List of best-selling albums by year in the United States

A photo of a bald smiling Jamaican man. He is in his 80s and wearing a dark grey suit over a black collared shirt.
Harry Belafonte's Calypso was labeled the US's top-selling record of 1956.

This is a list of the best-selling albums by year in the United States. Billboard magazine began publishing year-end lists for album sales in 1956. 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 1991 onwards, the Billboard year-end and weekly charts were calculated by Nielsen SoundScan. Note that this slightly differs from the Billboard year-end album number one chart, which is a measure of chart performance over the twelve months from December to November (cutoff determined by Billboard´s publication schedule) rather than actual total sales per calendar year.

Synopsis

Harry Belafonte's 1956 record entitled Calypso was the first product to be recognized as a top-selling album for a year once Billboard magazine started tracking sales figures. Adele's 2011 record 21 currently holds the title for the US's top-selling digital album. American Pop/R&B singer-songwriter Mariah Carey, singer Whitney Houston, British glam rock performer Elton John, rapper Eminem, Taylor Swift, and British singer/songwriter Adele each have had two of their albums be top sellers in two separate years in the US. Pop singer Michael Jackson's 1982 Thriller became the best-selling record in the country for two consecutive years in the 1980s (and later became the best-selling album of all time). Other albums to achieve the same accomplishment included the My Fair Lady Original Cast Recording from the hit 1956 Broadway production between 1957–1958, the original soundtrack of West Side Story between 1962-1963, and the album 21 by Adele between 2011-2012. That album, along with her follow-up 25, makes Adele the only artist to have the top-selling album on three different years.

1950s

Cast recording of the musical My Fair Lady is a two-year bestseller
Year[I] Artist(s) Nationality Album Ref.
1956 Harry Belafonte United States Calypso [1]
1957 Original Broadway Cast – My Fair Lady [2]
1958 Original Broadway Cast – My Fair Lady [3]
1959 Henry Mancini United States Music from Peter Gunn [4]

1960s

West Side Story's soundtrack became the best-seller for 2 years.
Year[I] Performing artist(s) Nationality Album Ref.
1960 Original Broadway Cast – The Sound of Music [5]
1961 Original Broadway Cast – Camelot [6]
1962 Soundtrack – West Side Story [7]
1963 Soundtrack – West Side Story [8]
1964 Original Broadway Cast – Hello, Dolly! [9]
1965 Soundtrack – Mary Poppins [10]
1966 Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass United States Whipped Cream & Other Delights [11]
1967 The Monkees United States More of The Monkees [12]
1968 The Jimi Hendrix Experience United States Are You Experienced? [13]
1969 Iron Butterfly United States In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida [14]

1970s

A Caucasian man with light brown hair. He is wearing black framed glasses with orange lenses and a black suit over a white shirt. Behind him is a whit wall with a blue square.
Two of Elton John's albums each became the best-selling record in the 1970s.
Year[I] Performing artist(s) Nationality Album Ref.
1970 Simon and Garfunkel United States Bridge over Troubled Water [15]
1971 Various Artists – Jesus Christ Superstar [16]
1972 Neil Young Canada Harvest [17]
1973 War United States The World Is a Ghetto [18]
1974 Elton John United Kingdom Goodbye Yellow Brick Road [19]
1975 Elton John United Kingdom Elton John's Greatest Hits [20]
1976 Peter Frampton UK/USA Frampton Comes Alive [21]
1977 Fleetwood Mac UK/USA Rumours [22]
1978 Bee Gees/soundtrack – Saturday Night Fever [23]
1979 Billy Joel United States 52nd Street [24]

1980s

A mid-twenties African American man wearing a sequined military jacket and dark sunglasses. He is walking while waving his right hand, which is adorned with a white glove. His left hand is bare.
Michael Jackson's Thriller was the best-selling album for two years in a row.
Year[I] Performing artist(s) Nationality Album Ref.
1980 Pink Floyd United Kingdom The Wall [25]
1981 REO Speedwagon United States Hi Infidelity [26]
1982 Asia United Kingdom Asia [27]
1983 Michael Jackson United States Thriller [28]
1984 Michael Jackson United States Thriller [29]
1985 Bruce Springsteen United States Born in the U.S.A. [30]
1986 Whitney Houston United States Whitney Houston [31]
1987 Bon Jovi United States Slippery When Wet [32]
1988 George Michael United Kingdom Faith [33]
1989 Bobby Brown United States Don't Be Cruel [34]

