Quali sono gli album che hanno venduto più copie? Qual è il disco più importante di tutti i tempi? Le risposte di seguito nella classifica stilata da Wikipedia accorpando i dati della RIAA, Billboard e molte altre fonti ufficiali divise per stati e continenti dove disponibili.
La classifica è ordinata inizialmente per il numero di copie certificate vendute, di seguito è riportata quella ordinata secondo l’ammontare delle copie rivendicate relative a ciascun album in classifica.
ALBUM PIU’ VENDUTI – CLASSIFICA COPIE CERTIFICATE
1 – Michael Jackson – Thriller (1982) – 47.3 milioni
2 – Eagles – Their Greatest Hits 1971–1975 (1976) – 41.2 milioni
3 – Eagles – Hotel California (1976) – 31.5 milioni
4 – Shania Twain – Come On Over (1997) – 29.6 milioni
5 – AC/DC – Back in Black (1980) – 29.4 milioni
6 – Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin IV (1971) – 29.0 milioni
7 – Whitney Houston / AAVV – The Bodyguard (1992) – 28.4 milioni
8 – Fleetwood Mac – Rumours (1977) – 27.9 milioni
9 – Adele – 21 (2011) – 25.3 milioni
10 – Metallica – Metallica (1991) – 25.2 milioni
11 – Pink Floyd – The Dark Side of the Moon (1973) – 24.4 milioni
12 – Alanis Morissette – Jagged Little Pill (1995) – 24.4 milioni
13 – The Beatles – 1 (2000) – 23.4 milioni
14 – ABBA – Gold: Greatest Hits (1992) – 23.0 milioni
15 – Michael Jackson – Bad (1987) – 22.2 milioni
16 – Guns N’ Roses – Appetite for Destruction (1987) – 21.9 milioni
17 – Meat Loaf – Bat Out of Hell (1977) – 21.7 milioni
18 – Bee Gees / AAVV – Saturday Night Fever (1977) – 21.6 milioni
19 – Santana – Supernatural (1999) – 20.5 milioni
20 – Celine Dion – Falling into You – 20.2 milioni
Questo contenuto fa parte di MUSICOLOGIA: la storia della musica ordinata anno per anno
ALBUM PIU’ VENDUTI – CLASSIFICA COPIE RIVENDICATE
(limitata a 20 milioni di copie)
1 – Michael Jackson – Thriller – 66 milioni
2 – AC/DC – Back in Black – 50 milioni
3 – Meat Loaf – Bat Out of Hell – 50 milioni
4 – Whitney Houston / Various artists – The Bodyguard – 45 milioni
5 – Pink Floyd – The Dark Side of the Moon – 45 milioni
6 – Eagles – Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) – 42 milioni
7 – Shania Twain – Come On Over – 40 milioni
8 – Fleetwood Mac – Rumours – 40 milioni
9 – Bee Gees / Various artists – Saturday Night Fever – 40 milioni
10 – Various artists – Grease: The Original Soundtrack from the Motion Picture – 38 milioni
11 – Michael Jackson – Bad – 35 milioni
12 – Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin IV – 35 milioni
13 – Alanis Morissette – Jagged Little Pill – 33 milioni
14 – Eagles – Hotel California – 32 milioni
15 – Celine Dion – Falling into You – 32 milioni
16 – The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band – 32 milioni
17 – Various artists – Dirty Dancing – 32 milioni
18 – Michael Jackson – Dangerous – 32 milioni
19 – Adele – 21 – 31 milioni
20 – The Beatles – 1 – 31 milioni
21 – Metallica – Metallica – 31 milioni
22 – Madonna – The Immaculate Collection – 31 milioni
23 – Celine Dion – Let’s Talk About Love – 31 milioni
24 – ABBA – Gold: Greatest Hits – 30 milioni
25 – Guns N’ Roses – Appetite for Destruction – 30 milioni
26 – Santana – Supernatural – 30 milioni
27 – Bruce Springsteen – Born in the U.S.A. – 30 milioni
28 – Pink Floyd – The Wall – 30 milioni
29 – James Horner – Titanic: Music from the Motion Picture – 30 milioni
30 – Dire Straits – Brothers in Arms – 30 milioni
31 – Nirvana – Nevermind – 30 milioni
32 – The Beatles – Abbey Road – 30 milioni
33 – Bon Jovi – Slippery When Wet – 28 milioni
34 – Mariah Carey – Music Box – 28 milioni
35 – Linkin Park – Hybrid Theory – 27 milioni
36 – Eminem – The Eminem Show – 27 milioni
37 – Norah Jones – Come Away with Me – 27 milioni
38 – Eric Clapton – Unplugged – 26 milioni
39 – Bob Marley & The Wailers – Legend: The Best of Bob Marley & The Wailers – 25 milioni
40 – Carole King – Tapestry – 25 milioni
41 – Phil Collins – No Jacket Required – 25 milioni
42 – Queen – Greatest Hits – 25 milioni
43 – Madonna – True Blue – 25 milioni
44 – Simon & Garfunkel – Bridge over Troubled Water – 25 milioni
45 – U2 – The Joshua Tree – 25 milioni
46 – Prince and The Revolution – Purple Rain – 25 milioni
47 – Britney Spears – …Baby One More Time – 25 milioni
48 – George Michael – Faith – 25 milioni
49 – Elton John – Greatest Hits – 24 milioni
50 – Backstreet Boys – Backstreet’s Back / Backstreet Boys – 24 milioni
51 – Backstreet Boys – Millennium – 24 milioni
52 – Spice Girls – Spice – 23 milioni
53 – Ace of Base – Happy Nation/The Sign – 23 milioni
54 – Celine Dion – All the Way… A Decade of Song – 22 milioni
55 – Madonna – Like a Virgin – 21 milioni
56 – Whitney Houston – Whitney Houston – 22 milioni
57 – Oasis – (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? – 22 milioni
58 – Adele – 25 – 22 milioni
59 – Michael Jackson – HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I – 22 milioni
60 – Ricky Martin – Ricky Martin – 22 milioni
61 – Eminem – The Marshall Mathers LP – 21 milioni
62 – Bon Jovi – Cross Road – 21 milioni
63 – Michael Jackson – Off the Wall – 20 milioni
64 – Boston – Boston – 20 milioni
65 – Britney Spears – Oops!… I Did It Again – 20 milioni
66 – Celine Dion – The Colour of My Love – 20 milioni
67 – Def Leppard – Hysteria – 20 milioni
68 – Green Day – Dookie – 20 milioni
69 – Lionel Richie – Can’t Slow Down – 20 milioni
70 – Mariah Carey – Daydream – 20 milioni