In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards. Certification is not automatic; for an award to be made, the record label must first request certification. The audit is conducted against net shipments after returns, which includes albums sold directly to retailers and one-stops, direct-to-consumer sales and other outlets.
Whitney is the second studio album by American singer Whitney Houston, released on June 2, 1987, by Arista Records as the follow-up to her debut album. The album features five top 10 hits on the US Billboard Hot 100, which also became international hits. The album's first four singles—"I Wanna Dance with Somebody ", "Didn't We Almost Have It All", "So Emotional" and "Where Do Broken Hearts Go"—all peaked at number one on the US Hot 100, making her the first female act to achieve four number-one hits from one album.
The Bodyguard: Original Soundtrack Album is a soundtrack album from the film of the same name, released on November 17, 1992, by Arista Records. The album's first side features songs recorded by American singer Whitney Houston, who starred in the film, while side two features the work of various artists. Houston and Clive Davis were co-executive producers of the record.
Backstreet Boys is the first compilation album released by the vocal-pop group Backstreet Boys in the United States. The compilation is a collection of tracks from Backstreet Boys' first and second international albums, Backstreet Boys (1996) and Backstreet's Back (1997), respectively. Since the album and Backstreet's Back were released at the same time, both albums share the same cover, only with different titles.
The American singer Whitney Houston released seven studio albums, six compilations, three soundtrack albums, five box sets, six extended plays, and 57 singles. She has sold over 200 million records worldwide, becoming one of the best-selling music artists in history. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), Houston is the best-selling female R&B artist of the 20th century, and has sold 100 million certified records in the United States. She is also the fourth best-selling female album artist in the US with 61 million certified album sales. In addition, until the launch of the RIAA's digital certification program in 2004, she had sold 16.5 million physical singles—more than any other female solo artist in history. According to the Official Charts Company in October 2012, Houston is the fourth-biggest-selling female singles artists of all-time list with a sales total of 8.5 million singles in that country.
Canadian singer Shania Twain has released six studio albums, three compilation albums, three remix albums, one box set, two live albums, 45 singles, 38 music videos, six promotional singles, and made six guest appearances. Twain's repertoire has sold over 34 million albums in the United States alone, placing her as the top-selling female artist in country music. Moreover, with 48 million copies shipped, she is ranked as the 26th best-selling artist overall in the US, tying with Kenny G for the spot. She is also recognized as one of the best-selling music artists in history, selling over 100 million records worldwide and thus becoming the top-selling female artist in country music ever.
American rapper Eminem has released 11 studio albums, two compilation albums, and one EP. His music has been released on record labels Interscope Records and Aftermath Entertainment, along with subsidiaries Web Entertainment and his own Shady Records. Eminem is the best-selling rapper of all time and the best-selling artist of the 2000s with US album sales at over 32.25 million during the decade. With sales of over 220 million records worldwide, he is among of the best-selling music artists of all time. According to the RIAA, Eminem has sold 227.5 million certified albums and singles in the United States. In his home country, he has earned 50 platinum albums and 10 number one albums.
American rock band Bon Jovi has released 15 studio albums, three live albums, five compilation albums, five EPs, 66 singles, 14 video albums, and 71 music videos. Bon Jovi has sold over 130 million records worldwide, making them one of the best-selling bands of all time. As of 2018, the band has sold 21.8 million albums in the US Nielsen SoundScan era. Billboard ranked Bon Jovi as the 45th Greatest Artist of all time, achieving 6 No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 & 4 No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. According to Recording Industry Association of America, Bon Jovi has sold 34.5 million albums in the United States.
Canadian singer Celine Dion has released 27 studio albums, seven live albums, 19 compilation albums, and 25 box sets. Recognized as the "Priestess of Pop", she has sold 53.2 million albums in the United States according to Neilsen SoundScan, making her the second best-selling female artists in the country since Nielsen began tracking sales in 1991. In 2003, Dion was honored by International Federation of the Phonographic Industry for selling 50 million albums in Europe. Guinness World Records recognises her as the Top Selling Album Act in Europe with 33 million certified album sales since 1996. Billboard ranked her as the second best-selling female album artist of the 2000s Decade in the United States with 17.3 million sold via Soundscan. In 2008, Dion was recognized as the Best-selling International Artist in South Africa. Billboard ranked Dion as the 6th Greatest Billboard 200 female solo artist of all time & the 8th Greatest female solo artist of all time. Dion is also the best-selling Canadian artist of all time and the best-selling artist in the Nielsen SoundScan era in Canada.
Barbra Streisand's Greatest Hits Volume 2 is the second greatest hits album recorded by American vocalist Barbra Streisand. It was released on November 15, 1978 by Columbia Records. The album is a compilation consisting of ten commercially successful singles from the singer's releases in the 1970s, with a majority of them being cover songs. It also features a new version of "You Don't Bring Me Flowers", which was released as the collection's only single on October 7, 1978. Originating on Streisand's previous album, Songbird, the new rendition is a duet with Neil Diamond who had also recorded the song for his 1978 album of the same name. The idea for the duet originated from DJ Gary Guthrie who sold the idea to the record label for $5 million.
Regional Mexican Albums is a genre-specific record chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States. The chart was established in June 1985 and originally listed the top twenty-five best-selling albums of mariachi, tejano, norteño, and grupero, which are all sub genres of regional Mexican music. The genre is considered by musicologist as being "the biggest-selling Latin music genre in the United States", and represented the fastest ever growing Latin genre in the United States after tejano music entered the mainstream market during its 1990s golden age. Originally, Billboard based their methodology on sales surveys it sent out to record stores across the United States and by 1991 began monitoring point-of-sales compiled from Nielsen Soundscan. Musicologist and critics have since criticized the sales data compiled from Nielsen, finding that the company only provides sales from larger music chains than from small shops that specialized in Latin music—where the majority of Latin music sales are generated. The magazine decided to rank Latin music recordings in August 1970 under the title Hot Latin LPs, which only ranked the best-selling Latin albums in Los Angeles (Pop) and the East Coast (Salsa). Before the chart's inception, musicians' only chart success was the Texas Latin LPs section where regional Mexican music was more prominent. Beginning in November 1993, Billboard lowered the rankings from twenty-five to fifteen positions on its Latin genre-specific charts, while the Top Latin Albums expanded to fifty titles. From July 2001 until April 2005, the chart increased to twenty titles and then lowered back to fifteen titles. Since 2009, the Regional Mexican Albums chart list the top twenty best-selling albums determined by sales data compiled from Nielsen SoundScan.
The albums discography of American singer-songwriter Janet Jackson consists of ten studio albums, two compilation albums, and two remix albums. When she was sixteen, her father arranged a contract for her with A&M Records. Her debut album, Janet Jackson (1982), peaked at number 64 on the US Billboard 200 chart and sold 250,000 copies in the US. Her next album, Dream Street (1984), peaked at number 147 on the Billboard 200, a weaker effort than her previous album. Her third album, Control (1986), which became known as her breakthrough album, topped the Billboard 200 and sold over 10 million copies worldwide. Her fourth album, Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814 (1989), topped the Billboard 200 for four consecutive weeks and sold three million copies within the first four months of its release. The album went on to produce seven consecutive top 5 hits, four of them reaching the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 in three separate calendar years, A record yet to be broken. The album was certified 6× Platinum by RIAA, and sold over 12 million copies worldwide.
