Key points from the chart
- Michael Jackson’s Thriller is first with 122.84 million EAS, about 68% more than second-placed Hotel California by the Eagles at 73.2 million.
- Every other album in the top 50 falls between 36.63 million and 73.2 million.
- The Beatles have the most entries, with 6 albums. Michael Jackson has 3, and Pink Floyd, Celine Dion and Madonna have 2 each.
- Four entries are credited wholly or partly to Various Artists: Saturday Night Fever, The Bodyguard, Grease and Dirty Dancing. James Horner’s Titanic closes the list at 36.63 million.
- Figures are in EAS. The chart does not define the term or name its data source.
Top 50 best selling albums in text
This is every bar on the chart, titled “Top 50 Best Selling Albums of All Time [Worldwide]”, with artist and album names as the chart writes them.
| Rank | Artist | Album | Total EAS, millions |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael Jackson | Thriller | 122.84 |
| 2 | Eagles | Hotel California | 73.20 |
| 3 | Bee Gees & Various Artists | Saturday Night Fever | 71.25 |
| 4 | Fleetwood Mac | Rumours | 66.97 |
| 5 | Michael Jackson | Bad | 66.42 |
| 6 | AC/DC | Back in Black | 63.20 |
| 7 | Nirvana | Nevermind | 60.62 |
| 8 | Led Zeppelin | Led Zeppelin IV | 59.28 |
| 9 | The Beatles | Abbey Road | 59.25 |
| 10 | Pink Floyd | The Dark Side Of The Moon | 58.82 |
| 11 | Whitney Houston & Various Artists | The Bodyguard | 55.85 |
| 12 | Pink Floyd | The Wall | 54.28 |
| 13 | Various Artists | Grease | 54.27 |
| 14 | Adele | 21 | 54.09 |
| 15 | Bon Jovi | Slippery When Wet | 53.77 |
| 16 | Guns ‘N Roses | Appetite For Destruction | 52.23 |
| 17 | Metallica | Metallica (Black Album) | 50.69 |
| 18 | U2 | The Joshua Tree | 50.26 |
| 19 | Bruce Springsteen | Born In The U.S.A. | 50.00 |
| 20 | Dire Straits | Brothers In Arms | 47.80 |
| 21 | Michael Jackson | Dangerous | 47.36 |
| 22 | Celine Dion | Let’s Talk About Love | 47.27 |
| 23 | Shania Twain | Come On Over | 47.19 |
| 24 | Simon & Garfunkel | Bridge Over Troubled Water | 46.46 |
| 25 | The Beatles | Help! | 45.58 |
| 26 | The Beatles | Let It Be | 45.05 |
| 27 | Queen | A Night At The Opera | 43.71 |
| 28 | Derek & The Dominos | Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs | 43.21 |
| 29 | Celine Dion | Falling Into You | 43.19 |
| 30 | Alanis Morissette | Jagged Little Pill | 42.91 |
| 31 | Lady Gaga | The Fame Monster (Deluxe) | 41.93 |
| 32 | Santana | Abraxas | 41.10 |
| 33 | Madonna | Like A Virgin | 40.42 |
| 34 | The Doors | The Doors | 40.20 |
| 35 | The Beatles | Please Please Me | 40.18 |
| 36 | Taylor Swift | 1989 | 39.97 |
| 37 | Eminem | The Eminem Show | 39.96 |
| 38 | Jimi Hendrix | Are You Experienced | 39.73 |
| 39 | The Police | Synchronicity | 38.90 |
| 40 | Prince And The Revolution | Purple Rain | 38.43 |
| 41 | The Beatles | The Beatles (The White Album) | 38.20 |
| 42 | Linkin Park | Hybrid Theory | 38.06 |
| 43 | Madonna | True Blue | 37.85 |
| 44 | Bryan Adams | Reckless | 37.83 |
| 45 | ABBA | Arrival | 37.31 |
| 46 | The Beatles | Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band | 37.25 |
| 47 | Neil Diamond | Brother Love’s Travelling Salvation Show / Sweet Caroline | 37.19 |
| 48 | Various Artists | Dirty Dancing | 36.77 |
| 49 | Elvis Presley | Elvis’ Christmas Album | 36.65 |
| 50 | James Horner | Titanic | 36.63 |
Why sales figures for the same album differ
Lists of the best selling album of all time rarely agree on numbers, because they count different things. This chart uses EAS. We read this as an equivalent sales measure: the music industry’s album-equivalent unit treats a set number of track sales or streams as equal to one album sale. When Billboard adopted it in December 2014, 10 song sales or 1,500 song streams from an album counted as one album [2]. A measure like this adds track sales and streams on top of copies sold, so its totals run higher than counts of physical copies.
