List of best-selling albums in the United States

The following is a list of the best-selling albums in the United States based on RIAA certification and Nielsen SoundScan sales tracking. The criteria are that the album must have been published (including self-publishing by the artist), and the album must have achieved at least a diamond certification from the RIAA. The albums released prior to March 1991 should be included with their certified units only, as their Nielsen SoundScan sales are not complete.

*Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975)* by the Eagles is the best-selling album of all time in the U.S.

Since February 2016, album certifications include "on-demand audio and video streams and a track sale equivalent" units.^[1]

Groupings are based on different benchmarks; the highest being for at least 20 million units, and the lowest being for multi-disc albums certified at least 10 times platinum and single-disc albums that have been certified at least 10 times platinum but with sales figures lower than 10,000,000. Albums are listed in order of units certified, or sales figures when available, by greatest to least.

As a result of the RIAA's methodology of counting each disc in a multi-disc set as one unit toward certification, most double albums on the list—such as Pink Floyd's The Wall and Outkast's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below—have been certified with a number double the number of copies sold. Such albums have the shipments of copies, not discs, indicated. Conversely, the certification level for double albums that fit onto one compact disc such as the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack reflect the actual number of copies sold.

The albums in this list are ordered first by number of units, then by platinum awards received, and finally by artist name and album title.

Albums with two references for their estimated actual sales include sales through BMG Music Club. Albums with three references for their estimated actual sales include sales through BMG Music Club and Columbia House.

The best-selling album in the United States is Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) by the Eagles.

20 million or more copies

Year	Artist	Album	Label	Shipments (Sales)	Certification^[2]^[3]
1976	Eagles	Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975)	Asylum	38,000,000	38× Platinum^‡
1982	Michael Jackson	Thriller	Epic	34,000,000	34× Platinum^‡
1976	Eagles	Hotel California	Asylum	26,000,000	26× Platinum^‡
1980	AC/DC	Back in Black	Atlantic	26,000,000	26 x Platinum^‡
1971	Led Zeppelin	Untitled ("Led Zeppelin IV")	Atlantic	24,000,000	24× Platinum^‡
1977	Fleetwood Mac	Rumours	Warner Bros.	21,000,000	21× Platinum^‡

15–19 million copies

Year	Artist	Album	Label	Shipments (Sales)	Certification^[2]
1987	Guns N' Roses	Appetite for Destruction	Geffen	18,000,000	18× Platinum
1988	Journey	Greatest Hits	Columbia	18,000,000	18× Platinum^‡
1990	Garth Brooks	No Fences	Capitol Nashville	18,000,000	18× Platinum^‡
1997	Shania Twain	Come On Over	Mercury Nashville	(17,690,000)^[4]^[5]	20× Platinum
1991	Metallica	Metallica	Elektra	(17,300,000)^[6]	16× Platinum (as of 2012)
1974	Elton John	Greatest Hits	Polydor	17,000,000	17× Platinum^‡
1976	Boston	Boston	Epic Records	17,000,000	17× Platinum
1984	Bruce Springsteen	Born in the U.S.A.	Columbia	17,000,000	17× Platinum
1977	Soundtrack / Bee Gees	Saturday Night Fever	RSO	16,000,000	16× Platinum^‡
1995	Alanis Morissette	Jagged Little Pill	Maverick	(15,550,000)^[4]^[7]	17× Platinum^‡
1973	Pink Floyd	The Dark Side of the Moon	Harvest/Capitol	15,000,000	15× Platinum
1984	Bob Marley & The Wailers	Legend	Island	15,000,000	15× Platinum
1978	Steve Miller Band	Greatest Hits 1974–78	Capitol	15,000,000	15× Platinum^‡

