List of best-selling albums worldwide

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The world's best-selling album cannot be listed officially, since there is no international body to count global record sales. Historical data before the 1980s and from developing countries are also incomplete. Information is also lacking for non-English language albums.

Albums are listed in alphabetical order, rather than albums sold. Groupings are based on different sales benchmarks. Entries marked with an asterisk (*) are double albums, but they are counted once for each sale. Mutiple entries from the same artist are listed in chronological order:

Best-selling album of all time

Artist	Album	Year of release	Genre	Source
Michael Jackson	Thriller	1982	Pop/R&B/Rock	[link][link]

Artists claimed to have sold 40 million albums

Artist	Album	Year of release	Genre	Source
AC/DC	Back in Black	1980	Hard Rock	[link]
Eagles	Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975)	1976	Rock	[link]
Led Zeppelin	(Untitled)	1971	Rock	[link]
Whitney Houston	The Bodyguard	1993	RnB	[link]
Pink Floyd	The Dark Side of the Moon	1973	Rock	[link]
Shania Twain	Come on Over	1997	Country	?

Artists claimed to have sold 30 million albums

Artist	Album	Year of release	Genre	Source
Boyz II Men	II	1995	RnB	[link]
Backstreet Boys	Millennium	1999	Pop	[link]
The Beatles	Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band	1967	Rock	[link]
The Beatles	The Beatles a.k.a. The White Album*	1968	Rock	[link]
The Beatles	1	2000	Rock/Pop	[link]
Mariah Carey	Music Box	1993	Pop/R&B	[link]
The Bee Gees	Saturday Night Fever (soundtrack)*	1977	Disco	[link]
Céline Dion	Falling Into You	1996	Pop	[link]
Céline Dion	Let's Talk About Love	1997	Pop	[link]
Fleetwood Mac	Rumours	1977	Rock	[link]
James Horner	Titanic (soundtrack)	1997	Classic	[link]
Meat Loaf	''Bat out of Hell	1977	Rock
Alanis Morissette	Jagged Little Pill	1995	Pop/Rock
Michael Jackson	Dangerous	1991	Pop/R&B	[link]
Pink Floyd	The Wall*	1979	Rock

Artists claimed to have sold 25 million albums

Artist	Album	Year of release	Genre	Source
Britney Spears	...Baby One More Time	1999	Pop
Backstreet Boys	Backstreet Boys	1997	Pop	[link]
The Beatles	Abbey Road	1969	Rock	[link]
Enigma (musical project)	MCMXC A.D.	1990	New Age	[link] [link] [link]
Bon Jovi	Slippery When Wet	1986	Rock	[link]
Mariah Carey	Daydream	1995	Pop/R&B	[link]
Céline Dion	All the Way...A Decade of Song	1999	Pop	[link]
Dire Straits	Brothers in Arms	1985	Rock	[link]
Guns N' Roses	Appetite for Destruction	1987	Hard Rock	[link]
Jean Michel Jarre	Oxygene	1976	Electronic
Michael Jackson	Bad	1987	Pop/R&B	[link]
Madonna	The Immaculate Collection	1990	Pop	[link]
Queen	Greatest Hits	1981	Rock
Santana	Supernatural	1999	Rock	[link]
Simon & Garfunkel	Bridge over Troubled Water	1970	Folk/Rock	[link]
Various Artists	Grease (soundtrack)	1978	Pop	[link]

Artists claimed to have sold 20 million albums

Artist	Album	Year of release	Genre	Source
Britney Spears	Oops!... I Did It Again	2000	Pop	[link]
ABBA	Gold - Greatest Hits	1992	Pop	[link]
Ace of Base	Happy Nation/The Sign	1993	Pop	[link]
The Beatles	1962-1966*	1973	Rock/Pop	[link]
The Beatles	1967-1970*	1973	Rock/Pop	[link]
The Bee Gees	Spirits Having Flown	1979	Disco	[link]
Blondie	Parallel Lines	1977	Pop/Rock/Disco	[link]
Garth Brooks	No Fences	1990	Country	[link]
Céline Dion	The Colour of My Love	1993	Pop	[link]
The Eagles	Hotel California	1976	Rock	[link]
Michael Jackson	Off the Wall	1979	Pop/R&B	[link]
Norah Jones	Come Away with Me	2002	Jazz	[link]
Carole King	Tapestry	1971	Pop	[link]
Madonna	Like a Virgin	1984	Pop	[link]
Madonna	True Blue	1986	Pop	[link]
Ricky Martin	Ricky Martin	1999	Pop (Latin)	[link]
MC Hammer	Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em	1990	Rap	[link]
Metallica	Metallica a.k.a. The Black Album	1991	Metal	[link]
Lionel Richie	Can't Slow Down	1983	R&B	[link]
Simon & Garfunkel	Simon and Garfunkel's Greatest Hits	1972	Folk/Rock	[link]
Spice Girls	Spice	1997	Pop	[link]
Bruce Springsteen	Born in the U.S.A.	1984	Rock	[link]
Tina Turner	Private Dancer	1984	Pop/R&B/Rock	[link]
U2	The Joshua Tree	1987	Rock	[link]
various artists	The Sound of Music (soundtrack)	1965	Pop	[link]
Whitney Houston	Whitney Houston	1985	Pop	[link]

Artists claimed to have sold 15 million albums

{| class="wikitable"

