Top 100 Best Selling Music Artists of All Time

[Boomb]

Wait a minute....*tries to think of a good Rod Stewart song*.........*crickets*

^This.

My father called me a couple of days ago and asked me if I would go with him to a Rod Stewart concert in a couple of weeks (apparently after this tour he'll stop performing live). I was like, thank you, but no thank you...I never got the appeal of this guy.

 

[Takes_Two_To_Tango]

It hurts my heart to see Rod Stewart at 17.

I don't think that guy's ever had a good song. That Maggie May song is his biggest hit and it's garbage.

Wait a minute....*tries to think of a good Rod Stewart song*.........*crickets*

 

[Trabaho]

Just some observations looking over the list.

• Surprised Usher is so low on the list considering he's been relevant for about 25 or so years now.
• Happy to see Sade on the list in the top 100. Her music still holds up today.
• Shakira being in the top 100 is terrible. I've listened to like 2 of her albums and they were terrible.
• Britney Spears in the top 50....I get it but no. Personally never understood what people liked about her music.
• Stevie Wonder at #42 is way too low.
• Don't really understand the love for Aerosmith. Not a bad band by any means but just not my thing.
• Whitney Houston is way too low for what I consider to be the best major industry artist to ever sing.
• Shame Oasis did not crack the top 100. Their first 2 albums are really good along with The Masterplan album.

As a kid I was a big Britney fan. It's not for grown folks. This song stood the test of time and is still great music



My favorites on the list are Linkin Park and Usher. Still a big fan of Hybrid Theory, Meteora, 8701 & Confessions.

Or what's logical what's practical what the hell who cares



Americans : That's toxic. That's toxic. That's toxic.

 

[Trabaho]

Best black musician

 

[Trabaho]

Though this is the best song of em all lol

 

[nicapica]

Good to see Pink Floyd ahead of Sinatra.

Didn’t see The Scorpions, however.

lol scorpions were huge in Nicaragua in the 80s lol my uncles still smoke weed to their music

 

[Cielo_]

Just some observations looking over the list.

• Surprised Usher is so low on the list considering he's been relevant for about 25 or so years now.
• Happy to see Sade on the list in the top 100. Her music still holds up today.
• Shakira being in the top 100 is terrible. I've listened to like 2 of her albums and they were terrible.
• Britney Spears in the top 50....I get it but no. Personally never understood what people liked about her music.
• Stevie Wonder at #42 is way too low.
• Don't really understand the love for Aerosmith. Not a bad band by any means but just not my thing.
• Whitney Houston is way too low for what I consider to be the best major industry artist to ever sing.
• Shame Oasis did not crack the top 100. Their first 2 albums are really good along with The Masterplan album.

I was just on a random party boat in the Philippines with people from multiple different countries.

When Shakira came on it popped off so I think you may need to revisit your observations.

 

[mozfonky]

Top 8 being all white is a bit of a shock

always are, that's just the way it is.

If they used just the metric of a best selling album, Michael would be at the top for sure. I think they don't count greatest hits packages in those stats so the Eagles wouldn't take that one.

Can't take lists too seriously either way. Whether subjective or quantitative, it'll only be slanted towards whatever the author(s) want to highlight.

 

[mozfonky]

It hurts my heart to see Rod Stewart at 17.

I don't think that guy's ever had a good song. That Maggie May song is his biggest hit and it's garbage.

I like several of his tunes a lot, Downtown Train (by Tom Waits), Rhythm Of My Heart, Forever Young are all songs that can really make my day.

 

[mozfonky]

Pretty much what you would expect. Sinatra is a shock but it's cool seeing him make the list. I wouldn't expect Eminem over Elton John but his download numbers are massive. Interesting perspective.

Sinatra is on there? That's odd for an artist of his era, not saying he doesn't deserve it. We forget it today but the beatles, in their time, didn't sell that many albums upon release. They did turn the business into a more album oriented one and that might have been the start of what ended up being some of the huge artists who came after. Before that, albums were often just vehicles with a good song and lots of filler.

 

[mozfonky]

Elvis was definitely not white.

I've been claiming him as Indian for years but my friends tease me. The rumor has been out there since he started that he was black and passing for white. some just claim he's "redbone" which is a melange of white.black and Indian, I could believe it. I wish one of his descendants would do a DNA test.

