The Beatles 2nd Biggest Sellers of the Decade
Jim Beam
Chart Watch Extra: The Top 20 Album Sellers Of The 2000s
Posted Fri May 29, 2009 10:52am PDT by Paul Grein in Chart Watch
Eminem, who was born 2-1/2 years after the Beatles broke up, is the
only artist who has sold more albums in this decade than the fabled
foursome. Eminem's new album Relapse sold 608,000 copies this week,
lengthening his lead as the artist who has sold the most albums in the
2000s. The rap superstar has sold 31,127,000 albums since the first
week of January 2000. In second place: The Beatles, who have sold
27,591,000 albums in the same period. (That's not bad for a group that
broke up in 1970.) The Beatles have done better in this decade
relative to the competition than they did in the ‘90s, when they were
the #5 album-selling act..
Only four of the top 20 album sellers of the 1990s also rank among the
top 20 album sellers so far in the 2000s. The Fab Four is joined by
Metallica, Alan Jackson and Celine Dion. Nielsen/SoundScan, which has
tracked sales for Billboard since 1991, doesn't carry a list of the
top album sellers of the 2000s on its site. But the information is all
there, if you know where to look (and can do simple subtraction)..
Garth Brooks and Mariah Carey, the top two album sellers of the 1990s,
don't rank among the top 20 album sellers so far in the 2000s. Other
‘90s titans have slipped even more dramatically in this decade.
Michael Bolton, who sold more than 20 million albums in the ‘90s, has
sold just 1,809,000 albums since January 2000. Vince Gill, who sold
more than 15.5 million albums in the ‘90s, has sold 2,825,000 albums
in this decade. Yanni, R.E.M., Boyz II Men, Alanis Morissette, Billy
Joel and Van Halen have each sold less than 5 million albums in this
decade, also a far cry from their ‘90s tallies..
Seven of the top 20 album-selling acts so far in the 2000s are
country, six are rock, four are pop and three are rap. This represents
a big gain for rap (none of the top 20 acts of the 1990s were rap).
Five of the top 20 acts first hit The Billboard 200 in this decade.
Four others had charted in the 1990s, but didn't rank among Nielsen/
SoundScan's top 200 artists of that decade. Thus, 9 of the top 20
artists so far in the 2000s registered in a big way only in this
decade..
Here are the 20 acts that have sold the most albums since the first
week of January 2000. The number immediately after the artist's name
is the total number of albums that the artist has sold in this decade.
I also identify when the artist first cracked The Billboard 200, and
the title of their best-selling album since January 2000..
1. Eminem, 31,127,000. First charted: 1999. Eminem, 36, is the top
male artist and the top rap artist so far in this decade. His 2000
album The Marshall Mathers LP is his best-seller. It has sold
10,178,000 copies..
2. The Beatles, 27,591,000. First charted: 1964. The Beatles have sold
more albums in the 2000s than any other group, rock act or foreign
act. Their 2000 compilation 1 is their best-seller. It has sold
11,402,000 copies. The Beatles were the #5 album-selling act of the
1990s..
3. Tim McGraw, 24,295,000. First charted: 1994. McGraw, 42, is the #1
country artist so far in the 2000s, nosing out Toby Keith. McGraw was
the #38 album-selling act of the ‘90s. His 2000 compilation Greatest
Hits is his best-selling album of the decade. It has sold 5,995,000
copies..
4. Toby Keith, 24,189,000. First charted: 1993. Keith, 47, is the #2
country artist of this decade. His 2003 album Shock'n Y'All is his
best-seller. It has sold 4,420,000 copies..
5. Britney Spears, 22,937,000. First charted: 1999. Spears, 27, is the
youngest artist on this list, edging out Josh Groban by one year. She
is also #1 female artist in this decade. Her 2000 album, Oops!...I Did
It Again, is her best-seller of the decade. It has sold 9,183,000
copies. Spears was the #108 album-selling act of the ‘90s..
6. Kenny Chesney, 21,396,000. First charted: 1996. Chesney, 41, is the
#3 country artist of this decade. His best-selling album is 2004's
When The Sun Goes Down, which has sold 4,111,000 copies..
7. Nelly, 21,206,000. First charted: 2000. Nelly, 34, is the #1 new
artist to emerge in this decade, edging out Linkin Park. He's also the
#1 African American artist, edging out Jay-Z, and the #2 rap artist.
Nelly's 2000 debut, Country Grammar, is his best-selling album. It has
sold 8,454,000 copies..
8. Linkin Park, 21,125,000. First charted: 2000. Linkin Park is the #2
rock group of the decade, behind the Beatles. It's also the #2 new
artist. The band's 2000 debut album, Hybrid Theory, is its best-
seller. It has sold 9,600,000 copies..
9. Creed, 20,398,000. First charted: 1997. Creed is the #3 rock group
of the decade. 1999's Human Clay is the band's best-selling album. It
has sold 9,480,000 copies since January 2000. Creed was the #167 album-
selling act of the ‘90s..