! Artist !! Album !! Year of release !! Genre !! Source |- | Britney Spears || Britney || 2001 || Pop || |- | Abrar-ul-Haq || Billo De Ghar || 1995 || Bhangra || [link] |- | Christina Aguilera || Christina Aguilera || 1999 || Pop || [link] |- | Andrea Bocelli || Romanza || 1997 || Opera/Pop || [link] |- | Enigma (musical project) || The Cross of Changes || 1993 || New Age || [link] |- | Bon Jovi || Cross Road - The Best of Bon Jovi || 1994 || Rock || [link] |- | Backstreet Boys || Black & Blue || 2000 || Pop || [link] |- | Boston || Boston || 1976 || Rock || [link] |- | Mariah Carey || Mariah Carey || 1990 || Pop/R&B || [link] |- | Mariah Carey || Merry Christmas || 1994 || Pop/R&B || [link] |- | Mariah Carey || Butterfly || 1997 || Pop/R&B || [link] |- | Mariah Carey || #1's || 1998 || Pop/R&B || [link] |- | Eric Clapton || Unplugged || 1992 || Rock || [link] |- | Phil Collins || No Jacket Required || 1985 || Pop || [link] |- | Phil Collins || ...But Seriously || 1989 || Pop || [link] |- | The Cranberries || No Need to Argue || 1994 || Rock || [link] |- | Bing Crosby || Merry Christmas || 1957 || Pop (Traditional) || [link] |- | Def Leppard || Hysteria || 1987 || Rock || [link] |- | Celine Dion || These Are Special Times || 1998 || Pop || [link] |- | The Eagles || The Eagles Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 || 1982 || Rock || [link] |- | Eminem || The Marshall Mathers LP || 2000 || Rap || [link] |- | Eminem || The Eminem Show || 2002 || Rap || [link] |- | Enya || A Day Without Rain || 2000 || New Age || [link] |- | Evanescence || Fallen || 2003 || Hard Rock || [link] |- | Peter Frampton || Frampton Comes Alive* || 1976 || Rock || [link] |- | The Fugees || The Score || 1996 || Hip-Hop/R&B || [link] |- | Genesis || We Can't Dance || 1991 || Rock || [link] |- | Green Day || Dookie || 1994 || Rock (Alternative) || [link] |- | Guns N' Roses || Use Your Illusion I || 1991 || Hard Rock || [link] |- | Guns N' Roses || Use Your Illusion II || 1991 || Hard Rock || [link] |- | Lauryn Hill || The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill || 1998 || R&B/Hip-Hop || [link] |- | Hootie & The Blowfish || Cracked Rear View || 1994 || Rock || [link] |- | Whitney Houston || Whitney || 1987 || Pop/R&B || [link] |- | Janet Jackson || janet. || 1993 || Pop/R&B || [link] |- | Michael Jackson || "HIStory - Past, Present And Future, Book I"* || 1995 || Pop/R&B/Rock || [link] |- | Billy Joel || Greatest Hits, Vols. 1 & 2* || 1985 || Pop/Rock || [link] |- | Elton John || Greatest Hits || 1974 || Pop/Rock || [link] |- | Elton John & Hans Zimmer || The Lion King (soundtrack) || 1994 || Pop || [link] |- | Journey || Greatest Hits || 1988 || Rock/Pop || [link] |- | Kenny G. || Breathless || 1992 || Jazz (Contemporary) || [link] |- | Avril Lavigne || Let Go || 2002 || Rock/Pop || [link] |- | Led Zeppelin || Led Zeppelin II || 1969 || Hard Rock || [link] |- | Led Zeppelin || Houses of the Holy || 1973 || Hard Rock || [link] |- | Led Zeppelin || Physical Graffiti* || 1975 || Hard Rock || [link] |- | Linkin Park || Hybrid Theory || 2000 || Nu Metal ||[link] |- | Madonna || Like a Prayer || 1989 || Pop || [link] |- | Madonna || Ray of Light || 1998 || Pop/Dance || [link] |- | Madonna || Music || 2000 || Pop/Dance || [link] |- | Bob Marley || Legend || 1984 || Reggae || [link] |- | Matchbox Twenty || Yourself or Someone Like You || 1996 || Rock (Alternative) || [link] |- | Meat Loaf || || 1993 || Rock || [link] |- | George Michael || Faith || 1987 || Pop || [link] |- | Nirvana || Nevermind || 1991 || Rock (Grunge) || [link] |- | No Doubt || Tragic Kingdom || 1995 || Rock (Ska) || [link] |- | 'N Sync || No Strings Attached || 2000 || Pop || [link] |- | Oasis || (What's the Story) Morning Glory? || 1995 || Rock || [link] |- | Mike Oldfield || Tubular Bells || 1973 || Rock || [link] |- | Pearl Jam || Ten || 1991 || Rock (Grunge) || [link] |- | Prince || Purple Rain || 1984 || Pop/Rock || [link] |- | Queen || Greatest Hits II || 1991 || Rock || |- | R.E.M. || Automatic for the People || 1992 || Rock || [link] |- | Red Hot Chilli Peppers || Californication || 1999 || Rock || [link] |- | Kenny Rogers || Greatest Hits || 1980 || Country || [link] |- | Spice Girls || Spiceworld || 1997 || Pop || [link] |- | Smashing Pumpkins || Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness* || 1995 || Rock || [link] |- | Supertramp || Breakfast in America || 1979 || Rock || [link] |- | TLC || CrazySexyCool || 1994 || R&B/Hip-Hop || [link] |- | Shania Twain || The Woman in Me || 1995 || Country/Pop || [link] |- | Usher || Confessions || 2004 || R&B || [link] |- | U2 || Achtung Baby || 1991 || Rock || [link] |- | Vanilla Ice || To the Extreme || 1990 || Rap || [link] |-

 

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