List of best-selling singles in the United States

This is a list of best selling singles in the United States that have been certified by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). All of these singles have shipped over three million copies, meaning they were certified Multi-Platinum. ("White Christmas" is an Irving Berlin song reminiscing about an old-fashioned Christmas setting. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the version sung by Bing Crosby is the best-selling single of all time, with estimated sales in excess of 50 million copies worldwide.)

What makes a single?

In music, a single is a song considered commercially viable enough by the artist and record company to be released separately from an album, usually featured on an album as well. For more information, see single.

Notes about RIAA certification

• The RIAA certifies a record only if that record company pays for its official certification; some companies do not consider this an important distinction and will not request certifications unless pressed by its active, still saleable artists. A full and complete list of RIAA-certified recordings would be a very incomplete list of popular American music.

• The RIAA only certifies a particular recording of a song. For example, sales of Elton John's original "Candle in the Wind" single are not counted towards the 1997 version's official total.

• Retroactive RIAA certification only goes back to 1958; thus, a record like Bing Crosby's "White Christmas", released in 1942 and reported in 1963 as having sold 30 million copies, and currently listed by the Guinness Book of World Records at 50 million sales, would not be eligible. Bill Haley and His Comets' "Rock Around the Clock" is assumed to have sold more than 25 million copies since 1955. According to Billboard magazine's statistician Joel Whitburn, other pre-1958 singles that would be affected by this cutoff point include Gene Autry's "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (8 million sales reported); Crosby's "Silent Night" (7 million); Vernon Dalhart's "The Prisoner's Song" (7 million); the Mills Brothers' "Paper Doll" (6 million); Patti Page's "The Tennessee Waltz" (6 million); Gene Austin's "My Blue Heaven" (5 million); and Ben Selvin's "Dardanella" (5 million); and another 21 single releases in the 2-3 million range. (That is, assuming their respective record companies would elect to bear the optional expense of an official RIAA certification. It is unlikely, for example, that Sony BMG Music Entertainment, which absorbed RCA Records, which in turn had long ago purchased the Victor Talking Machine Company, now sees any particular advantage in precisely determining the sales for Selvin's 1920 smash hit on Victor Records.) The first officially RIAA-certified million-selling single was Perry Como's "Catch a Falling Star", in March 1958.

• Prior to 1989, singles were awarded with a Gold certification for sales of 1,000,000 units and a Platinum certification for sales of 2,000,000 units. For certification dates after January 1, 1989, a Gold award represents sales of 500,000 units and a Platinum award represents sales of 1,000,000 units.

Records

British singer Elton John's Candle In The Wind is the best selling song of all time in the United States.

In alphabetical order within sections.

Over 11 million copies

• "Candle in the Wind 1997"/"Something About the Way You Look Tonight", Elton John

Over 8 million copies

• "We Are the World", USA for Africa

Over 6 million copies

• "I Gotta Feeling", The Black Eyed Peas
• "I'm Yours", Jason Mraz
• "Poker Face", Lady Gaga
• "Just Dance", Lady Gaga
• "Low", Flo Rida featuring T-Pain
• "Rolling in the Deep", Adele

Over 5 million copies

Katy Perry is the first singer in history to have four songs that sold 5 million copies

• "Bad Romance", Lady Gaga
• "Boom Boom Pow", The Black Eyed Peas
• "California Gurls", Katy Perry featuring Snoop Dogg
• "Dynamite", Taio Cruz
• "E.T.", Katy Perry featuring Kanye West
• "Hot n Cold", Katy Perry
• "Fuck You", Cee Lo Green
• "Firework", Katy Perry
• "Hey Soul Sister", Train
• "Just the Way You Are", Bruno Mars
• "Lollipop", Lil Wayne featuring Static Major
• "Love Story", Taylor Swift
• "Need You Now", Lady Antebellum
• "Love the Way You Lie", Eminem feat. Rihanna
• "Party Rock Anthem", LMFAO feat. Lauren Bennett and GoonRock
• "Right Round", Flo Rida feat. Kesha

