These sales numbers are based on the platinum certifications awarded by the Record Industry Association of America. A platinum certification is given when a record sells a million copies, so the current certification is rounded down from the actual sales figures. These numbers only include sales in the United States, which is historically the largest market for music in the world. Also, please note that the RIAA counts sales of double CD sets as a sale of two CDs, so all double albums have inflated platinum certifications. To adjust for this, the sales of double albums have been halved for this list. So, for example, Pink Floyd's The Wall places at 43 instead of 4 on the list, and Outkast's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below is bumped off the list entirely.
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Check off all the albums that you think are good.
Michael Jackson - Thriller [29 million]
Eagles - Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) [29 million]
Led Zeppelin - IV [23 million]
AC/DC - Back in Black [22 million]
Shania Twain - Come On Over [20 million]
Fleetwood Mac - Rumours [19 million]
Guns N' Roses - Appetite for Destruction [18 million]
Boston - Boston [17 million]
The Bodyguard [17 million]
Garth Brooks - No Fences [17 million]
Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill [16 million]
Hootie and the Blowfish - Cracked Rear View [16 million]
Elton John - Greatest Hits [16 million]
Metallica - Metallica [16 million]
Eagles - Hotel California [16 million]
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon [15 million]
Santana - Supernatural [15 million]
Bruce Springsteen - Born in the U.S.A. [15 million]
Journey - Greatest Hits [15 million]
Saturday Night Fever [15 million]
Backstreet Boys - Backstreet Boys [14 million]
Garth Brooks - Ropin' the Wind [14 million]
Britney Spears - ...Baby One More Time [14 million]
Meat Loaf - Bat Out of Hell [14 million]
Simon & Garfunkel - Greatest Hits [14 million]
Pearl Jam - Ten [13 million]
Whitney Houston - Whitney Houston [13 million]
Steve Miller Band - Greatest Hits 1974-78 [13 million]
Backstreet Boys - Millennium [13 million]
Prince and The Revolution - Purple Rain [13 million]
Kenny G - Breathless [12 million]
Def Leppard - Hysteria [12 million]
Bon Jovi - Slippery When Wet [12 million]
Phil Collins - No Jacket Required [12 million]
Dixie Chicks - Wide Open Spaces [12 million]
Boyz II Men - II [12 million]
Led Zeppelin - II [12 million]
Shania Twain - The Woman In Me [12 million]
Matchbox 20 - Yourself or Someone Like You [12 million]
Jewel - Pieces of You [12 million]
The Beatles - Abbey Road [12 million]
Billy Joel - Greatest Hits: Vol. 1 & 2 [11.5 million]
Pink Floyd - The Wall [11.5 million]
Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy [11 million]
Shania Twain - Up! [11 million]
TLC - CrazySexyCool [11 million]
James Taylor - Greatest Hits [11 million]
NSYNC - No Strings Attached [11 million]
Dirty Dancing [11 million]
Titanic [11 million]
Celine Dion - Falling Into You [11 million]
Aerosmith - Greatest Hits [11 million]
Eagles - Greatest Hits Volume 2 [11 million]
The Beatles - 1 [11 million]
The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band [11 million]
Creed - Human Clay [11 million]
Kid Rock - Devil Without A Cause [11 million]
Garth Brooks - Double Live [10.5 million]
Carole King - Tapestry [10 million]
Patsy Cline - Greatest Hits [10 million]
Bob Marley and The Wailers - Legend [10 million]
Norah Jones - Come Away with Me [10 million]
Billy Joel - The Stranger [10 million]
Celine Dion - Let's Talk About Love [10 million]
Eric Clapton - Unplugged [10 million]
Green Day - Dookie [10 million]
MC Hammer - Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em [10 million]
Britney Spears - Oops!...I Did It Again [10 million]
Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP [10 million]
Led Zeppelin - I [10 million]
Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory [10 million]
The Doobie Brothers - Best of the Doobies [10 million]
Madonna - The Immaculate Collection [10 million]
Madonna - Like A Virgin [10 million]
The Lion King [10 million]
Def Leppard - Pyromania [10 million]
Dixie Chicks - Fly [10 million]
Eminem - The Eminem Show [10 million]
Van Halen - 1984 [10 million]
Garth Brooks - Garth Brooks [10 million]
Adele - 21 [10 million]
Usher - Confessions [10 million]
Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers - Greatest Hits [10 million]
Van Halen - Van Halen [10 million]
Garth Brooks - Sevens [10 million]
Garth Brooks - The Hits [10 million]
No Doubt - Tragic Kingdom [10 million]
Nirvana - Nevermind [10 million]
Lionel Richie - Can't Slow Down [10 million]
Elvis Presley - Elvis' Christmas Album [10 million]
ZZ Top - Eliminator [10 million]
George Michael - Faith [10 million]
Mariah Carey - Music Box [10 million]
Mariah Carey - Daydream [10 million]
NSYNC - NSYNC [10 million]
U2 - The Joshua Tree [10 million]
The Beatles - The Beatles [9.5 million]
Boyz II Men - Cooleyhighharmony [9 million]
Whitney Houston - Whitney [9 million]