1990s

Four Caucasian women stand next to each other on a floor with a reflective surface. Behind them is a black background.
British pop girl group Spice Girls had the best-selling album of 1997.
Year[I] Performing artist(s) Nationality Album Sales Ref.
1990 Janet Jackson United States Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814 [35]
1991 Mariah Carey United States Mariah Carey [36]
1992 Billy Ray Cyrus United States Some Gave All 4,832,000 [37]
1993 Whitney Houston/soundtrack – The Bodyguard 5,460,000 [38]
1994 Elton John/soundtrack – The Lion King 4,934,000 [39]
1995 Hootie and the Blowfish United States Cracked Rear View 7,020,000 [40]
1996 Alanis Morissette Canada Jagged Little Pill 7,380,000 [41]
1997 Spice Girls United Kingdom Spice 5,302,000 [42]
1998 James Horner/ soundtrack – Titanic 9,338,000 [41]
1999 Backstreet Boys United States Millennium 9,446,000 [41]

2000s

Linkin Park's Hybrid Theory album was the best seller in 2001
Year[I] Performing artist(s) Nationality Album Sales Ref.
2000 NSYNC United States No Strings Attached 9,936,000 [41]
2001 Linkin Park United States Hybrid Theory 4,813,000 [41]
2002 Eminem United States The Eminem Show 7,608,000 [43]
2003 50 Cent United States Get Rich or Die Tryin' 6,536,000 [44]
2004 Usher United States Confessions 7,979,000 [45]
2005 Mariah Carey United States The Emancipation of Mimi 4,969,000 [39]
2006 Soundtrack – High School Musical 3,719,000 [46]
2007 Josh Groban United States Noël 3,699,000 [47]
2008 L'il Wayne United States Tha Carter III 2,880,000 [48]
2009 Taylor Swift United States Fearless 3,217,000 [49]

2010s

Eminem's The Eminem Show album was the best seller in 2002 while his album Recovery was the best seller in 2010
Adele's 21 album was the best seller in 2011 and 2012 while her third studio album 25 was the best seller in 2015
Year[I] Performing artist(s) Nationality Album Sales Ref.
2010 Eminem United States Recovery 3,415,000 [50]
2011 Adele United Kingdom 21 5,824,000 [51]
2012 Adele United Kingdom 21 4,410,000 [52]
2013 Justin Timberlake United States The 20/20 Experience 2,430,000 [53]
2014 Taylor Swift United States 1989 3,661,000 [54]
2015 Adele United Kingdom 25 7,441,000 [55]

Notes

^[I] Each year is linked to the article about music that year.

See also

References

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  2. ↑ "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.
  3. ↑ "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.
  4. ↑ "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.
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  8. ↑ "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.
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  37. ↑ Grein, Paul (December 31, 2007). "Week Of Dec. 31, 2007: Blige Takes The Week (Groban Wins The Year)". Yahoo!. Yahoo! Inc. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
  38. ↑ "High School Rules '06 Album Sales". E! Online. NBCUniversal.
  39. 1 2 Grein, Paul (December 5, 2007). "Week Of Dec. 3, 2007: Will Josh Groban's Noel Be SoundScan's #1 Album of 2007? Is Santa Jolly?". Yahoo!. Yahoo! Inc. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
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  41. 1 2 3 4 5 Basham, David (January 2, 2002). "Got Charts? Linkin Park, Shaggy, 'NSYNC Are 2001's Top-Sellers". MTV. Viacom. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
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  43. ↑ D'Angelo, Joe (January 3, 2003). "Eminem Sold Most Albums, Nickelback Ruled Radio In '02". MTV. Viacom. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
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  45. ↑ "More music purchases in 2004: Nielsen SoundScan". CBC News. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. January 6, 2005.
  46. ↑ Metrics 2.0 (2007-01-04). "Metrics 2.0: Music 2006 - Digital Track Sales Rose 65%; Album Sales Fell 4.9%: Nielsen SoundScan". Metrics2.com. Retrieved 2013-11-09.
  47. ↑ "2007 U.S. Music Purchases Exceed 1.4 Billion". Reuters. Thomson Reuters. January 3, 2008. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
  48. ↑ "2008 U.S. Music Purchases Exceed 1.5 Billion; Growth in Overall Music Purchases Exceeds 10%". Business Wire. 2008-12-31. Retrieved 2013-11-09.
  49. ↑ 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.
  50. ↑ "The Nielsen Company & Billboard's 2010 Music Industry Report". Business Wire. Berkshire Hathaway. January 7, 2011. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
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  52. ↑ "Adele's '21' 2012's Best Selling Album; Gotye Has Top Song". January 3, 2013. Retrieved January 3, 2013.
  53. ↑ "Justin Timberlake's '20/20' 2013's Best Selling Album, 'Blurred Lines' Top Song". Billboard. Retrieved 2014-02-04.
  54. ↑ "Taylor Swift's '1989' Beats 'Frozen' As Top Selling Album of 2014". Billboard. Retrieved 2014-12-31.
  55. ↑ 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.

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