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List of best-selling albums of the 21st century

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Adele's 21 is the best selling album of the 21st century to date, with sales of over 31 million copies worldwide. Her third album 25 is also on the list with sales of over 23 million copies.

This is a list of the best-selling albums of the 21st century to date based on IFPI certification and Nielsen SoundScan sales tracking. The criteria are that the album must have been published (including self-publishing by the artist), and the album must have shipped at least 10 million units starting from January 1, 2001. Units sold include physical copies and digital downloads.

From 2022, IFPI reported three formats of sales chart, newly created Global vinyl album chart, combination of physical copies and digital downloads as Global album sales chart and Global all format chart for totaling of all sales.[1]

Legend

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Colors
Studio albums
Greatest hits and compilations
Soundtracks

30 million copies or more

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Release
year 		Album Artist/s Nationality Worldwide sales
(in millions) 		Ref(s)
2011 21 Adele United Kingdom 31.0 [2]

20–29 million copies

[edit]
Release
year 		Album Artist/s Nationality Worldwide sales
(in millions) 		Ref(s)
2002 The Eminem Show Eminem United States 27.0 [3]
2002 Come Away with Me Norah Jones United States 27.0 [4]
2015 25 Adele United Kingdom 23.0 [5]

13–19 million copies

[edit]
Release
year 		Album Artist/s Nationality Worldwide sales
(in millions) 		Ref(s)
2008 The Fame Lady Gaga United States 18.0 [6]
2003 Fallen Evanescence United States 17.0 [7]
2002 A Rush of Blood to the Head Coldplay United Kingdom 17.0 [8]
2002 Let Go Avril Lavigne Canada 16.0 [9]
2001 A Day Without Rain Enya Ireland 16.0 [10]
2003 Meteora Linkin Park United States 16.0 [11]
2006 Back to Black Amy Winehouse United Kingdom 16.0 [12]
2004 Confessions Usher United States 15.0 [13]
2004 American Idiot Green Day United States 15.0 [14]
2014 1989 Taylor Swift United States 14.0 [15]
2001 Laundry Service Shakira Colombia 13.0 [16]
2001 Missundaztood Pink United States 13.0 [17]
2005 X&Y Coldplay United Kingdom 13.0 [18]
2005 Curtain Call: The Hits Eminem United States 13.0 [19]

10–12 million copies

[edit]
Release
year 		Album Artist/s Nationality Worldwide sales
(in millions) 		Ref(s)
2001 Songs in A Minor Alicia Keys United States 12.0 [20]
2002 A New Day Has Come Celine Dion Canada 12.0 [21]
2002 Stripped Christina Aguilera United States 12.0 [22]
2003 Get Rich or Die Tryin' 50 Cent United States 12.0 [23]
2003 Life for Rent Dido United Kingdom 12.0 [24]
2004 Feels like Home Norah Jones United States 12.0 [25]
2004 Breakaway Kelly Clarkson United States 12.0 [26]
2008 Fearless Taylor Swift United States 12.0 [27]
2011 Christmas Michael Bublé Canada / Italy 12.0 [28]
2003 Dangerously in Love Beyoncé United States 11.0 [29]
2004 Back to Bedlam James Blunt United Kingdom 11.0 [30]
2004 Encore Eminem United States 11.0 [31]
2005 All the Right Reasons Nickelback Canada 11.0 [32]
2001 Survivor Destiny's Child United States 10.0 [33]
2006 Loose Nelly Furtado Canada 10.0 [34][35]
2005 The Emancipation of Mimi Mariah Carey United States 10.0 [36]
2005 Confessions on a Dance Floor Madonna United States 10.0 [37]
2001 Invincible Michael Jackson United States 10.0 [38]
2004 Under My Skin Avril Lavigne Canada 10.0 [39]
2001 Silver Side Up Nickelback Canada 10.0 [32]
2001 Britney Britney Spears United States 10.0 [40]
2002 Songs About Jane Maroon 5 United States 10.0 [41]
2002 Justified Justin Timberlake United States 10.0 [42]
2003 Number Ones Michael Jackson United States 10.0 [43]
2006 FutureSex/LoveSounds Justin Timberlake United States 10.0 [42]
2008 I Am... Sasha Fierce Beyoncé United States 10.0 [44]
2008 Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends Coldplay United Kingdom 10.0 [18]
2009 I Dreamed a Dream Susan Boyle United Kingdom 10.0 [45]
2010 Recovery Eminem United States 10.0 [46]
2014 Frozen Various Artists — 10.0 [47]

Best-selling album by year

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Main article: List of best-selling albums by year