10. Jay-Z, 19,379,000. First charted: 1996. Jay-Z, 39, is the #3 rap
artist of the decade. 2003's The Black Album is his best-selling album
of this decade. It has sold 3,338,000 copies. Jay-Z was the #152 album-
selling act of the ‘90s..
11. Nickelback, 19,158,000. First charted: 2000. The Canadian group is
the #2 foreign act of this decade (after the Beatles). Nickelback is
also the #3 new artist and the #4 rock group. 2005's All The Right
Reasons is its best-seller, with sales of 7,159,000 copies..
12. Josh Groban, 19,115,000. First charted: 2001. Groban, 28, is the
#1 pop male artist of this decade. He's the #4 new artist. The pop/
classical star's 2003 album Closer is his best-seller, with sales of
5,746,000 copies..
13. Rascal Flatts, 18,831,000. First charted: 2000. The trio is the #1
country group of this decade, nosing out Dixie Chicks. It's also the
#5 new act. 2004's Feels Like Today is the act's best-selling album.
It has sold 5,134,000 copies..
14. Metallica, 18,490,000. First charted: 1984. Metallica is the #1
hard rock act of the decade (unless you count the genre-bending Linkin
Park). The band's 1991 blockbuster Metallica is the band's best-
selling album of this decade. It has sold 3,691,000 copies since
January 2000. Metallica was the #3 album-selling act of the ‘90s..
15. Alan Jackson, 18,479,000. First charted: 1990. Jackson, 50, is the
oldest solo artist on this list, edging out Toby Keith. 2002's Drive
is his best-selling album of this decade. It has sold 3,508,000
copies. Jackson was the #17 album-selling act of the ‘90s..
16. *NSYNC, 18,402,000. First charted: 1998. The boy band is the #1
pop group of this decade (assuming you classify the Beatles as rock).
*NSYNC's 2000 album No Strings Attached is its best-seller, with sales
of 11,111,000 copies. The quintet was the #80 album-selling act of the
‘90s..
17. Dixie Chicks, 18,293,000. First charted: 1998. The female trio is
the #2 country group so far in this decade. 2002's Home is the act's
best-selling album of this decade. It has sold 5,997,000 copies. Dixie
Chicks was the #105 album-selling act of the ‘90s..
18. Johnny Cash, 17,860,000. First charted: 1958. The country legend,
who died in 2003 at age 71, is the most surprising name on the list.
He made it on the strength of an enormous catalog and a renewed focus
on him after his death. His 1999 compliation 16 Greatest Hits is his
best-seller of the decade. It has sold 2,846,000 copies since January
2000..
.
19. Kid Rock, 17,606,000. First charted: 1999. Kid Rock, 38, is the #1
male rock artist of this decade. Kid's 2001 album Cocky is his best-
seller of the decade. It has sold 5,045,000 copies..
20. Celine Dion, 17,579,000. First charted: 1991. The Canadian diva,
41, is the #2 pop female artist of this decade, behind Britney Spears.
Dion's 1999 greatest hits album, All The Way...A Decade Of Song, is
her best-seller in the decade. It has sold 4,971,000 copies since
January 2000. Dion was the #4 album-selling act of the ‘90s..
The Fine Print: Artists who emerged very early in the decade stood a
much better chance of making this list than artists who emerged later
on. Sales peaked around 2000, and have been dropping since about 2004.
So it's hard for even the hottest acts of recent years to compete with
the stunning sales totals from the turn of the last decade..
Also, when I refer to the best-selling artists of the ‘90s, I'm
referring to the period from May 25, 1991, when Nielsen/SoundScan
began tracking sales for Billboard, through the last week of 1999. .
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who?
I'm not trying to flame you at all, Jim..but I think the most
important
thing is, the Beatles have sold the most recordings world wide
than any other artists...and Elvis continues to be tied with
the Beatles.
aerovons
I'm confused. It says The Beatles have sold more albums than anyone
else, but they are #2??
TH
Zfs..
>group, or rock act.
Eminem is Rap ??
The Nice Mean Man
> On May 30, 4:05 pm, "who?" <yourimageunre...@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>
<snip>
> I'm confused. It says The Beatles have sold more albums than anyone
> else, but they are #2??
>
In the history of the world, ding-bat. Not just this last decade or
last year. EMI estimates The Beatles' total sales world-wide to be
over 1000 million units. Get that....? That's one thousand piles of
records with one million records in each pile. Or one lone pile with
a billion records in it, if that helps your feeble little mind to
work.
who?
I'm confused too. It makes no sense.
who?
Here is the actual link to the article, but it says nothing more:
http://keepittrill.com/media/2009/05/eminem-biggest-selling-artist-decade-nelly-jayz-top-10/
who?
> On May 30, 6:22 pm, aerovons <t...@aerovons.com> wrote:
>
> > On May 30, 4:05 pm, "who?" <yourimageunre...@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>
> <snip>
>
> > I'm confused. It says The Beatles have sold more albums than anyone
> > else, but they are #2??
>
> In the history of the world, ding-bat. Not just this last decade or
> last year.
The article talks about this decade.
EMI estimates The Beatles' total sales world-wide to be
> over 1000 million units. Get that....?
I'm the one who brought that up, not Tom.
who?
Or crap.