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 eight 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), 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, Adele's 21 between 2011 and 2012, and Adele's "25" between 2015 and 2016. The Spice Girls are the only female group to appear on the list. Their debut album "Spice" was the best-selling album of 1997.
Year [I] | Artist(s) | Nationality | Album | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
1951 | Yma Sumac | Peru | Voice of the Xtabay | [3] |
1956 | Harry Belafonte | United States | Calypso | [4] |
1957 | Original Broadway Cast | My Fair Lady | [5] | |
1958 | [6] | |||
1959 | Henry Mancini | Music from Peter Gunn | [7] |
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 | More of The Monkees | [15] | |
1968 | The Jimi Hendrix Experience | Are You Experienced? | [16] | |
1969 | Iron Butterfly | In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida | [17] |
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 | Rumours | [25] | |
1978 | Soundtrack / Bee Gees | – | Saturday Night Fever | [26] |
1979 | Billy Joel | United States | 52nd Street | [27] |
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 | Born in the U.S.A. | [33] | |
1986 | Whitney Houston | Whitney Houston | [34] | |
1987 | Bon Jovi | Slippery When Wet | [35] | |
1988 | George Michael | United Kingdom | Faith | [36] |
1989 | Bobby Brown | United States | Don't Be Cruel | [37] |
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 | Ropin' the Wind [note 2] | 4,000,000 | [39] | |
Mariah Carey | Mariah Carey [note 3] | 3,380,000 | [40] | ||
1992 | Billy Ray Cyrus | 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] |
Year [I] | Performing artist(s) | Nationality | Album | Sales | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2000 | NSYNC | United States | No Strings Attached | 9,936,000 | [46] |
2001 | Linkin Park | Hybrid Theory | 4,813,000 | [46] | |
2002 | Eminem | The Eminem Show | 7,608,000 | [49] | |
2003 | 50 Cent | Get Rich or Die Tryin' | 6,536,000 | [50] | |
2004 | Usher | Confessions | 7,979,000 | [51] | |
2005 | Mariah Carey | 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 | Tha Carter III | 2,874,000 | [55] | |
2009 | Taylor Swift | Fearless | 3,217,000 | [56] |
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 | 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] |
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 |
^[I] Each year is linked to the article about music that year.
Number Ones is a greatest hits album by American singer Michael Jackson. It was released on November 18, 2003, by Epic Records. Number Ones was Jackson's first standalone compilation album with Epic Records, after the release of the first disc of HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I in 1995. The album included Jackson's singles that reportedly reached number 1 in charts around the world, hence the album's name. Number Ones also features the last original single released during Jackson's lifetime, "One More Chance", released four days after the release of the album.
Greatest Hits is a posthumous double-disc greatest hits album by American rapper 2Pac, released by Amaru Entertainment, Death Row Records, Interscope Records, and Jive Records on November 24, 1998.
The Billboard 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by Billboard magazine to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists. Sometimes, a recording act is remembered for its "number ones" that outperformed all other albums during at least one week. The chart grew from a weekly top 10 list in 1956 to become a top 200 list in May 1967, acquiring its existing name in March 1992. Its previous names include the Billboard Top LPs (1961–1972), Billboard Top LPs & Tape (1972–1984), Billboard Top 200 Albums (1984–1985), Billboard Top Pop Albums (1985–1991), and Billboard 200 Top Albums (1991–1992).
Closer is the second studio album by vocalist Josh Groban, released in November 2003. Much like his first studio album, half of this album's songs are sung in English, with the remainder sung in various other languages. Closer was the top selling classical album of the 2000s in the US, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
American rapper Eminem has released 12 studio albums, two compilation albums, and one extended play. 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 Recording Industry Association of America, Eminem has sold 228.5 million certified albums and singles in the United States. In his home country, he has earned 50 platinum albums and 11 number one albums.[A]
Wintersong is the sixth album and first Christmas album by Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan, released in October 2006. It was produced by longtime collaborator Pierre Marchand and includes contributions from Jim Creeggan of Barenaked Ladies. The album also includes a collaboration with Jazz musician Diana Krall. In 2007, the album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. In 2015, all songs from Wintersong plus five more tracks were released as The Classic Christmas Album.
Canadian singer Celine Dion has released 27 studio albums, seven live albums, 20 compilation albums, and 25 box sets. Referred to as the "Queen of Power Ballads", Dion is the best-selling Canadian artist of all time and the best-selling artist in the Nielsen SoundScan era in Canada. Dion is also the second best-selling female artist in the United States since Nielsen began tracking sales in 1991 with over 53.2 million albums sold in the country. Guinness World Records recognises her as the Top Selling Album Act in Europe with 33 million certified album sales since 1996. In 2003, Dion was honored by International Federation of the Phonographic Industry for selling 50 million albums in Europe. Billboard placed her second among the best-selling female album artist of the 2000s Decade in the United States with 17.3 million albums sold via Soundscan. According to Billboard, Dion is the sixth Greatest Billboard 200 female solo artist of all time, as well as the eighth Greatest female solo artist of all time in Billboard's chart history.
Noël is a Christmas album and the fourth studio album by Josh Groban that was released on October 9, 2007. In the United States, the album is available as a single CD release in most retail stores. However, Target stores released a limited edition version of the album with a bonus DVD that features a "making of" documentary entitled The Making of Noël.
The soundtrack of the film The Sound of Music, music and lyrics by Rodgers and Hammerstein, was released in 1965 by RCA Victor and is one of the most successful soundtrack albums in history, having sold more than 20 million copies worldwide. The soundtrack has been issued in German, Italian, Spanish and French.
Christmas is the seventh studio album and first Christmas album released by Canadian singer Michael Bublé. The album was released on October 21, 2011, in Ireland, on October 24, 2011, in the United Kingdom, and on October 25, 2011, in the United States. On the week ending December 10, 2011, Christmas rose to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album sales chart, becoming Bublé's third chart-topper following 2007's Call Me Irresponsible and 2009's Crazy Love, and spent five weeks at No. 1.
Merry Christmas, Baby, is the first Christmas album by Rod Stewart and his 27th studio album overall, released on 30 October 2012. The album has proved to be a top 10 success in many countries including the UK, US, Canada and Australia. It was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America in November 2012 with over 1,000,000 copies sold in the US.
Crash My Party is the fourth studio album by American country music artist Luke Bryan. It was released on August 13, 2013 by Capitol Records Nashville. Its first single, the title track, reached number one on the Billboard Country Airplay chart. The album was produced by Jeff Stevens. A deluxe edition with four bonus tracks is available digitally or by exclusive Target and Walmart CDs.
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.