UK actually punching above its weight in something!
algebramclain on
The era of bands has long passed
Thundorium on
1989 was in the 20th century, genius!
E_coli42 on
people are still buying albums nowadays? surprised to see post 2010 albums on here
skunkachunks on
I would say that Linkin Park and Evanescence are the two names that I find the most surprising here. They are of course fantastic and I listened to them a ton, but every other name here is much more a household name/modern legend than those IMO.
Now that I read this, they are both the only rock-adjacent entries on this list. So it’s possible my perspective is just too pop-centric.
Tommy_Wisseau_burner on
Norah jones on this list is crazy
theflintseeker on
Adele’s 21 is such an outlier it even the third best selling ALL TIME from when people actually bought albums.
RobleyTheron on
Heck yea Linkin Park! Proud to see these guys represented so high; that album rules.
Side note, I really, really wish there were more bands out there. I’m so tired of single singer acts with repetitive sounds that say like the same 10 words over and over again for 3 minutes. Soapbox moment over.
blackBinguino on
Is this adjusted for population changes between the release years?
Wishfer on
I do not own one of these albums.
That is all.
Obyson on
The Beatles 1 album did 31 million released in November 2000
icelandichorsey on
Not having the year of the release is a huge miss
PickledPlumPlot on
Kinda thought Teenage Dream would be higher just by virtue of having 5 number 1s on i5
greaper007 on
Interesting, women win by a longshot. I guess you can’t say there’s a male bias in popular music anymore. Prior to the 00s, it seems like female artists were secondary.
killadrilla480 on
I’ve never owned any of these. Who the fuck still buys albums?
WonderfulShelter on
I don’t know why but I just fucking hate Taylor Swift so much more than any single other pop star on this list.
She’s like the only one I thing the world would be a better place without her ever having made anything.
![[OC] Best selling albums of the 21st Century](https://www.byteseu.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/00askepqatue1-1232x1536.png "[OC] Best selling albums of the 21st Century")
17 Comments
Source: [ChartMasters](https://chartmasters.org/top-album/)
Tools: [Datawrapper](https://www.datawrapper.de/)
UK actually punching above its weight in something!
The era of bands has long passed
1989 was in the 20th century, genius!
people are still buying albums nowadays? surprised to see post 2010 albums on here
I would say that Linkin Park and Evanescence are the two names that I find the most surprising here. They are of course fantastic and I listened to them a ton, but every other name here is much more a household name/modern legend than those IMO.
Now that I read this, they are both the only rock-adjacent entries on this list. So it’s possible my perspective is just too pop-centric.
Norah jones on this list is crazy
Adele’s 21 is such an outlier it even the third best selling ALL TIME from when people actually bought albums.
Heck yea Linkin Park! Proud to see these guys represented so high; that album rules.
Side note, I really, really wish there were more bands out there. I’m so tired of single singer acts with repetitive sounds that say like the same 10 words over and over again for 3 minutes. Soapbox moment over.
Is this adjusted for population changes between the release years?
I do not own one of these albums.
That is all.
The Beatles 1 album did 31 million released in November 2000
Not having the year of the release is a huge miss
Kinda thought Teenage Dream would be higher just by virtue of having 5 number 1s on i5
Interesting, women win by a longshot. I guess you can’t say there’s a male bias in popular music anymore. Prior to the 00s, it seems like female artists were secondary.
I’ve never owned any of these. Who the fuck still buys albums?
I don’t know why but I just fucking hate Taylor Swift so much more than any single other pop star on this list.
She’s like the only one I thing the world would be a better place without her ever having made anything.