Top Ten Best Selling Music Albums

There is really no barometer by which one can measure the sales figures of music albums. Information before 1980s was not verifiable, and data from developing countries is also not very reliable. However, based on a lot of figures available, these are the largest selling music albums of all time, in any genre.

1. Michael Jackson – Thriller

Release in 1982, this album by Michael Jackson has been at the top of this list for a long time. It was the first album where music videos were used to promote the album. It also helped Jackson to break racial barriers and make him a pop icon. The album won eight Grammy’s at the 1984 Grammy show.

2. AC/DC  – Back in Black

This was the 7th album released b y Australian Hard Rock band AC/DC. The album has been re-mastered and re-released thrice in 1994, and 1997 and in 2004. It has some of their biggest hits, such as “You shook me all night long””and the title song “Back in Black”. It is the biggest selling album of all times by any band.

3. Meat Loaf  –  Bat out of Hell

This album was developed by singer Meat Loaf from the musical Neverland. Since 1975 they were writing rehearsing the songs, and for the next two and half years they were rejected by many record companies. However in 1977, Todd Rungren agreed to produce this album, and the rest as they say, was history.

4. Pink Floyd  – The dark side of Moon

Released in 1973, this album’s prism image cover is one of the most recognisable of all time. Many music critics have dubbed it as the most influential and greatest albums ever. The music is about mental illness and about greed and conflict, and has been their most commercially successful music album.

5. Eagles  – Their greatest hits (1971-1975)

This is a compilation of the hit singles of Eagles, and covers more than the four years mentioned in the title of the album. It was an instant hit on its release and the fact that it continues to top the charts shows the popularity of this country rock band.

6. Dirty Dancing  –  various artists

This album was the original soundtrack of the film of the same name and achieved the platinum status 11 times. It spent 18 weeks as Billboard’s #1. The music and the film were best sellers all the way through.

7. Whitney Houston  –  Bodyguard

Winner of the Grammy award for the best album of the year in 1992, this album featured 6 songs sung by Whitney from her film Bodyguard and also songs by other artists. Whitney’s song “And I will always love you “, went on to become her signature song.

8. Andrew Lloyd Webber – Phantom of the Opera

A musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, it had lyrics by Charles hart and Richard Stilgoe. It is the longest running Broadway musical, and a sequel is expected to be staged in 2010. The musical has won several awards for its music, and the sales of its album testify to its timeless appeal.

9. Backstreet Boys – Millennium

This album was the American Pop Group Backstreet Boys biggest success. None of their other albums matched the meteoric rise of this album.

10. BeeGees  –  Saturday Night Fever

A trio of brothers, the BeeGees have been a pop phenomenon for over 40 years. Their recording of the original soundtrack of the John Travolta hit film in 1977 has been their largest selling album.