By now, you may have heard that a recent audit of American album sales in all formats from vinyl to download has altered the list of the top-selling titles in this country. Most notably, the Eagles “Their Greatest Hits: 1971-1975” has vaulted past Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” as the #1 seller and The Eagles “Hotel California” has jumped up into the #3 position.
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) audits and counts ‘record’ sales in the United States. It is the agency that assigns Gold, Platinum, and Diamond awards to artists and regularly updates its charts of current and classic music. Titles in America are accurately counted, whereas in foreign countries many of the agencies responsible do only a cursory job. So, while worldwide album totals are estimated in many nations, the U.S. amounts are dependable.
There are real reasons for the Eagles monumental sales increase: most notably the death of founding member Glenn Frey in 2016, which sparked a massive Eagles buying spree by fans who, perhaps updated their format from vinyl to CD or download, and newfound converts who purchased the band’s music for the first time.
The Eagles have achieved unprecedented success: the band has sold 150 million albums worldwide, scored six #1 albums, and topped the singles charts five times. They have won six GRAMMY® Awards, were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1998, in their first year of eligibility, and received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2016.
Here then is the latest list of the 25 top-selling albums in America.
- #1 THE EAGLES THEIR GREATEST HITS 1971 – 1975 (1976) 38 million
- #2 MICHAEL JACKSON THRILLER (1982) 33 million
- #3 THE EAGLES HOTEL CALIFORNIA (1976) 26 million
- #4 BILLY JOEL GREATEST HITS VOL. 1 & 2 (1985) 23 million
- (Double albums count 1 copy for each disc in the set)
- #5 LED ZEPPELIN LED ZEPPELIN (IV) (1971) 23 million
- #6 PINK FLOYD THE WALL (1979) 23 million
- #7 AC/DC BACK IN BLACK (1980) 22 million
- #8 GARTH BROOKS DOUBLE LIVE (1998) 21 million
- #9 HOOTIE & BLOWFISH CRACKED REAR VIEW (1994) 21 million
- #10 FLEETWOOD MAC RUMOURS (1977) 20 million
- #11 SHANIA TWAIN COME ON OVER (1997) 20 million
- #12 THE BEATLES THE BEATLES (WHITE ALBUM) (1968) 19 million
- #13 GUNS N’ ROSES APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION (1987) 18 million
- #14 WHITNEY HOUSTON THE BODYGUARD (Soundtrack) (1992) 18 million
- #15 BOSTON BOSTON (1976) 17 million
- #16 ELTON JOHN GREATEST HITS (1974) 17 million
- #17 GARTH BROOKS NO FENCES (1990) 17 million
- #18 THE BEATLES THE BEATLES 1967-1970 (1973) 17 million
- #19 ALANIS MORISETTE JAGGED LITTLE PILL (1995) 16 million
- #20 BEE GEES SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER (1977) 16 million
- #21 LED ZEPPELIN PHYSICAL GRAFFITI (1975) 16 million
- #22 METALLICA METALLICA (1991) 16 million
- #23 BOB MARLEY LEGEND (1984) 15 million
- #24 BRUCE SPREINGSTEEN BORN IN THE U.S.A. (1984) 15 million
- #25 JOURNEY GREATEST HITS (1988) 15 million