The Best Selling Albums Of All Time

While you’re browsing the list, keep this fact in mind: The average artist earns $2 off every album sold. Obviously some artists will have slightly better or worse per-album deals, but $2 is a pretty safe number for the average major label act of the last 30 years. When you multiply $2 by the the sales figures below, you really start to understand how successful musicians make so much freaking money. Take #12 on the list, Alanis Morissette’s 1995 album “Jagged Little Pill” which sold 33 million copies. That means Alanis potentially earned as much as $66 million off that one album alone. And that doesn’t include her radio royalties, touring, merchandise, endorsements and licensing revenues! So without further delay, scroll down to see the best selling albums of all time… The Best Selling Albums Of All Time:

#1: Michael Jackson: Thriller (1982) 65 million #2: AC/DC: Back in Black (1980) 50 million #3: Pink Floyd: The Dark Side of the Moon (1973) 50 million #4: Whitney Houston: The Bodyguard (1992) 45 million #5: Michael Jackson: Bad (1987) 45 million #6: Meat Loaf: Bat Out of Hell (1977) 43 million #7: Eagles: Their Greatest Hits (1976) 42 million #8: Bee Gees: Saturday Night Fever (1977) 40 million #9: Fleetwood Mac: Rumours (1977) 40 million #10: Shania Twain: Come On Over (1997) 40 million Led Zeppelin: Led Zeppelin IV (1971) 37 million Alanis Morissette: Jagged Little Pill (1995) 33 million Michael Jackson: Dangerous (1991) 32 million The Beatles: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) 32 million Céline Dion: Falling into You (1996) 32 million Mariah Carey: Music Box (1993) 32 million Dirty Dancing: Soundtrack (1987) 32 million The Beatles: 1 (2000) 31 million Céline Dion: Let’s Talk About Love (1997) 31 million The Beatles: Abbey Road (1969) 30 million Britney Spears: …Baby One More Time (1999) 30 million Bruce Springsteen: Born in the U.S.A. (1984) 30 million Dire Straits: Brothers in Arms (1985) 30 million Guns N’ Roses: Appetite for Destruction (1987) 30 million Iron Butterfly: In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (1968) 30 million Titanic: Music from the Motion Picture (1997) 30 million Madonna: The Immaculate Collection (1990) 30 million Metallica: Metallica (1991) 30 million Nirvana: Nevermind (1991) 30 million Pink Floyd: The Wall (1979) 30 million Santana: Supernatural (1999) 30 million ABBA: ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits (1992) 28 million Backstreet Boys: Backstreet’s Back (1997) 28 million Backstreet Boys: Millennium (1999) 28 million Bon Jovi: Slippery When Wet (1986) 28 million Spice Girls: Spice (1996) 28 million Grease Soundtrack: (1978) 28 million Norah Jones: Come Away with Me (2002) 26 million Adele: 21 (2011) 25 million Bob Marley & The Wailers: Legend: The Best of Bob Marley & The Wailers (1984) 25 million Carole King: Tapestry (1971) 25 million George Michael: Faith (1987) 25 million Journey: Greatest Hits (1988) 25 million Madonna: True Blue (1986) 25 million Mariah Carey: Daydream (1995) 25 million Queen: Greatest Hits (1981) 25 million Simon & Garfunkel: Bridge over Troubled Water (1970) 25 million U2: The Joshua Tree (1987) 25 million Whitney Houston: Whitney Houston (1985) 25 million Whitney Houston: Whitney (1987) 25 million Kenny Rogers: Greatest Hits (1980) 24 million Linkin Park: Hybrid Theory (2000) 24 million Ace of Base: The Sign (1993) 23 million TLC: CrazySexyCool (1994) 23 million Oasis: (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? (1995) 22 million Bon Jovi: Cross Road (1994) 21 million Madonna: Like a Virgin (1984) 21 million Andrea Bocelli: Romanza (1997) 20 million Barbra Streisand: Guilty (1980) 20 million Blondie: Parallel Lines (1978) 20 million Boston: Boston (1976) 20 million Britney Spears: Oops!… I Did It Again (2000) 20 million Def Leppard: Hysteria (1987) 20 million Eminem: The Marshall Mathers LP (2000) 20 million Eric Clapton: Unplugged (1992) 20 million Lionel Richie: Can’t Slow Down (1983) 20 million Michael Jackson: HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I (1995) 20 million Michael Jackson: Off the Wall (1979) 20 million Phil Collins: No Jacket Required (1985) 20 million Prince & The Revolution: Purple Rain (1984) 20 million Shania Twain: The Woman in Me (1995) 20 million Supertramp: Breakfast in America (1979) 20 million Tina Turner: Private Dancer (1984) 20 million Usher: Confessions (2004) 20 million