This is a list of the best-selling albums by year in the United States, published by American music magazine Billboard since 1956 as year-end rankings of album sales. Until 1991, the Billboard album chart was based on a survey of representative retail outlets that determined a ranking, not a tally of actual sales. Weekly surveys and year-end charts by Billboard and other publications such as now defunct Cash Box magazine sometimes differed. For instance, during the 1960s and 1970s, the number-one album as determined by these two publications differed in 10 out of 20 years. From 1992 onwards, the Billboard year-end and weekly charts were calculated by Nielsen SoundScan. Note that this slightly differs from prior Billboard year-end album charts, which were a measure of chart performances over twelve months from around December to November (cutoff determined by Billboard's publication schedule) rather than actual total sales. In addition, certain additions post-2015 may differ from best-selling albums in the United States of the Nielsen SoundScan era, which includes album-equivalent units by means of streaming.[2]
Harry Belafonte's Calypso (1956) was the first record to be recognized as a year's top-selling album by Billboard, when it started tracking sales figures. American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift is the first and only artist to have seven of their albums become best-selling records of their respective years. She accomplished it with Fearless (2009), 1989 (2014), Reputation (2017), Lover (2019), Folklore (2020), Midnights (2022), and 1989 (Taylor's Version) (2023). American acts Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, and Eminem, and British acts Elton John and Adele, have had two of their albums be the top-sellers in two separate years. American singer Michael Jackson's 1982 Thriller became the best-selling record in the country for two consecutive years in the 1980s. Other albums to achieve the same accomplishment included the My Fair Lady Original Cast Recording from the hit 1956 Broadway production between 1957 and 1958, the original soundtrack of West Side Story between 1962 and 1963, and Adele's 21 between 2011 and 2012. The Spice Girls are the only female group to appear on the list. Their debut album "Spice" was the best-selling album of 1997.
1950s
Year[I] | Artist(s) | Nationality | Album | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
1956 | Harry Belafonte | United States | Calypso | [3] |
1957 | Original Broadway Cast | United States | My Fair Lady | [4] |
1958 | [5] | |||
1959 | Henry Mancini | United States | Music from Peter Gunn | [6] |
1951 | Yma Sumac | Peru | Voice of the xtabay | [7] |
1960s
Year | Artist(s) | Nationality | Album | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
1960 | Original Broadway Cast | – | The Sound of Music | [8] |
1961 | Camelot | [9] | ||
1962 | Soundtrack | – | West Side Story | [10] |
1963 | [11] | |||
1964 | Original Broadway Cast | – | Hello, Dolly! | [12] |
1965 | Soundtrack | – | Mary Poppins | [13] |
1966 | Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass | United States | Whipped Cream & Other Delights | [14] |
1967 | The Monkees | United States | More of The Monkees | [15] |
1968 | The Jimi Hendrix Experience | United States | Are You Experienced? | [16] |
1969 | Iron Butterfly | United States | In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida | [17] |
1970s
Year[I] | Performing artist(s) | Nationality | Album | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
1970 | Simon and Garfunkel | United States | Bridge over Troubled Water | [18] |
1971 | Various Artists | – | Jesus Christ Superstar | [19] |
1972 | Neil Young | Canada | Harvest | [20] |
1973 | War | United States | The World Is a Ghetto | [21] |
1974 | Elton John | United Kingdom | Goodbye Yellow Brick Road | [22] |
1975 | Elton John's Greatest Hits | [23] | ||