Over 4 million copies

The Black Eyed Peas' I Gotta Feeling is the best-selling song in digital history

Miley Cyrus is the youngest artist to have a single that sold more than four million downloads

Taylor Swift's Love Story is the best-selling country crossover song in digital history

• "Down", Jay Sean featuring Lil Wayne
• "Fireflies", Owl City
• "Gives You Hell", The All-American Rejects
• "Grenade", Bruno Mars
• "Hey Jude", The Beatles
• "Hound Dog"/"Don't Be Cruel", Elvis Presley
• "I Kissed a Girl", Katy Perry
• "I Will Always Love You", Whitney Houston
• "Let It Rock", Kevin Rudolf featuring Lil Wayne
• "Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix)", Los Del Rio
• "Party in the U.S.A.", Miley Cyrus
• "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", Beyoncé
• "Someone Like You", Adele
• "Teenage Dream", Katy Perry
• "Whoomp! (There It Is)", Tag Team
• "You Belong with Me", Taylor Swift

Best-selling single by year

Here's a year-by-year look at the #1 best-selling songs of each of the past 20 years. From 1992 through 2004, the numbers are for physical singles. From 2005 on, they are for digital songs.

• 1992: "I Will Always Love You", Whitney Houston - 3,086,000
• 1993: "Whoomp! (There It Is)", Tag Team - 2,754,000
• 1994: "I'll Make Love To You", Boyz II Men - 1,627,000
• 1995: "Gangsta's Paradise", Coolio featuring L.V. - 2,534,000
• 1996: "Macarena (bayside boys mix)", Los Del Rio - 3,747,000
• 1997: "Candle In The Wind 1997", Elton John - 8,111,000
• 1998: "The Boy Is Mine", Brandy & Monica - 2,591,000
• 1999: "Believe", Cher - 1,707,000
• 2000: "Maria, Maria", Santana featuring The Product G&B - 1,337,000
• 2001: "Loverboy", Mariah Carey - 571,000
• 2002: "A Moment Like This", Kelly Clarkson - 600,000
• 2003: "This Is The Night", Clay Aiken - 948,000
• 2004: "I Believe", Fantasia - 401,000
• 2005: "Beverly Hills", Weezer - 962,000
• 2006: "Bad Day", Daniel Powter - 1,936,000
• 2007: "Crank That (Soulja Boy)", Soulja Boy Tell'em - 2,714,000
• 2008: "Bleeding Love", Leona Lewis - 3,420,000
• 2009: "Boom Boom Pow", The Black Eyed Peas - 4,762,000
• 2010: "California Gurls", Katy Perry featuring Snoop Dogg - 4,398,000
• 2011: "Rolling in the Deep", Adele - 5,813,000

Achievements

• Rihanna was named the Hot Digital Songs Artist of the 2000s decade
• Lady Gaga is the only artist to top the 6 million mark with her first two singles - Just Dance and Poker Face.
• Katy Perry is the only artist to top the 5 million mark with four songs - Hot N Cold, California Gurls, Firework, E.T., which is more than any other artist in digital history.
• Katy Perry and Lady Gaga are the only two artists to have three songs pass 5 million copies.
• Katy Perry with all the singles Teenage Dream sold more than 28 million digital copies.
• Rihanna has seven songs top the 3 million marks, which is more than any other artist.
• Rihanna, Ke$ha, and will.i.am have each had three 3-million-sellers. (will.i.am's total includes two Black Eyed Peas hits and his featured role on Usher's "OMG.")
• Adele's song Rolling in the Deep became the first song to sell 5 million downloads in a single calender year.

See also

• RIAA certification
• List of best-selling singles worldwide
• Lists of best-selling albums

External links

• RIAA website
• Billboard Magazine - a magazine that publishes weekly music rankings