List of best-selling albums in the United States of the Nielsen SoundScan era

This is a list of best-selling albums in the United States of the Nielsen SoundScan era. SoundScan began tracking sales data for Billboard on March 1, 1991. SoundScan data is unrelated to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certifications, and is based on actual sales while the RIAA's certification process is based on shipments.

Metallica's self-titled album is the highest selling record under Nielsen SoundScan, selling over 16 million copies

Best-sellers (overall)
Shania Twain's Come On Over (released in 1997) has sold over 15.7 million copies.
Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill (released in 1995) has sold over 15.3 million copies.
The Beatles' 1 (released in 2000) has sold over 13 million copies.
List of the best-selling albums in the U.S. since 1991, showing title, release year, artist, and sales figure
Album Release year Artist(s) Nationality Pure sales figures Ref.
Metallica 1991 Metallica U.S. 16,830,000 [1]
Come On Over 1997 Shania Twain Canada 15,730,000 [2]
Jagged Little Pill 1995 Alanis Morissette Canada / U.S. 15,200,000 [3]
1 2000 The Beatles U.K. 13,000,000 [4]
Legend 1984 Bob Marley and the Wailers Jamaica 12,300,000 [5]
Millennium 1999 Backstreet Boys U.S. 12,300,000 [6]
The Bodyguard 1992 Whitney Houston U.S. 12,140,000 [7]
21 2011 Adele U.K. 12,009,000 [8]
Supernatural 1999 Santana Mexico / U.S. 11,850,000 [7]
Human Clay 1999 Creed U.S. 11,690,000 [7]
No Strings Attached 2000 NSYNC U.S. 11,160,000 [7]
Come Away with Me 2002 Norah Jones U.S. 11,100,000 [9]
The Marshall Mathers LP 2000 Eminem U.S. 11,000,000 [10]
Falling into You 1996 Celine Dion Canada 10,900,000 [11]
...Baby One More Time 1999 Britney Spears U.S. 10,700,000 [12]
The Eminem Show 2002 Eminem U.S. 10,600,000 [9]
Hybrid Theory 2000 Linkin Park U.S. 10,500,000 [13]
Confessions 2004 Usher U.S. 10,300,000 [9]
Cracked Rear View 1994 Hootie & the Blowfish U.S. 10,270,000 [14]
Titanic 1997 Celine Dion Canada 10,170,000 [14]
Backstreet Boys 1997 Backstreet Boys U.S. 10,120,000 [14]
Ten 1994 Pearl Jam U.S. 10,000,000 [15]

Best-selling albums by decade

1991–1999
Best-selling albums in the U.S. in the 1990s[16]
Album Release year Artist(s) Sales
Jagged Little Pill 1995 Alanis Morissette 13,542,393
Come On Over 1997 Shania Twain 12,110,660
Metallica 1991 Metallica 11,715,533
The Bodyguard 1992 Whitney Houston 11,605,690
Falling into You 1996 Celine Dion 10,224,282
Cracked Rear View 1994 Hootie & the Blowfish 9,817,666
Titanic 1997 Celine Dion 9,806,175
Millennium 1999 Backstreet Boys 9,445,732
Ropin' the Wind 1991 Garth Brooks 9,370,863
Backstreet Boys 1997 Backstreet Boys 9,258,265

2000–2009
Best-selling albums in the U.S. in the 2000s[17]
Album Release year Artist(s) Sales
1 2000 The Beatles 11,564,000
No Strings Attached 2000 NSYNC 11,113,000
Come Away With Me 2002 Norah Jones 10,579,000
The Marshall Mathers LP 2000 Eminem 10,216,000
The Eminem Show 2002 Eminem 9,818,000
Confessions 2004 Usher 9,730,000
Hybrid Theory 2000 Linkin Park 9,697,000
Human Clay 1999 Creed 9,495,000
Oops!... I Did It Again 2000 Britney Spears 9,184,000
Country Grammar 2000 Nelly 8,464,000

2010–2019
Best-selling albums in the U.S. in the 2010s[18]
Album Release year Artist(s) Sales
21 2011 Adele 12,009,000
25 2015 Adele 9,517,000
1989 2014 Taylor Swift 6,215,000
Recovery 2010 Eminem 4,867,000
Speak Now 2010 Taylor Swift 4,694,000
Red 2012 Taylor Swift 4,465,000
Christmas 2011 Michael Bublé 4,379,000
Frozen 2014 Various artists 4,314,000
Need You Now 2010 Lady Antebellum 4,221,000
The 20/20 Experience 2013 Justin Timberlake 3,743,000

Best-selling albums by year
Taylor Swift is the first artist to have the annual best seller five times (2009, 2014, 2017, 2019, 2020).[19]
Adele has the annual best seller four times (2011, 2012, 2015, 2016).
Eminem has the best-selling album of a calendar year twice (2002 and 2010).
Drake has the year's top-consumed album (based on album-equivalent units) twice (2016 and 2018).

