Here's the top 10 best selling albums by female artists of all time.

1. Whitney Houston – The Bodyguard
2. Shania Twain – Come On Over
3. Alanis Morissette – Jagged Little Pill
4. Celine Dion – Falling Into You
5. Adele – 21
6. Madonna – The Immaculate Collection
7. Celine Dion – Let’s Talk About Love
8. Mariah Carey – Music Box
9. Norah Jones – Come Away With Me
10. Carole King - Tapestry

And female artists who have albums that have claimed sales of 20 million copies or more.

1. Celine Dion – 4

2. Madonna – 3

3. Whitney Houston – 3

4. Adele – 1

5. Britney Spears – 1

6. Mariah Carey – 1

7. Shania Twain - 1

8. Alanis Morissette – 1

9. Carole King – 1

10. Norah Jones – 1

11. Spice Girls – 1

12. Tracy Chapman – 1

Celine Dion having 4 albums with sales of 20 million or more is quite remarkable. A little sad though that so few women are on the list.

[Edited 6/24/20 8:06am]

I know Janet's album janet. sold over 20 million copies too. Or atleast that's what it said on her website.

PatrickS77 said:

All of them. Who the hell are the people listening and buying Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Nicki Minaj and Beyonce??? I don't know anyone.

Literally everyone is listening to Beyonce, Rihanna and Taylor lol. Katy fell off but she had a great run from 07 to around 2014. I didn't know she sold THAT many records though. plus this list seems suspicious to me. Madonna is the best selling female artist of all time and Rihanna is second being the best-selling black female singer of all time. Beyonce has also sold over 150 million records worldwide so this list is either outdated or just plain wrong. Not surprised it came from Wikipedia, and thiat is not a knock on OP at all lol

beast44 said:

PatrickS77 said:

All of them. Who the hell are the people listening and buying Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Nicki Minaj and Beyonce??? I don't know anyone.

Literally everyone is listening to Beyonce, Rihanna and Taylor lol. Katy fell off but she had a great run from 07 to around 2014. I didn't know she sold THAT many records though. plus this list seems suspicious to me. Madonna is the best selling female artist of all time and Rihanna is second being the best-selling black female singer of all time. Beyonce has also sold over 150 million records worldwide so this list is either outdated or just plain wrong. Not surprised it came from Wikipedia, and thiat is not a knock on OP at all lol

And yet I don't know no one who does. So who is lying? Or is everyone ashamed to admit to listen to that crap?

PatrickS77 said:

beast44 said:

Literally everyone is listening to Beyonce, Rihanna and Taylor lol. Katy fell off but she had a great run from 07 to around 2014. I didn't know she sold THAT many records though. plus this list seems suspicious to me. Madonna is the best selling female artist of all time and Rihanna is second being the best-selling black female singer of all time. Beyonce has also sold over 150 million records worldwide so this list is either outdated or just plain wrong. Not surprised it came from Wikipedia, and thiat is not a knock on OP at all lol

And yet I don't know no one who does. So who is lying? Or is everyone ashamed to admit to listen to that crap?

That doesn't mean anything just because that's your personal experience means little to nothing. I don't know anyone in my personal circle who listens to Michael Jackson but me, and of course I'm not and idiot to doubt his sales just because nobody I know listen to his muisc. What a naive and foolish argument.

[Edited 6/25/20 15:04pm]

slyjackson said:

slyjackson said:

PatrickS77 said:

rogifan said:

Cinny said:

These are the real numbers, although it seems to focus on solo acts where TLC would normally appears on both lists.

TLC sold that many albums?

Yes, they are the most successful girl GROUP of all time (over The Supremes, Destiny's Child) with CrazySexyCool *selling* (not just shipping) 11 million in the USA alone (10 million is certified diamond).