10–14 million copies

Year	Artist	Album	Label	Shipments (Sales)	Certification^[2]
1994	Hootie & the Blowfish	Cracked Rear View	Atlantic	(14,580,000)^[4]^[8]^[9]	22× Platinum^‡
1971	Carole King	Tapestry	Ode	14,000,000	14× Platinum^‡
1972	Simon & Garfunkel	Simon and Garfunkel's Greatest Hits	Columbia	14,000,000	14× Platinum
1977	Meat Loaf	Bat Out of Hell	Epic Records	14,000,000	14× Platinum
1985	Whitney Houston	Whitney Houston	Arista	14,000,000	14× Platinum^‡
1987	Soundtrack	Dirty Dancing	RCA	14,000,000	14× Platinum
1999	Backstreet Boys	Millennium	Jive	(13,890,000)^[4]^[10]	13× Platinum
1992	Soundtrack / Whitney Houston	The Bodyguard	Arista	(13,450,000)^[4]^[11]	18× Platinum^‡
1999	Santana	Supernatural	Arista	(13,110,000)^[4]^[11]	15× Platinum
1984	Prince and the Revolution	Purple Rain	Warner	13,000,000	13× Platinum
2000	Eminem	The Marshall Mathers LP	Aftermath	(12,940,000)^[4]^[10]	11× Platinum^‡ (as of 2022)
2000	The Beatles	1	Apple/EMI/Capitol	(12,800,000)^[12]	11× Platinum (as of 2010)
2000	NSYNC	No Strings Attached	Jive	(12,680,000)^[4]^[11]	11× Platinum (as of 2001)
1999	Britney Spears	...Baby One More Time	Jive	(12,300,000)^[4]^[10]	14× Platinum
2011	Adele	21	Columbia/XL	(12,009,000)^[13]	14× Platinum^‡
1968	The Beatles	The Beatles ("The White Album")	Apple	12,000,000	24× Platinum (2-disc album)
1969	The Beatles	Abbey Road	Apple	12,000,000	12× Platinum
1969	Led Zeppelin	Led Zeppelin II	Atlantic	12,000,000	12× Platinum
1976	Creedence Clearwater Revival	Chronicle, Vol. 1	Fantasy	12,000,000	12× Platinum^‡
1980	Aerosmith	Greatest Hits	Columbia	12,000,000	12× Platinum^‡
1980	Kenny Rogers	Greatest Hits	Liberty	12,000,000	12× Platinum
1985	Phil Collins	No Jacket Required	Atlantic	12,000,000	12× Platinum
1986	Bon Jovi	Slippery When Wet	Mercury Records	12,000,000	12× Platinum
1987	Def Leppard	Hysteria	Mercury Records	12,000,000	12× Platinum
1992	Kenny G	Breathless	Arista	12,000,000	12× Platinum
1997	Backstreet Boys	Backstreet Boys	Jive	(11,920,000)^[4]^[10]	14× Platinum
1996	Celine Dion	Falling into You	Epic Records	(11,799,000)^[4]^[14]	12× Platinum
1999	Creed	Human Clay	Wind-up Records	(11,700,000)^[15]	11× Platinum
1991	Nirvana	Nevermind	DGC Records	(11,540,000)^[4]^[16]	10× Platinum (as of 1999)
1979	Pink Floyd	The Wall	Columbia/Harvest Records	11,500,000	23× Platinum (2-disc album)
1985	Billy Joel	Greatest Hits – Volume I & Volume II	Columbia	11,500,000	23× Platinum (2-disc album)
1997	Soundtrack	Titanic	Epic Records	(11,146,000)^[4]^[17]	11× Platinum