1976 | Peter Frampton | United Kingdom / United States | Frampton Comes Alive | [24] |
1977 | Fleetwood Mac | United Kingdom / United States | Rumours | [25] |
1978 | Soundtrack / Bee Gees | – | Saturday Night Fever | [26] |
1979 | Billy Joel | United States | 52nd Street | [27] |
1980s
Year[I] | Performing artist(s) | Nationality | Album | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
1980 | Pink Floyd | United Kingdom | The Wall | [28] |
1981 | REO Speedwagon | United States | Hi Infidelity | [29] |
1982 | Asia | United Kingdom | Asia | [30] |
1983 | Michael Jackson | United States | Thriller | [31] |
1984 | [32] | |||
1985 | Bruce Springsteen | United States | Born in the U.S.A. | [33] |
1986 | Whitney Houston | United States | Whitney Houston | [34] |
1987 | Bon Jovi | United States | Slippery When Wet | [35] |
1988 | George Michael | United Kingdom | Faith | [36] |
1989 | Bobby Brown | United States | Don't Be Cruel | [37] |
1990s
Year[I] | Performing artist(s) | Nationality | Album | Sales | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1990 |
Janet Jackson | United States | Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814 | NA[note 1] |
[38] |
1991 |
Garth Brooks | United States | Ropin' the Wind[note 2] | 4,000,000 | [39] |
Mariah Carey | United States | Mariah Carey[note 3] | 3,380,000 | [40] | |
1992 | Billy Ray Cyrus | United States | Some Gave All | 4,832,000 | [41] |
1993 | Whitney Houston (Soundtrack) | – | The Bodyguard | 5,460,000 | [42] |
1994 | Elton John (Soundtrack) | – | The Lion King | 4,934,000 | [43] |
1995 | Hootie & the Blowfish | United States | Cracked Rear View | 7,020,000 | [44][45] |
1996 | Alanis Morissette | Canada | Jagged Little Pill | 7,380,000 | [46] |
1997 | Spice Girls | United Kingdom | Spice | 5,302,000 | [47] |
1998 | James Horner / Soundtrack | – | Titanic | 9,338,000 | [46] |
1999 | Backstreet Boys | United States | Millennium | 9,445,732 | [48] |
2000s
Year[I] | Performing artist(s) | Nationality | Album | Sales | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2000 | NSYNC | United States | No Strings Attached | 9,936,000 | [46] |
2001 | Linkin Park | United States | Hybrid Theory | 4,813,000 | [46] |
2002 | Eminem | United States | The Eminem Show | 7,608,000 | [49] |
2003 | 50 Cent | United States | Get Rich or Die Tryin' | 6,536,000 | [50] |
2004 | Usher | United States | Confessions | 7,979,000 | [51] |
2005 | Mariah Carey | United States | The Emancipation of Mimi | 4,969,000 | [52] |
2006 | Various artists | – | High School Musical | 3,719,000 | [53] |
2007 | Josh Groban | United States | Noël | 3,699,000 | [54] |
2008 | Lil Wayne | United States | Tha Carter III | 2,874,000 | [55] |
2009 | Taylor Swift | United States | Fearless | 3,217,000 | [56] |
2010s
Year[I] | Performing artist(s) | Nationality | Album | Sales | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2010 | Eminem | United States | Recovery | 3,415,000 | [57] |
2011 | Adele | United Kingdom | 21 | 5,824,000 | [58] |
2012 | 4,410,000 | [59] | |||
2013 | Justin Timberlake | United States | The 20/20 Experience | 2,430,000 | [60] |
2014 | Taylor Swift | United States | 1989 | 3,661,000 | [61] |
2015 | Adele | United Kingdom | 25 | 7,441,000 | [62] |
2016 | 1,731,000 | [63] | |||
2017 | Taylor Swift | United States | Reputation | 1,903,000 | [64] |
2018 | Various artists | N/A | The Greatest Showman | 1,491,000 | [65] |
2019 | Taylor Swift | United States | Lover | 1,085,000 | [66] |
2020s
Year[I] | Performing artist(s) | Nationality | Album | Sales | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2020 | Taylor Swift | United States | Folklore | 1,276,000 | [67] |
2021 | Adele | United Kingdom | 30 | 1,464,000 | [68] |
2022 | Taylor Swift | United States | Midnights | 1,818,000 | |
2023 | 1989 (Taylor's Version) | 1,975,000 |
Notes
- ↑ Annual album sales data have been revealed by Billboard since after 1992.
