They say “pimpin” ain’t easy, but selling 10 million copies ain’t easy either.
DETAILS: SHINE BRIGHT! Adele’s 21 Goes Diamond
It was announced today that Adele’s sophomore album, 21, officially scored a “diamond” certification from Soundscan for selling 10 million copies.
The last artist to move that many albums was Usher, whose Confessions album sold a whopping 8 million copies in the year of its release, eventually leading to diamond certification only a few years later.
Artists like Adele, Usher, Linkin Park, Outkast, Eminem, and Norah Jones are the best selling artists of the decade, collectively boasting over 60 million albums sold.
DETAILS: Kreayshawn’s Debut Album BOMBS On The Chart
The top honors of the best selling albums of all time go to rock band the Eagles and Michael Jackson, who between the two, collectively sold what it took the top five best selling artists of the 2000s a decade to sell.
Although Soundscan didn’t begin tracking album sales until 1991, the top 10 highest selling albums of all time were released long before Soundscan was around to count every copy.
GlobalGrind decided to round up the 15 highest selling albums in the past 15 years.
From Notorious B.I.G.’s Life After Death album, to Britney Spears’ …Baby One More Time and Oops!…I Did It Again albums, we have all of our generation’s top purchases.
Check out the 15 highest selling albums in the past 15 years below!
Notorious B.I.G. – Life After Death
Released: 1997
Albums Sold: 10 million
Soundtrack: Titanic
Released: 1997
Albums Sold: 11 million
‘NSYNC- *NSYNC
Released: 1998
Album Sales: 11 million
Kid Rock- Devil Without A Cause
Released: 1998
Albums Sold: 11 million
Backstreet Boys- Millennium
Released: 1999
Albums Sold: 13 million
Britney Spears- Baby One More Time
Released: 1999
Albums Sold: 14 million
‘NSYNC- No Strings Attached
Released: 2000
Albums sold: 11 million
Linkin Park – Hybrid Theory
Released: 2000
Albums Sold: 10 million
Britney Spears- Oops!…I Did It Again
Released: 2000
Albums Sold: 10 million
Eminem- The Marshall Mathers LP
Released: 2000
Albums Sold: 10 million
Norah Jones- Come Away With Me
Released: 2002
Albums Sold: 10 million
Eminem- The Eminem Show
Released: 2002
Albums Sold: 10 million
Outkast- Speakerboxx/The Love Below
Released: 2003
Albums Sold: 11 million
Usher- Confessions
Released: 2004
Albums Sold: 10 million
Adele- 21
Released: 2011
Albums Sold: 10 million