 

[mozfonky]

Obviously festivals can do bigger numbers. That's completely irrelevant. You're trying to compare apples with oranges. Focus on what's being said.

Again, Madonna at 65 set the record for a stand-alone free concert. If your argument is "well other people could do big numbers" then that argument falls on its face because no one has.

ok, but what is she really great at? If it's just sales, and not anything else but sales I can agree but I never understood the fuss. She can't sing, can't dance, can't write a song on her own, can't play an instrument. She sold TnA very well.

It bothers me because her sound man (scottie baldwin) claimed that Prince wasn't amongst the top five artists he worked with and he named Stevie, gaga and madonna as better, I could see Stevie in anyone ones leage, gaga? Madonna? I was pissed that the interviewer didn't press him on that bullshit, exactly what did he mean?

 

[Cherry Brigand]

It hurts my heart to see Rod Stewart at 17.

I don't think that guy's ever had a good song. That Maggie May song is his biggest hit and it's garbage.

This is just crazy talk.

 

[Darkavius]

I was just on a random party boat in the Philippines with people from multiple different countries.

When Shakira came on it popped off so I think you may need to revisit your observations.

I stand by my statement. They probably played one of her 3 songs: "Hips Don't Lie", "Whenever, Wherever" or "La Tortura". That doesn't make her albums good. Janet Jackson and TLC, for example, has a much better music catalog than Shakira, they were famous worldwide and they have them below Shakira. To each their own I guess.

My favorites on the list are Linkin Park and Usher. Still a big fan of Hybrid Theory, Meteora, 8701 & Confessions.

Not a fan of Usher but that's just because I am not a fan of 90's R&B as whole. That being said, Linkin Park were on a tear throughout the 2000's.

When looking at the list though the one person who got so high off of one album was Alanis Morisseette. She got to #114 off of "Jagged Little Pill" basically. Don't get me wrong that is a fantastic album and still holds up today.

 

[mozfonky]

This is just crazy talk.

it is, he was widely considered a talent for his era who threw it away for the sex drugs and rock and roll, but even in the seventies, the hot legs and do you think i'm whatever were big hits. I tend to really like his 80's stuff and for my idol Terence Trent D'arby to be a huge fan tells me everything about his abilities.

 

[mozfonky]

As a kid I was a big Britney fan. It's not for grown folks. This song stood the test of time and is still great music



My favorites on the list are Linkin Park and Usher. Still a big fan of Hybrid Theory, Meteora, 8701 & Confessions.

Or what's logical what's practical what the hell who cares



Americans : That's toxic. That's toxic. That's toxic.

Sad to see what happened to her, very sad.

 

[Fedorgasm]

Thank you for providing proof of my argument

 

[mozfonky]

I stand by my statement. They probably played one of her 3 songs: "Hips Don't Lie", "Whenever, Wherever" or "La Tortura". That doesn't make her albums good. Janet Jackson and TLC, for example, has a much better music catalog than Shakira, they were famous worldwide and they have them below Shakira. To each their own I guess.

Not a big shakira fan at all but she has awesome charisma and stage presence, her abilities as a performer, with and without the sex appeal is entrancing. As far as her songs, I only know the whenever Wherever which is a great tune. I've seen clips of her performing dance and playing her instrument, those things are a plus in my mind. Her being any sort of consistently great album artist, you're probably right, I never listened to her full albums.

Janet Jackson, who can't really do anything but dance at least had the great fortune or running into two very hungry and eager to prove themselves producers. Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis were fired by Prince and took all his secret ingredients away to have a much bigger hit list than their mentor, a lot of it because of Janet.

 

[mozfonky]

Thank you for providing proof of my argument

ahhh, some people say the beatles were overrated too. You cannot please everyone. Elvis could barely play guitar and never wrote a song, anyone can say someone is overrated or no good and find a reason.

 

[Fedorgasm]

ahhh, some people say the beatles were overrated too. You cannot please everyone. Elvis could barely play guitar and never wrote a song, anyone can say someone is overrated or no good and find a reason.

Maybe we should do a poll about "who should be ranked lower on this list?" I bet rod Stewart would win