The following list includes the annual best-selling albums since 1991, as reported by MRC Data (formerly Nielsen SoundScan). For albums released after 2015, the best-performing album of the year is determined by album-equivalent units consisted of album sales, digital songs sales, and on-demand streaming, while the best-selling album is determined by album sales only.[20]

Key
Indicates album-equivalent units
Best-selling albums by year in the U.S. since 1991
Year Album Artist(s) Figures Ref.
1991 Ropin' The Wind Garth Brooks 4,000,000 [21]
1992 Some Gave All Billy Ray Cyrus 4,700,000 [22]
1993 The Bodyguard Whitney Houston 5,460,000 [23][24]
1994 The Lion King Various Artists 4,900,000 [25]
1995 Cracked Rear View Hootie & the Blowfish 7,000,000 [26]
1996 Jagged Little Pill Alanis Morissette 7,400,000 [27]
1997 Spice Spice Girls 5,300,000 [28]
1998 Titanic Celine Dion 9,338,061 [29]
1999 Millennium Backstreet Boys 9,445,732 [29][30]
2000 No Strings Attached NSYNC 9,936,104 [29][31]
2001 Hybrid Theory Linkin Park 4,812,852 [29]
2002 The Eminem Show Eminem 7,607,925 [32]
2003 Get Rich or Die Tryin' 50 Cent 6,535,809 [33]
2004 Confessions Usher 7,978,594 [34]
2005 The Emancipation of Mimi Mariah Carey 4,968,606 [35][36]
2006 High School Musical Various Artists 3,719,071 [37]
2007 Noël Josh Groban 3,698,934 [38]
2008 Tha Carter III Lil Wayne 2,874,420 [39]
2009 Fearless Taylor Swift 3,216,988 [40]
2010 Recovery Eminem 3,414,927 [41]
2011 21 Adele 5,823,628 [42]
2012 21 Adele 4,414,000 [43]
2013 The 20/20 Experience Justin Timberlake 2,427,000 [44]
2014 1989 Taylor Swift 3,661,000 [45]
2015 25 Adele 8,008,000 [46]
7,441,000
2016 Views Drake 4,140,000 [47]
25 Adele 1,731,000
2017 ÷ Ed Sheeran 2,764,000 [48]
Reputation Taylor Swift 1,903,000
2018 Scorpion Drake 3,905,000 [49]
The Greatest Showman Various Artists 1,491,000
2019 Hollywood's Bleeding Post Malone 3,001,000 [50]
Lover Taylor Swift 1,085,000
2020 My Turn Lil Baby 2,632,000 [20]
Folklore Taylor Swift 1,276,000

Single week best-sellers
  1. 25 / Adele ~ 3,480,000[lower-alpha 1] (November 26, 2015)
  2. No Strings Attached / NSYNC ~ 2,416,000 (March 26, 2000)
  3. Celebrity / NSYNC ~ 1,880,000 (July 29, 2001)
  4. The Marshall Mathers LP / Eminem ~ 1,760,000 (May 28, 2000)
  5. Black & Blue / Backstreet Boys ~ 1,591,000 (November 26, 2000)
  6. The Eminem Show / Eminem ~ 1,322,000 (June 2, 2002)
  7. Oops!... I Did It Again / Britney Spears ~ 1,319,000 (May 21, 2000)
  8. 1989 / Taylor Swift ~ 1,287,000 (November 2, 2014)
  9. 1 / The Beatles ~ 1,259,000 (December 24, 2000, sixth week)
  10. reputation / Taylor Swift ~ 1,238,000[lower-alpha 2] (November 16, 2017)
  11. Red / Taylor Swift ~ 1,208,000 (October 28, 2012)
  12. 25 / Adele ~ 1,190,000[lower-alpha 3] (December 24, 2015, fifth week)
  13. 25 / Adele ~ 1,160,000[lower-alpha 4] (December 3, 2015, second week)
  14. The Massacre / 50 Cent ~ 1,141,000 (March 6, 2005)
  15. Millennium / Backstreet Boys ~ 1,134,000 (May 23, 1999)
  16. Born This Way / Lady Gaga ~ 1,108,000 (May 29, 2011)
  17. Confessions / Usher ~ 1,096,000 (March 28, 2004)
  18. Double Live / Garth Brooks ~ 1,085,000 (November 22, 1998)
  19. The Bodyguard / Soundtrack (Whitney Houston) ~ 1,061,000 (December 28, 1992, sixth week)
  20. Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water / Limp Bizkit ~ 1,055,000 (October 22, 2000)
  21. Speak Now / Taylor Swift ~ 1,047,000 (October 31, 2010)
  22. Views / Drake ~ 1,040,000[lower-alpha 5] (May 22, 2016)
  23. Feels like Home / Norah Jones ~ 1,022,000 (February 17, 2004)
  24. Tha Carter III / Lil Wayne ~ 1,006,000 (June 21, 2008)

See also

References

Footnotes

  1. 3,380,000 pure sales and 96,000 equivalent units
  2. 1,216,000 pure sales and 22,000 equivalent units
  3. 1,160,000 pure sales and 30,000 equivalent units
  4. 1,110,000 pure sales and 50,000 equivalent units
  5. 852,000 pure sales and 188,000 equivalent units
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