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "IFPI GLOBAL MUSIC REPORT 2022". globalmusicreport.ifpi.org. Retrieved 2022-12-05.
  2. ^ Serjeant, Jill (31 October 2016). Osterman, Cynthia (ed.). "Adele says she battled depression, before and after son's birth". Vanity Fair. Reuters. Retrieved 14 February 2017.
  3. ^ "Eminem music to hit stock exchange in deal offered by his producers". The Music Network. 25 September 2017. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
  4. ^ "Norah Jones' 2002 debut album won six Grammys and sold 27 million copies: 'It was a a whirlwind!' she recalls". The San Diego Union-Tribune. 24 June 2022. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  5. ^ "The best-selling album of the 21st Century". faroutmagazine.co.uk. 2022-11-06. Retrieved 2023-01-26.
  6. ^ AP Entertainment (August 19, 2019). "ON THIS DAY - In 2008, @ladygaga released her debut album, 'The Fame,' launching a hugely successful career. #OnThisDay" – via Twitter. 'The Fame' sold over 18 million copies worldwide and won a Brit Award for best international album.
  7. ^ Baltin, Steve (October 12, 2016). "Evanescence Thank Fans With New Box Set". Forbes. Retrieved 2017-02-25. Upon its release in 2003, Evanescence's debut album, Fallen, became a rock phenomenon, selling 17 million copies worldwide, spending 43 weeks in the top 10 and becoming one of only eight albums to spend an entire year in the Billboard top 50.
  8. ^ "Coldplay Look Back on 20th Anniversary of A Rush of Blood to the Head: The Stakes were Even Higher". Billboard. 26 August 2022. Archived from the original on 26 August 2022. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  9. ^ Fulton, Rick (January 16, 2011). "Avril Lavigne: Madonna is my idol". Daily Record. Retrieved December 19, 2012.
  10. ^ "Enya en la música ::". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2024-10-06.
  11. ^ "Life of chester Bennington". The Asian Age. January 9, 2016. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
  12. ^ Bliss, Karen (20 September 2018). "Amy Winehouse 'Back to Black' Documentary Offers Revealing Commentary From Mark Ronson, Salaam Remi & More". Billboard. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  13. ^ Brantley, Ben (8 September 2006). "A Genial Pop Idol Plays a Legal Shark Without Teeth". The New York Times. Retrieved June 23, 2012.
  14. ^ Kordares, Molly (20 April 2010). "Green Day Takes Broadway with "American Idiot"". CBS. Retrieved February 25, 2017. Then the music begins and I remember why Green Day sold over 15 million copies of "American Idiot" – it's a really good album.
  15. ^ Winter, Velvet (November 12, 2022). "Like The Beatles, Madonna and Kylie Minogue before her, Taylor Swift is masterful at pivoting". ABC News. Archived from the original on November 13, 2022. Retrieved November 13, 2022.
  16. ^ Cobo, Leila (28 May 2005). "Billboard – Shakira x2". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. pp. 23–. ISSN 0006-2510.
  17. ^ "Pink Renews Global Deal with EMI Music Publishing". EMI. April 2, 2012. Archived from the original on March 16, 2013. Retrieved March 10, 2013.
  18. ^ a b Kara, Scott (October 25, 2012). "Big band theory: who are the brightest stars?". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 2017-02-25. Albums sold worldwide. Parachutes (8.5 million); A Rush of Blood to the Head (15 million); X&Y (13 million); Viva La Vida (10 million); Mylo Xyloto (6 million).
  19. ^ "WORLDWIDE ALBUM SALES OF ALL CURRENT AND FORMER SHADY RECORDS ARTISTS". 7 January 2016. Archived from the original on 8 January 2016. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  20. ^ Wang, Daisy (November 9, 2016). "Alicia Keys discovers herself in latest album". The Daily Texan. Archived from the original on 2017-02-26. Retrieved 2017-02-25. After leaving Columbia University to pursue a singing career, Keys broke into the music scene in 2001 with her album, Songs in A Minor, which sold 12 million copies worldwide and won Keys five Grammys.
  21. ^ Taylor, Chuck (16 February 2008). "Queen of Hearts" (PDF). Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. p. 30. Retrieved 25 February 2017. The title track to Dion's 2002 return "A New Day Has Come" spent 21 weeks at No. 1 at AC- setting a record -while the album sold 12 million copies worldwide, according to Sony.
  22. ^ "RCA Records and Legacy Recordings Celebrate 20th Anniversary of Christina Aguilera's Stripped with Deluxe Digital Edition..." RIAA. 14 October 2022. Archived from the original on October 15, 2022. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  23. ^ "Check Out an Infographic of 50 Cent's Career By the Numbers". Complex. February 6, 2013.
