In order to gain a spot on the list of the Top 10 greatest selling albums in history a band needs to be internationally recognized and extremely popular all
over they world. Here are the 10 most financially successful albums in musical history.
over they world. Here are the 10 most financially successful albums in musical history.
10. Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack - Bee Gees
Worldwide Sales - 40 Million Copies +
The Saturday Night Fever soundtrack was released in November of 1977. The
record helped to revive the phenomenon of disco in the U.S. and started a
national trend. It is composed and performed primarily by The Bee Gees and
features numerous hit singles, including Stayin’ Alive, Night Fever, and How
Deep is Your Love. The record went on to win the Grammy Award for Album
of the Year. The Saturday Night Fever soundtrack has become the third
highest selling soundtrack of all time.
9. Backstreet Boys - Millennium
Worldwide Sales - 40 Million Copies +
Millennium is the second studio album by The Backstreet Boys. It was released
on May 18, 1999 and was the group’s first record to be released in both the
U.S. and internationally at the same time. The album holds the U.S. record for
yearly shipments, selling 11 million units in 1999. It spawned four hit singles,
including I Want it That Way, Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely, and
Larger Than Life. Millennium set records for the most albums sold in its debut
week and also most records sold internationally in one week with 2.2 million.
It was certified platinum in over 45 different countries.
8. Andrew Lloyd Webber - The Phantom of the Opera
Worldwide Sales - 40 Million Copies +
The Phantom of the Opera is a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the
French novel Le Fantôme de l'Opéra by Gaston Leroux. The music was
composed by Webber, with lyrics by Charles Hart and additional lyrics by
Richard Stilgoe. The musical focuses on a beautiful soprano, Christine Daaé,
who becomes the obsession of a mysterious and disfigured musical
mastermind, known as The Phantom of the Opera. The show opened in
London's West End in 1986. It is the second longest running musical in
England’s West End and the longest-running Broadway musical. According to
sales numbers The Phantom of the Opera is the most successful entertainment
project in history, amassing an incredible $5 billion dollars worldwide.
7. The Bodyguard Soundtrack - Whitney Houston
Worldwide Sales - 42 Million Copies +
The Bodyguard soundtrack was released on November 17, 1992 and
featured six songs from Whitney Houston, as well as tracks from various
recording artists. Whitney Houston’s cover of I Will Always Love You was an
instant #1 single. Some other artists featured on the record include Kenny G,
Lisa Stransfield, and Joe Cocker. It became the first album to sell more than a
million copies in a single week. It also received the Grammy Award for Album
of the Year.
6. Dirty Dancing Soundtrack
Worldwide Sales - 42 Million Copies +
The Dirty Dancing soundtrack was released on August 21, 1987. The album
had many hit singles including Hungry Eyes by Eric Carmen, Be My Baby by
The Ronettes, and The Time of My Life by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes. It
spent 18 weeks on the top of U.S. charts and inspired a follow-up album
entitled More Dirty Dancing. The album still re-enters the Irish charts on
occasion. It has spent over 230 weeks in the Top 30 in Ireland.
5. Eagles - Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975)
Worldwide Sales - 42 Million Copies +
Their Greatest Hits is the fifth album by the rock band the Eagles. It includes a
compilation of singles and was released February 17, 1976. The years in the
album's title, 1971 to 1975, refer to the existence of the band itself, not the
release dates of the tracks. It includes ten classic hits, including Take it Easy,
Lyin’ Eyes, Already Gone, Desperado, and Peaceful Easy Feeling. The
Eagles music greatly influenced the genre of country-rock and paved the way
for numerous bands in the 1970’s. Their Greatest Hits has sold 29 million
copies in the United States, making it the best-selling album of all time in the
U.S.
4. Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon
Worldwide Sales - 43 Million Copies +
The Dark Side of the Moon is the 6th studio album by English rock group Pink
Floyd. It was released in March of 1973. The record was an instant success
and spawned the singles, Money and Time. The refracting prism cover art is
one of the most recognizable in rock music history. Pink Floyd used some of
the most advanced recording techniques of the time, including multitrack
recording and tape loops. Analogue synthesizers were also given prominence
in many tracks. Founding member Syd Barrett had left the band in 1968, but is
credited as the author of the entire album's lyrics.
3. Meat Loaf - Bat out of Hell
Worldwide Sales - 43 Million Copies +
Bat out of Hell is the 2nd studio album released by Meat Loaf. It was dropped
on October 21, 1977. The main writer on the records production was Jim
Steinman. It was developed from a musical, Neverland, which was a sci-fi
update of Peter Pan, which Steinman wrote for a workshop performed at the
Kennedy Center Music Theatre Lab in 1977. Response to the album was
slow. Australia and England were the first to gain an enthusiastic response
after some popular music video were releases. Ultimately, the record stayed
on the United Kingdom charts for 474 weeks. It continues to sell around
200,000 units each year. The original release only had seven tracks on it,
including classics Bat out of Hell, All Revved Up with No Place to Go, and Two
out of Three Ain’t Bad.
2. AC/DC - Back in Black
Worldwide Sales - 49 Million Copies +
Back in Black is the 7th studio album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC. It
was released on July 25, 1980. Back in Black was the first AC/DC album
recorded without former lead singer Bon Scott, who had died at the age of 33.
It is the best-selling album ever released by a band and has sold 22 million
units in the U.S. alone. The album includes some of the group’s biggest hits
including Hells Bells, You Shook Me All Night Long, and the title track Back in
Black. According to lead guitarist Angus Young the album's all-black cover was
a sign of mourning for Scott. This record is widely considered the best hard
rock album ever created.
1. Michael Jackson - Thriller
Worldwide Sales - 110 Million Copies +
Thriller was Michael’s sixth studio album and was released on November 30,
1982 by Epic Records. The production budget for the record was $750,000
and Jackson wrote four of the tracks on the album. At its peak, the album was
selling a million copies a week worldwide. Seven of the album's nine songs
were released as singles, and all reached the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The album won a record-breaking eight Grammy Awards in 1984. With Michael
Jackson’s death this year Thriller has sold millions more copies around the
world.
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