2000	Linkin Park	Hybrid Theory	Warner Bros.	(11,126,000)^[4]^[15]	12× Platinum^‡
2002	Norah Jones	Come Away with Me	Blue Note	(11,100,000)^[18]	12× Platinum^‡
1967	The Beatles	Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band	Capitol	11,000,000	11× Platinum
1973	Led Zeppelin	Houses of the Holy	Atlantic	11,000,000	11× Platinum
1976	James Taylor	Greatest Hits	Warner Bros.	11,000,000	11× Platinum
1977	Billy Joel	The Stranger	Columbia	11,000,000	11× Platinum^‡
1982	Eagles	Eagles Greatest Hits, Vol. 2	Asylum	11,000,000	11× Platinum
1987	Michael Jackson	Bad	Epic	11,000,000	11× Platinum^‡
1990	Madonna	The Immaculate Collection	Sire	11,000,000	11× Platinum^‡
1997	Celine Dion	Let's Talk About Love	Epic Records	(10,711,000)^[4]^[14]	11× Platinum^‡
2002	Eminem	The Eminem Show	Aftermath	(10,700,000)^[10]	12× Platinum^‡
1998	Kid Rock	Devil Without a Cause	Atlantic Records	(10,610,000)^[4]^[19]	11× Platinum
2000	Britney Spears	Oops!... I Did It Again	Jive	(10,411,000)^[4]^[10]	10× Platinum
1998	NSYNC	*NSYNC	RCA	(10,300,000)^[4]^[20]	10× Platinum
2004	Usher	Confessions	Arista	(10,300,000)^[18]	14× Platinum^‡
1998	Dixie Chicks	Wide Open Spaces	Monument	(10,121,000)^[4]^[21]	13× Platinum^‡
1991	Pearl Jam	Ten	Epic Records	(10,001,000)^[22]	13× Platinum
1967	Patsy Cline	Patsy Cline's Greatest Hits	Decca	10,000,000	10× Platinum
1970	Elvis Presley	Elvis' Christmas Album (budget reissue of 1957 LP with altered track listing)	RCA Camden/Pickwick	10,000,000	10× Platinum
1976	The Doobie Brothers	Best of The Doobies	Warner Bros.	10,000,000	10× Platinum
1978	Van Halen	Van Halen	Warner Bros.	10,000,000	10× Platinum
1981	Journey	Escape	Columbia	10,000,000	10× Platinum^‡
1981	REO Speedwagon	Hi Infidelity	Epic	10,000,000	10× Platinum^‡
1983	Def Leppard	Pyromania	Mercury Records	10,000,000	10× Platinum
1983	Lionel Richie	Can't Slow Down	Motown	10,000,000	10× Platinum
1983	ZZ Top	Eliminator	Warner Bros.	10,000,000	10× Platinum
1984	Madonna	Like a Virgin	Sire	10,000,000	10× Platinum
1984	Van Halen	1984 (MCMLXXXIV)	Warner Bros.	10,000,000	10× Platinum
1986	Beastie Boys	Licensed to Ill	Def Jam	10,000,000	10× Platinum
1987	Whitney Houston	Whitney	Arista	10,000,000	10× Platinum^‡
1987	George Michael	Faith	Columbia	10,000,000	10× Platinum
1987	U2	The Joshua Tree	Island	10,000,000	10× Platinum
1989	Garth Brooks	Garth Brooks	Capitol	10,000,000	10× Platinum
1990	MC Hammer	Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em	Capitol	10,000,000	10× Platinum
1993	Garth Brooks	In Pieces	Capitol	10,000,000	10× Platinum^‡

