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


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 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 rather than actual total sales.

Synopsis

'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, American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, British singer/songwriter Adele, and Canadian artist Drake 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. 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 1962-1963, and the album 21 by Adele between 2011-2012. That album, along with her follow-up 25 which was the best selling album of 2015, made Adele the only artist to have the top-selling album of at least three separate years. However, Their Greatest Hits by American rock group Eagles currently holds the title of the U.S.'s biggest-selling album, with a 38× Platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America.

1950s

YearArtistNationalityAlbumRef.
1956United States
1957–
1958–
1959United States

1960s

YearPerforming artistNationalityAlbumRef.
1960–
1961–
1962–
1963–
1964–
1965–
1966United States
1967United States
1968United States
1969United States

1970s

YearPerforming artistNationalityAlbumRef.
1970United States
1971–
1972Canada
1973United States
1974United Kingdom
1975United Kingdom
1976UK/USA
1977UK/USA
1978–
1979United States

1980s

YearPerforming artistNationalityAlbumRef.
1980United Kingdom
1981United States
1982United Kingdom
1983United States
1984United States
1985United States
1986United States
1987United States
1988United Kingdom
1989United States

1990s

YearPerforming artistNationalityAlbumSalesRef.
1990United States
1991United States
1992United States4,700,000
1993Whitney Houston/soundtrack–5,460,000
1994Elton John/soundtrack–4,904,000
1995United States7,020,000
1996Canada7,380,000
1997United Kingdom5,302,000
1998–9,338,000
1999United States11,446,000

2000s

YearPerforming artistNationalityAlbumSalesRef.
2000United States9,936,000
2001United States4,813,000
2002United States7,608,000
2003United States6,536,000
2004United States7,979,000
2005United States4,968,606
2006–3,719,000
2007United States3,699,000
2008United States2,880,000
2009United States3,217,000

2010s

YearPerforming artistNationalityAlbumSalesRef.
2010United States3,415,000
2011United Kingdom5,824,000
2012United Kingdom4,410,000
2013United States2,430,000
2014United States3,661,000
2015United Kingdom8,008,000
2016Canada4,140,000
2017United Kingdom2,764,000
2018Canada3,905,000
2019Post Malone United StatesHollywood's Bleeding3,001,000