  24. ^ Barker, Emily (September 23, 2014). "That's Not What We Call Music: 19 Unfathomably Popular Albums Of The 00s". NME. Retrieved 2017-02-25. Let us be frank: Dido's debut, 'No Angel', wasn't much cop either. But it was superior to follow-up 'Life For Rent', which sold over 12 million copies worldwide and was the seventh best-selling album of the 2000s in the UK.
  25. ^ Morandi, Andrea (April 22, 2012). "Norah, voce fuori dal tempo "E io ascolto Billie Holiday"". la Repubblica. Retrieved July 3, 2022.
  26. ^ "Kelly Clarkson and Bruno Mars to perform on 'The X Factor' results show". TV by the Numbers. Tribune Media Services. November 21, 2007. Archived from the original on November 22, 2011. Retrieved June 28, 2012.
  27. ^ Egan, Barry (April 25, 2021). "In re-recording her back catalogue, Taylor Swift is feeling the fear – and doing it anyway". Irish Independent. Retrieved September 20, 2021.
  28. ^ Tuch, Paul (January 1, 2019). "Michael Bublé's Global 'Christmas' Sales Now North Of 12M Copies". FYI Music News. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  29. ^ Chandler, D. L. (April 5, 2011). "Jay-Z And Beyoncé Celebrate Three Years Of Wedded Bliss". MTV Rapfix. Viacom. Archived from the original on February 25, 2012.
  30. ^ McCormick, Neil (September 14, 2007). "A soldier's guide to stardom". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2017-02-25. Blunt's debut album, Back to Bedlam, has sold 11 million copies worldwide, making it the most successful British album of the new century.
  31. ^ "The real Slim Shady stands up the fans on his European tour". The Independent. 2005-08-18. Retrieved 2019-06-12.
  32. ^ a b Kara, Scott (October 25, 2012). "Big band theory: who are the brightest stars?". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 2017-02-25. World-wide album sales with All the Right Reasons the most popular selling more than 11 million copies followed by Silver Side Up with 10 million.
  33. ^ "Destined for a repeat success". The Sydney Morning Herald. 1 November 2004. Archived from the original on February 16, 2022. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
  34. ^ "Spanish album an unexpected 'Plan' for Furtado". Kuwait Times. 30 August 2009. Archived from the original on 9 March 2012. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
  35. ^ Qilson, Jen (1 August 2008). "Five Rings To Rule Them All". Billboard. p. 24. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  36. ^ "Mariah Carey: Come in and smell the perfume". The Daily Telegraph. March 17, 2008. Retrieved October 7, 2017. 'The Emancipation of Mimi', to be the biggest-selling album of the year worldwide (10 million copies sold), taking her career total to well over 160 million.
  37. ^ Corner, Lewis (July 25, 2014). "Madonna's new album: What we know so far". Digital Spy. Retrieved August 22, 2017. That was also the last time one of her albums sold over 10 million copies, so maybe Madge is pulling out all of the stops to get another multi-million hit on her hands.
  38. ^ "Michael Jackson's best selling studio albums". The Telegraph. 2009-06-26. Retrieved 2024-07-14.
  39. ^ Fulton, Rick (January 10, 2011). "Avril Lavigne: Madonna is my idol". Daily Record. Retrieved December 19, 2012.
  40. ^ Porto, Bruno (January 7, 2003). "Sex Machines". O Globo (in Brazilian Portuguese). Globo.com. Archived from the original on June 3, 2020. Retrieved June 21, 2019. (...) and "Britney", released in 2001, sold 10 million copies (150,000 in Brazil). Alt URL
  41. ^ Leeds, Jeff (May 21, 2007). "Second CD by Maroon 5 Faces Great Expectations". The New York Times. Retrieved February 25, 2017. 'Songs About Jane' sold an estimated 10 million copies worldwide, but that was not enough to assure top executives at Sony BMG, the music giant that distributed it, that the rights to Maroon 5's future recordings were worth the asking price.
  42. ^ a b Kaufman, Gil (June 21, 2012). "JUSTIN VS. JUSTIN: CAN BIEBER TAKE TIMBERLAKE'S CROWN?". MTV. Archived from the original on January 7, 2015. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  43. ^ Sullivan, Randall (2012). Untouchable: The Strange Life and Tragic Death of Michael Jackson. Atlantic Books. ISBN 978-1611859935. Retrieved July 29, 2022.
  44. ^ Kimble-Ellis, Sonya (January 1, 2012). Popular Icons: Beyonce. Chelsea House. ISBN 9781438141169. Retrieved December 14, 2021.
  45. ^ Kisiel, Ryan (January 18, 2010). "Tragedies, feuds and public tantrums: Is the dream finally over for Susan Boyle?". News.com.au. Retrieved February 25, 2017. Releases first album I Dreamed A Dream through Simon Cowell's label. Sells 10 million copies worldwide.
  46. ^ Michaels, Sean (2012-10-29). "Eminem teases new album – on a baseball cap". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-06-12.
  47. ^ "IFPI Digital Music Report 2015: Charting the Path to Sustainable Growth" (PDF). International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 10, 2016. Retrieved April 14, 2015.
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