Wikipedia’s list of best-selling albums takes a different approach. It covers albums sold in physical formats such as vinyl, cassette and CD, and an album needs at least 20 million reported sales and 10 million certified units to appear [1]. On that basis it gives Thriller, released in 1982, an estimated 70 million copies worldwide, the most of any album [1]. Its top tier, albums with reported sales of 40 million or more, reads as follows [1].
| Artist | Album | Released | Reported sales, millions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Jackson | Thriller | 1982 | 70 |
| AC/DC | Back in Black | 1980 | 50 |
| Whitney Houston / Various artists | The Bodyguard | 1992 | 45 |
| Pink Floyd | The Dark Side of the Moon | 1973 | 45 |
| Eagles | Their Greatest Hits (1971 to 1975) | 1976 | 44 |
| Eagles | Hotel California | 1976 | 42 |
| Shania Twain | Come On Over | 1997 | 40 |
| Fleetwood Mac | Rumours | 1977 | 40 |
| Meat Loaf | Bat Out of Hell | 1977 | 40 |
| Bee Gees / Various artists | Saturday Night Fever | 1977 | 40 |
The same albums lead both lists, but the order differs. Back in Black is second on reported sales and sixth on this chart. The Eagles’ Their Greatest Hits (1971 to 1975) is in Wikipedia’s top tier but does not appear on this chart at all.
US certifications add a third view. In 2018 the RIAA certified Their Greatest Hits (1971 to 1975) at 38 times platinum, ahead of Thriller at 33 times platinum, which made it the highest certified album in the United States [3]. Certification counts units in one country, so it can rank albums differently from worldwide totals [1].
Notes on this infographic
- No source or date. The chart cites no data source and gives no date, so we cannot say when its figures were compiled. Some labels run past the end of their bars on shorter rows.
- EAS is not copies sold. The axis is labelled “Total EAS (In Millions)”. Do not compare its figures directly with reported copies, such as the 70 million estimate for Thriller [1].
- Missing compilation. The Eagles’ Their Greatest Hits (1971 to 1975), with 44 million reported sales on Wikipedia’s list [1], is not among the 50 albums shown.
- Spelling. The chart writes “Guns ‘N Roses” and “Sgt. Peppers”. The usual forms are Guns N’ Roses and Sgt. Pepper’s.
- Creator. The chart carries no name, logo or watermark, and we could not identify who made it.
Questions about the best selling album of all time
What is the best selling album of all time?
Michael Jackson’s Thriller. It is first on this chart with 122.84 million EAS, and Wikipedia’s list also ranks it first, with an estimated 70 million copies sold worldwide [1].
What are the 10 best selling albums of all time?
On this chart: Thriller, Hotel California, Saturday Night Fever, Rumours, Bad, Back in Black, Nevermind, Led Zeppelin IV, Abbey Road and The Dark Side Of The Moon. Lists based on copies sold give a different top 10, shown in the table above [1].
Who has the best selling album of all time?
Michael Jackson, with Thriller. He also has two more albums in this top 50, Bad (5th) and Dangerous (21st).
Sources
- Wikipedia, List of best-selling albums
- Wikipedia, Album-equivalent unit
- GRAMMY.com, The Top 100 Best-Selling Albums Ever
Last reviewed 29 October 2026
