Top Selling Album of Every Year (1991-2018)

Today we are looking at the top selling albums of every year in the United States based on the Nielsen SoundScan era.
Nielsen tracked the top selling psychical & digital sales from 1991-2014. From 2015-present when Nielsen started tracking stream equivalent sales as well top compensate for the lack of traditional album purchases.

Bestselling Albums 1991-Present

Below is a list of all the albums have have sold more than 10 million in the U.S. according to SoundScan (and thus, the top selling albums since 1991).

Albums With 10 Million in U.S. Sales, 1991-Present*

Artist, Title (Year of Release), Sales to Date, Time to 10 Million

1. Metallica, Metallica (1991), 15.83 million, 337 weeks
2. Shania Twain, Come On Over (1997), 15.52 million, 96 weeks
3. Alanis Morissette, Jagged Little Pill (1995), 14.80 million, 66 weeks
4. Backstreet Boys, Millennium (1999), 12.20 million, 39 weeks
5. The Beatles, 1 (2000), 12.11 million, 227 weeks
6. Whitney Houston/Soundtrack, The Bodyguard (1992), 12.05 million, 72 weeks
7. Santana, Supernatural (1999), 11.73 million, 60 weeks
8. Creed, Human Clay (1999), 11.62 million, 93 weeks
9. Bob Marley & the Wailers, Legend (1984), 11.17 million**, 18 years
10. *NSYNC, No Strings Attached (2000), 11.13 million, 43 weeks
11. Norah Jones, Come Away With Me (2002), 10.88 million, 259 weeks
12. Celine Dion, Falling Into You (1996), 10.80 million, 160 weeks
13. Eminem, The Marshall Mathers LP (2000), 10.65 million, 343 weeks
14. Britney Spears, . . . Baby One More Time (1999), 10.57 million, 106 weeks
15. Hootie & the Blowfish, Cracked Rear View (1994), 10.28 million, 442 weeks
16. Soundtrack, Titanic (1997), 10.17 million, 263 weeks
17. Backstreet Boys, Backstreet Boys (1997), 10.13 million, 226 weeks
18. Eminem, The Eminem Show (2002), 10.12 million, 489 weeks
19. Usher, Confessions (2004), 10.04 million, 433 weeks
20. Linkin Park, Hybrid Theory (2000), 10.03 million, 617 weeks
21. Adele, 21 (2011), 10.02 million, 92 weeks

Source: Billboard.com

Billboard Top 20 Albums of 2012

The 20 Albums for 2012

(December 1st 2011-December 1st 2012)

20 - Some Nights - .fun
19 - My Kinda Party - Jason Aldean
18 - Whitney : The Greatest Hits - Whitney Houston
17 - Mylo Xyloto - Coldplay
16 - 19 - Adele
15 - Here and Now - Nickelback
14 - Blown Away - Carrie Underwood
13 - Under The Mistletoe - Justin Bieber
12 - Own The Night - Lady Antebellum
11 - Believe - Justin Bieber
10 - El Camino - The Black Keys
9  -  Tuskegee - Lionel Richie
8  -  Talk That Talk - Rihanna
7  -  Babel - Mumford and Sons
6  -  Tailgates and Tanlines - Luke Bryan
5  -  Up All Night - One Direction
4  -  Red - Taylor Swift
3  -  Take Care - Drake
2  -  Christmas - Michael Buble
1  -  21 - Adele
(the first album in the 20 years of soundscan sales tracking that the same album was #1 for 2 consecutive years.  The first time this has happened in back to back years since 1983-84 when Thriller was the biggest album for both of those years.)

Top Selling Country Songs of the Digital Era

Billboard Magazine and Soundscan's 10 biggest selling country songs of the Digital Era

10 - Teardrops On My Guitar - Taylor Swift
(2.7 million)


9  -  Life is a Highway - Rascal Flatts
(2.8 million)


8  -  Our Song - Taylor Swift
(2.9 million)


7  -  Dirt Road Anthem - Jason Aldean
(3.1 million)



6  -  Chicken Fried - Zac Brown Band
(3.3 million)



5  -  Before He Cheats - Carrie Underwood
(3.5 million)


4  -  You Belong To Me - Taylor Swift
(4 million)


3  -  If I Die Young - The Band Perry
(4.2 million)


2  -  Love Story - Taylor Swift
(5.3 million)


1  -  Need You Now - Lady Antebellum
(5.8 million)