- ↑ Ropin' the Wind was the best-selling album of 1991 according to a 1992 article by the Los Angeles Times.
- ↑ Mariah Carey was the best-selling album of 1991 according to a 2019 article by The Independent.
^[I] Each year is linked to the article about music that year.
- After Billboard began obtaining sales and airplay information from Nielsen SoundScan and Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems, the year-end charts are now calculated by a very straightforward cumulative total of yearlong sales points. This gives a more accurate picture of any given year's most popular titles, as an entry that hypothetically spent nine weeks at number one in March could possibly have earned fewer cumulative points than one spending six weeks at number three in January. Albums at the peak of their popularity at the time of the November/December chart-year cutoff many times end up ranked lower than expected on a year-end tally, yet are ranked on the following year's chart as well, as their cumulative points are split between the two chart years. Sometimes, the best-selling album of the year by Billboard is different than best-selling album of the year of Nielsen SoundScan, because Billboard calculates the year from December to November and Nielsen calculates the year from January to December.
- In this list, from 1956 to 1991, the Billboard year-end tracking was used. From 1992 to date, Nielsen SoundScan's year-end tracking was used.
- Since 2015, Billboard and MRC Data (formerly Nielsen SoundScan) used album-equivalent units to determine the year's top albums, thus there is a discrepancy between the best-selling album (based on pure sales) and the best-performing album (based on sales+streaming). For information regarding the best-selling albums in the MRC Data era (from 1991 to present), see List of best-selling albums in the United States of the Nielsen SoundScan era.
See also
- Best-selling albums in the United States since Nielsen SoundScan tracking began
- Billboard Year-End
- List of best-selling albums
- List of best-selling albums in Argentina
- List of best-selling albums in Australia
- List of best-selling albums in Brazil
- List of best-selling albums in Canada
- List of best-selling albums in France
- List of best-selling albums in Germany
- List of best-selling albums in Japan
- List of best-selling albums in the Philippines
- List of best-selling albums in South Korea
- List of best-selling albums in Taiwan
- List of best-selling albums in the United Kingdom
References
- 1 2 Caulfield, Keith (January 11, 2023). "Bad Bunny's 'Un Verano Sin Ti' Is Luminate's Top Album of 2022 in U.S." Billboard. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
Swift is the only act to have the top-selling album of the year at least six times since Luminate began tracking sales in 1991.
- ↑ Caulfield, Keith (January 7, 2021). "Lil Baby's 'My Turn' Is MRC Data's Top Album of 2020, Roddy Ricch's 'The Box' Most-Streamed Song". Billboard. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
- ↑ "Year End Charts – Year-end Albums – The Billboard 200". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on January 17, 2008. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
- ↑ "Year End Charts – Year-end Albums – The Billboard 200". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on December 11, 2007. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
- ↑ "Year End Charts – Year-end Albums – The Billboard 200". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on December 11, 2007. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
- ↑ "Year End Charts – Year-end Albums – The Billboard 200". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on December 11, 2007. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
- ↑ "Year End Charts – Year-end Albums – The Billboard 200". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on December 11, 2007. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
- ↑ "Year End Charts – Year-end Albums – The Billboard 200". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on December 11, 2007. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
- ↑ "Year End Charts – Year-end Albums – The Billboard 200". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on December 11, 2007. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
- ↑ "Year End Charts – Year-end Albums – The Billboard 200". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on December 11, 2007. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
- ↑ "Year End Charts – Year-end Albums – The Billboard 200". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on October 11, 2007. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
- ↑ "Year End Charts – Year-end Albums – The Billboard 200". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
- ↑ "Year End Charts – Year-end Albums – The Billboard 200". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on December 11, 2007. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
- ↑ "Year End Charts – Year-end Albums – The Billboard 200". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on December 11, 2007. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
- ↑ "Year End Charts – Year-end Albums – The Billboard 200". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on January 24, 2008. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
- ↑ "Year End Charts – Year-end Albums – The Billboard 200". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on February 14, 2008. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
