List of best-selling albums by women
The following albums, recorded by female solo artists and all-female groups, have sold at least 10 million copies. This list can contain any types of album, including studio albums, extended plays, greatest hits, compilations, soundtracks and remixes. Various artists albums are eligible for inclusion if a woman is credited as the main artist by record charts and certifying organizations. The figures given do not take into account the resale of used albums.
The Bodyguard soundtrack by Whitney Houston (with various artists) is the best-selling album credited to a woman;[1] its sales are estimated at between 40 and 45 million copies since its release in November 1992.[2] Come On Over by Shania Twain is recognized by Guinness World Records as the biggest-selling studio album by a solo female artist with over 40 million copies.[1] Previous record holders of the best-selling album by a female artist include Carole King's Tapestry attributed during the "rock era" of the 1970s by some sources and Madonna with True Blue according to the Guinness World Records (1992 edition).[3][4] Madonna also has the best-selling compilation album by a female artist (and solo artist) with The Immaculate Collection, which sold around 30 million copies.[5] Others notable appearances include Shakira, as the only Latino artist in the list thanks to her crossover album Laundry Service, and Utada Hikaru with First Love as the only Asian artist. Celine Dion has the only entirely non-English album with D'eux, which remains the best-selling French album of all-time. The Spice Girls have the best-selling album by a girl group with Spice, while Mariah Carey has the best-selling Christmas album by a female artist with Merry Christmas.
Numerous artists have multiple entries, lead by Madonna with ten of her albums and followed by Celine Dion (seven), Mariah Carey (seven) and Whitney Houston (six), while Enya, Shania Twain and Janet Jackson each have three. The first four artists also have multiple albums with sales of over 20 million copies worldwide. Currently, Adele's 21 is the best-selling album of the 21st century.
Groupings are based on different sales benchmarks, the highest being for claims of at least 40 million copies, and the lowest being for claims of 10 million copies. Albums are listed in order of number of copies sold and thereafter by the release year.
List of albums[]
40 million copies or more[]
Artist | Country | Album | Released Year | Estimated Sales |
---|---|---|---|---|
Whitney Houston / various artists | United States | The Bodyguard | 1992 | 45 millions[6]
40 millions[7] |
Shania Twain | Canada | Come On Over | 1997 | 40 million[8]
39 million[9] |
30 to 39 million copies[]
Artist | Country | Album | Released Year | Estimated Sales |
---|---|---|---|---|
Alanis Morissette | Canada | Jagged Little Pill | 1995 | 33 million[10] |
Céline Dion | Falling into You | 1996 | 32 million[11] | |
Céline Dion | Let's Talk About Love | 1997 | 31 million[12] | |
Adele | United Kingdom | 21 | 2011 | 31 million[13] |
Madonna | United States | The Immaculate Collection | 1990 | 30 million[14] |
20 to 29 million copies[]
Artist | Country | Album | Released Year | Estimated Sales |
---|---|---|---|---|
Mariah Carey | United States | Music Box | 1993 | 28 million[15] |
Norah Jones | Come Away with Me | 2002 | 26 million[16] | |
Carole King | Tapestry | 1971 | 25 million[17] | |
Madonna | True Blue | 1986 | 25 million[18] | |
Britney Spears | ...Baby One More Time | 1999 | 25 million[19] | |
Spice Girls | United Kingdom | Spice | 1996 | 23 million[20] |
Celine Dion | Canada | All the Way... A Decade of Song | 1999 | 22 million[21] |
Whitney Houston | United States | Whitney Houston | 1985 | 22 million[22][23] |
Adele | United Kingdom | 25 | 2015 | 22 million[24] |
Madonna | United States | Like a Virgin | 1984 | 21 million[25] |
Whitney Houston | Whitney | 1987 | 20 million[26] | |
Tracy Chapman | Tracy Chapman | 1988 | 20 million[27] | |
Celine Dion | Canada | The Colour of My Love | 1993 | 20 million[28] |
Shania Twain | The Woman in Me | 1995 | 20 million[29] | |
Mariah Carey | United States | Daydream | 1995 | 20 million[30] |
Britney Spears | Oops!... I Did It Again | 2000 | 20 million[31] |
13 to 19 million copies[]
10 to 12 million copies[]
See also[]
References[]
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The best-selling album by a woman is True Blue by Madonna, which had sold almost 17 million copies by October 1990.
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Enya continued to enjoy steady success during the Nineties up to her 2000 album A Day Without Rain which sold 15 million copies
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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.
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- ^ D'eux worldwide sales:
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Releases first album I Dreamed A Dream through Simon Cowell's label. Sells 10 million copies worldwide.
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Bibliography[]
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- Smith, Sean (2019). Spice Girls: The Story of the World's Greatest Girl Band. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-00-826756-8.
- Taraborrelli, J. Randy (2002). Madonna: An Intimate Biography. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-7432-2880-0.
- Lists of best-selling albums
- Women in music