Fewer than 10 million copies

Year	Artist	Album	Label	Shipments (Sales)	Certification^[2]
1994	Boyz II Men	II	Motown	(9,890,000)^[4]^[23]	12× Platinum
1991	Garth Brooks	Ropin' the Wind	Capitol Nashville	(9,600,000)^[10]	14× Platinum
1995	No Doubt	Tragic Kingdom	Trauma/Interscope Records	(9,520,000)^[4]^[24]	10× Platinum
2015	Adele	25	Columbia/XL	(9,517,000)^[13]	11× Platinum^‡
1996	Matchbox Twenty	Yourself or Someone Like You	Atlantic	(9,358,000)^[4]^[25]	12× Platinum
1994	Green Day	Dookie	Reprise Records	(9,342,000)^[4]^[26]	10× Platinum
1994	Bob Seger	Greatest Hits	Capitol	(9,062,000)^[27]	10× Platinum^‡
1994	TLC	CrazySexyCool	LaFace	(8,970,000)^[4]^[28]	12× Platinum^‡
1995	Shania Twain	The Woman in Me	Mercury Nashville	(8,894,000)^[4]^[29]	12× Platinum
1995	Jewel	Pieces of You	Atlantic	(8,800,000)^[4]^[30]	12× Platinum
2000	Nelly	Country Grammar	Universal	(8,581,000)^[31]	10× Platinum^‡
1995	Mariah Carey	Daydream	Columbia	(8,505,000)^[4]^[32]	11× Platinum
1973	The Beatles	The Beatles 1967 - 1970	Apple	8,500,000	17× Platinum (2-disc album)
1999	Dixie Chicks	Fly	Monument Records	(8,396,000)^[21]	11× Platinum^‡
1993	Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers	Greatest Hits	MCA	(8,200,000)^[33]	12× Platinum
1998	Lauryn Hill	The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill	Columbia	(8,078,477)^[4]^[34]	10× Platinum^‡
1993	Mariah Carey	Music Box	Columbia	(8,012,000)^[4]^[32]	10× Platinum
2003	Evanescence	Fallen	Wind-up	(8,000,000)^[35]	10× Platinum^‡
1975	Led Zeppelin	Physical Graffiti	Swan Song	8,000,000	16× Platinum (2-disc album)
2005	Nickelback	All the Right Reasons	Roadrunner	(7,960,000)^[36]	10× Platinum^‡
1994	Soundtrack	The Lion King	Walt Disney Records	(7,879,000)^[37]	10× Platinum
1994	Garth Brooks	The Hits	Liberty Records	(7,821,000)^[38]	10× Platinum
1992	Eric Clapton	Unplugged	Reprise Records	(7,617,000)^[39]	10× Platinum
1973	The Beatles	The Beatles 1962 - 1966	Apple	7,500,000	15× Platinum (2-disc album)
2008	Taylor Swift	Fearless	Big Machine Records	(7,286,000)^[40]	10× Platinum^‡
1997	The Notorious B.I.G.	Life After Death	Bad Boy Records/Arista	(6,320,000)^[4]^[41]	11× Platinum^‡ (2-disc album)
1998	Garth Brooks	Double Live	Capitol Nashville	(6,017,000)^[42]	23× Platinum^‡ (2-disc album)
1971	The Rolling Stones	Hot Rocks 1964-1971	London	6,000,000	12× Platinum (2-disc album)
2003	Outkast	Speakerboxxx/The Love Below	LaFace, Arista	(5,702,000)^[43]	13× Platinum^‡ (2-disc album)
1997	Garth Brooks	Sevens	Capitol Records	(5,700,000)^[44]	10× Platinum^‡
2002	Shania Twain	Up!	Mercury Nashville	(5,409,000)^[43]	11× Platinum (2-disc album)
1992	Garth Brooks	The Chase	Liberty Records	(5,100,000)^[44]	10× Platinum^‡
1998	2Pac	Greatest Hits	Interscope	(5,100,000)^[45]	10× Platinum (2-disc album)
1976	Stevie Wonder	Songs in the Key of Life	Motown	5,000,000	10× Platinum (2-disc album)
1985	The Doors	The Best of The Doors	Elektra	5,000,000	10× Platinum (2-disc album)
1996	2Pac	All Eyez On Me	Death Row Records	5,000,000	10× Platinum (2-disc album)
2007	Garth Brooks	The Ultimate Hits	Pearl Records	5,000,000	10× Platinum^‡ (2-disc album)
1995	The Smashing Pumpkins	Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness	Virgin	(4,900,000)^[46]	10× Platinum (2-disc album)
1994	Soundtrack	Forrest Gump	Epic Records	(4,400,000)^[47]	12× Platinum (2-disc album)
1986	Bruce Springsteen	Live/1975–85	Columbia	4,333,333	13× Platinum (3-disc album)
2005	Eminem	Curtain Call: The Hits	Aftermath	(3,782,000)^[48]	10× Platinum^‡
2010	Katy Perry	Teenage Dream	Capitol	(3,100,000)^[49]	10× Platinum^‡
1990	Led Zeppelin	Led Zeppelin Boxed Set	Atlantic Records	2,500,000	10× Platinum (4-disc album)
2015	Cast Recording	Hamilton	Atlantic Records	(1,970,000)^[50]	10× Platinum^‡ (2-disc album)

Notes

^†Only includes sales tracked by Nielsen SoundScan since March 1, 1991 and BMG Music Club sales, where available.^[51]
When tracking began, Nielsen SoundScan only had about 40% coverage of album sales.^[52] SoundScan initially did not track albums sold in supermarkets, and never tracked those sold through mail-order music clubs such as Columbia House or BMG Music Club.^[53]^[54]
^‡Album certifications from February 1, 2016 onward include "on-demand audio and video streams and a track sale equivalent."^[1]

References

External links

RIAA Website
RIAA "Top 100" Albums
Billboard Magazine,– a magazine that publishes weekly music rankings

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