- ↑ "Year End Charts – Year-end Albums – The Billboard 200". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on January 16, 2008. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
- ↑ "Year End Charts – Year-end Albums – The Billboard 200". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on December 11, 2007. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
- ↑ "Year End Charts – Year-end Albums – The Billboard 200". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on December 11, 2007. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
- ↑ "Year End Charts – Year-end Albums – The Billboard 200". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on December 11, 2007. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
- ↑ "Year End Charts – Year-end Albums – The Billboard 200". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on February 14, 2008. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
- ↑ "Year End Charts – Year-end Albums – The Billboard 200". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on October 11, 2007. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
- ↑ "Year End Charts – Year-end Albums – The Billboard 200". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on October 11, 2007. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
- ↑ "Year End Charts – Year-end Albums – The Billboard 200". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on December 11, 2007. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
- ↑ "Year End Charts – Year-end Albums – The Billboard 200". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on December 11, 2007. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
- ↑ "Year End Charts – Year-end Albums – The Billboard 200". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on December 11, 2007. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
- ↑ "Year End Charts – Year-end Albums – The Billboard 200". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on December 11, 2007. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
- ↑ "Year End Charts – Year-end Albums – The Billboard 200". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on December 11, 2007. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
- ↑ "Year End Charts – Year-end Albums – The Billboard 200". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on February 10, 2008. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
- ↑ "Year End Charts – Year-end Albums – The Billboard 200". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on December 11, 2007. Retrieved August 5, 2009.
- ↑ "Year End Charts – Year-end Albums – The Billboard 200". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on December 11, 2007. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
- ↑ "Year End Charts – Year-end Albums – The Billboard 200". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on December 11, 2007. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
- ↑ "Year End Charts – Year-end Albums – The Billboard 200". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on October 11, 2007. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
- ↑ "Year End Charts – Year-end Albums – The Billboard 200". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on December 11, 2007. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
- ↑ "Year End Charts – Year-end Albums – The Billboard 200". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on December 22, 2007. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
- ↑ "Year End Charts – Year-end Albums – The Billboard 200". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on January 21, 2008. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
- ↑ "Year End Charts – Year-end Albums – The Billboard 200". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on February 12, 2008. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
- ↑ "Year End Charts – Year-end Albums – The Billboard 200". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on January 21, 2008. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
- ↑ Phillips, Chuch (February 2, 1992). "The Album Champs of 1991, for Sure : Feb 02, 1992". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
- ↑ "The biggest hit album the year you were born". The Independent. August 4, 2019. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
- ↑ Philips, Chuck (January 5, 1993). "Cyrus, Brooks Give Their All to Record Sales". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 25, 2017.
- ↑ Grein, Paul (December 30, 2011). "Chart Watch Extra: Bad Year For Soundtracks". Yahoo!. Yahoo! Inc. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
- ↑ Philips, Chuck (January 5, 1995). "'Lion' Leads Surge in Album Sales". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 3, 2018.
- ↑ "Hootie Leads '95 Album Sales". The New York Times. January 5, 1996. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
- ↑ Lynch, John (February 18, 2019). "Best-selling albums by year: LIST". Business Insider. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
- 1 2 3 4 Basham, David (January 2, 2002). "Got Charts? Linkin Park, Shaggy, 'NSYNC Are 2001's Top-Sellers". MTV. Viacom. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
- ↑ "Hootie Leads '95 Album Sales". New York Times. January 5, 1996. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
- ↑ "Billboard Year-end charts – Top Billboard 200 albums (1999)". Billboard. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
- ↑ D'Angelo, Joe (January 3, 2003). "Eminem Sold Most Albums, Nickelback Ruled Radio In '02". MTV. Viacom. Retrieved August 8, 2009.
