Best selling albums of all time

19 Dec

What do you think the best-selling albums of all time are?

Yesterday I saw a list of the world’s 75 best-selling albums ever. I was surprised that though The Beatles have a few albums on the list…their highest ranking album is only at #15 (“Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band“).

I was surprised that Elvis Presley isn’t on the list at all, and I was disappointed that KISS isn’t on the list at all either.

Even though I don’t like his music, I wasn’t surprised that Michael Jackson‘s “Thriller” album is the number one best-selling record of all time (110 million units sold).

The number two record didn’t even sell half that many.
I have never owned a Michael Jackson record…but I do have the number two album.
What do you guess the second best-selling record ever is?

It’s “Back In Black” by AC/DC. An excellent album! Do you own a copy?

AC/DC "Back In Black" (49 million units sold)

Here are the top ten best selling albums ever:

1. Michael Jackson “Thriller
2. AC/DC “Back In Black
3. Pink Floyd “The Dark Side Of The Moon
4. Meat Loaf “Bat Out Of Hell
5. Eagles “Their Greatest Hits 1971-75
6. Various Artists “Dirty Dancing” OST
7. Whitney Houston “The Bodyguard” OST
8. Andrew Lloyd Webber “The Phantom Of The Opera” (musical score)
9. Backstreet Boys “Millennium
10. The Bee Gees “Saturday Night Fever” OST

I can’t believe Whitney Houston and The Backstreet Boys sold more albums than KISS, The Beatles or Black Sabbath!

Here are some albums that I own that are on the list:

AC/DC "Back In Black" (#2)

Meat Loaf "Bat Out Of Hell" (#4)

Led Zeppelin "IV" (#15)

Led Zeppelin "IV" (#13)

Guns 'N' Roses "Appetite For Destruction" (#32)

Metallica "Don't Tread On Me" / ('The Black Album') (#50)

12 Responses to “Best selling albums of all time”

  1. Sir Pent December 21, 2009 at 9:56 am #

    It was less than $10 with postage. I like some of the music from Phantom…but even that didn’t seem like a great staging of it.

    Like

    • tokyo5 December 21, 2009 at 11:09 am #

      Even if it was a bad copy, you should’ve kept it for your collection.

      I don’t like the show…I still have never watched it to the end. But I keep the DVD with my KISS collection.

      Like

  2. Sir Pent December 20, 2009 at 1:53 pm #

    I got a bootleg DVD of Paul doing Phantom, but when it arrived the quality was SO bad I threw it out. (I didn’t feel ripped off because the seller warned…but I really wanted to see it.)

    Like

    • tokyo5 December 20, 2009 at 9:22 pm #

      You paid for that DVD?

      My friend gave me a copy…it’s so boring, it put me to sleep! 😉

      Like

  3. gigihawaii December 20, 2009 at 1:20 am #

    Of the top 10, I just have Phantom of the Opera.

    Like

    • tokyo5 December 20, 2009 at 1:42 am #

      I don’t have that album…but I have a DVD of the play with Paul Stanley (of the band KISS) starring in the title role.

      Like

  4. Sir Pent December 20, 2009 at 12:26 am #

    Oh yeah…one of our more recent songs SPECIAL BOY is getting played on a podcast:
    http://www.thebugcast.org/show/89

    And as always, check out all of our free music at:
    http://reverbnation.com/lizardsfromafar

    Like

  5. Sir Pent December 20, 2009 at 12:21 am #

    Beatles and Elvis sold mostly singles in their real heyday. Not albums.

    Whitney Houston was the biggest music star in the world for several years.

    Kiss and Ozzy…well, metal mostly appeals to young males. Pop appeals to both sexes of ALL ages.

    Like

    • tokyo5 December 20, 2009 at 12:41 am #

      >Whitney Houston was the biggest music star in the world for several years.

      But KISS ruled the world in 1976-78.

      Anyways, speaking of music…

      Guns ‘N Roses played the Tokyo Dome a few hours ago.

      I didn’t see them this time…but I did see them at the Tokyo Dome for the “Use Your Illusion” tour in January 1993.
      Axl Rose was late (as was usual for him) as they started their set about three hours late!

      I heard that he did it again on this Japan tour in Tokyo last night and Osaka the night before!

      +++

      Also, I just heard that Ozzy Osbourne‘s new album will be titled “Soul Sucka” and will go on sale next summer!

      Of course I’ll buy a new Ozzy album…but what a terrible title!

      Like

  6. Sir Pent December 19, 2009 at 6:25 am #

    I’m not surprised about KISS. They haven’t sold a ton of any particular album, they’ve just done very well with about a dozen albums.

    I’m not surprised about the bubblegum acts. For a couple of years they were the biggest stars in the world. (And I even like some of the songs.) Their problem was that, once they became famous, they wanted to write/produce their own material. All their previous hits had been provided to them. Lesson=don’t fix what aint broken.

    A lot of good albums on the list, though. And I own or have owned many of them.

    Like

    • tokyo5 December 19, 2009 at 10:34 am #

      But how can the Backstreet Boys and Whitney Houston have sold so many more albums than Elvis, The Beatles, KISS, or Ozzy?

      Like

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