Artists and Albums

According to the RIAA the top ten selling albums as of April 2019 rounded to the nearest million in sales.

1. Eagles- Their Greatest Hits(1971-1975), 36 million

2. Michael Jackson- Thriller, 33 million

3. Eagles - Hotel California, 26 million

4. Billy Joel - Greatest Hits Volume 1 & Volume 2, 23 million

5. Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV, 23 million

6. Pink Floyd - The Wall, 23 million

7. AC/DC - Back In Black, 22 million

8. Garth Brooks - Double Live, 21 million

9. Hootie & The Blowfish - Cracked Rear View, 21 million

10. Fleetwood Mac - Rumours,20 million

Also at 20 million we have Shania Twain with Come on Overjust ahead of The Beatles Album - The Beatles (The White Album) at 19 million.

There is much to be debated about these numbers; as I mentioned, they are American based, but they also include several Greatest Hits Albums which could be considered as an anomaly of sorts. The perspective of genre, buying habits and time in history must be considered as well. However, to the pocket books of those record companies and publishers who have benefited, this matters little I suppose...and we won't be passing the hat for these artists to be certain.

If you aren't a Beatles fan, and I know you’re out there, you might think that being number 12 confirms they aren’t as popular or talented as the other artists on the list. To allay any thoughts, you may have wandering in that direction, let me lay out a couple stats to the contrary.

Cumulative album sales, according to RIAA, still place The Beatles at number one, followed by Garth Brooks, Elvis Presley, the Eagles and Led Zeppelin. The Beatles are number one on the Top 10 Hot 100 artists of All Time (1958–2018). They hold the most number-one singles (20), the top one being “Hey Jude”. They hold the most consecutive weeks (12) simultaneously topping the Hot 100 for singles and Billboard 200 for albums, "I Want to Hold Your Hand", "She Loves You", "Can't Buy Me Love" and albums, The Beatles and Meet the Beatles!