- ↑ "Nielsen SoundScan and Nielsen BDS 2003 Year End Music Industry Report". Business Wire. Berkshire Hathaway. December 31, 2003. Archived from the original on June 16, 2011. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
- ↑ "More music purchases in 2004: Nielsen SoundScan". CBC News. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. January 6, 2005.
- ↑ Grein, Paul (December 5, 2007). "Week of Dec. 3, 2007: Will Josh Groban's Noel Be SoundScan's No. 1 Album of 2007? Is Santa Jolly?". Yahoo!. Yahoo! Inc. Archived from the original on September 7, 2008. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ↑ Metrics 2.0 (January 4, 2007). "Metrics 2.0: Music 2006 – Digital Track Sales Rose 65%; Album Sales Fell 4.9%: Nielsen SoundScan". Metrics2.com. Archived from the original on February 2, 2007. Retrieved November 9, 2013.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ↑ "2007 U.S. Music Purchases Exceed 1.4 Billion". Thomson Reuters. Reuters. January 3, 2008. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
- ↑ "2008 U.S. Music Purchases Exceed 1.5 Billion; Growth in Overall Music Purchases Exceeds 10%". Business Wire. December 31, 2008. Retrieved November 9, 2013.
- ↑ Caulfield, Keith (January 6, 2010). "Taylor Swift Edges Susan Boyle For 2009's Top Selling Album". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
- ↑ "The Nielsen Company & Billboard's 2010 Music Industry Report". Business Wire. Berkshire Hathaway. January 7, 2011. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
- ↑ Grein, Paul (December 7, 2011). "Chart Watch Extra: The Year's Top Albums". Yahoo! Music. Nielsen Business Media. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
- ↑ "Adele's '21' 2012's Best Selling Album; Gotye Has Top Song". Billboard. January 3, 2013. Retrieved January 3, 2013.
- ↑ "Justin Timberlake's '20/20' 2013's Best Selling Album, 'Blurred Lines' Top Song". Billboard. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
- ↑ "Taylor Swift's '1989' Beats 'Frozen' As Top Selling Album of 2014". Billboard. Retrieved December 31, 2014.
- ↑ Caulfield, Keith (January 5, 2016). "Adele's '25' Rules as Nielsen Music's Top Album of 2015 in U.S." Billboard. Retrieved January 6, 2016.
- ↑ Caulfield, Keith (January 5, 2017). "Drake's 'Views' Is Nielsen Music's Top Album of 2016 in the U.S." Billboard. Retrieved January 6, 2017.
- ↑ Caulfield, Keith (January 3, 2018). "Ed Sheeran's 'Divide' Is Music's Top Album of 2017 in U.S." billboard.com. Billboard Magazine. Retrieved December 9, 2020.
- ↑ "Drake's 'Scorpion' is Nielsen Music's Top Album of 2018 in U.S., 'God's Plan' Most-Streamed Song". Billboard.
- ↑ Caulfield, Keith (January 9, 2020). "'Hollywood's Bleeding' Is Nielsen Music/MRC Data's Top Album of 2019, 'Old Town Road' Most-Streamed Song". Billboard. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
- ↑ Caulfield, Keith (January 8, 2021). "Taylor Swift Has the Top-Selling Album of the Year in U.S. for Historic Fifth Time". Billboard. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
- ↑ Caulfield, Keith (January 6, 2022). "Dua Lipa's 'Levitating' Is Most-Streamed Song of 2021 In U.S., Morgan Wallen's 'Dangerous: The Double Album' Is MRC Data's Top Album". Billboard. Retrieved January 6, 2022.
- ↑ Caulfield, Keith (January 10, 2024). "Morgan Wallen's 'One Thing at a Time' Is Luminate's Top Album of 2023 in U.S." Billboard. Retrieved January 10, 2024.