List of best-selling albums in the United States

This is a list of the best-selling albums in the United States based on RIAA certification. 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 in the United States. Groupings are based on different certification benchmarks, the highest being for certification of at least 20–29 times Platinum, and the lowest being for certification of 10–14 times Platinum. Albums are listed in order of certification (highest to lowest), and order of release date (earliest to most recent). This list contains any type of album, including studio, greatest hits, compilation, live albums, various artists, soundtrack and remix.

As a result of the RIAA's methodology of counting each disc in a multi-disc set as one unit toward certification, most double albums on the list—such as Pink Floyd's The Wall and Outkast's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below—have been certified with a number double the number of copies sold. Conversely, the certification level for double albums that fit onto one compact disc such as the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack reflect the actual number of copies sold. Some notable double LPs that would appear on this list if counted as two units are the Grease soundtrack (8x Platinum), Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (7× Platinum) and Peter Frampton's Frampton Comes Alive! (6× Platinum).

20–29× Platinum

15–19× Platinum

10–14× Platinum

See also

• List of best-selling albums worldwide
• Lists of best-selling albums by country
• List of best-selling music artists
• List of best-selling singles
• Top ten best-selling albums of the Nielsen SoundScan era (United States)
• Best-selling albums by year (USA)
• List of best-selling hip hop albums in the United States
• List of best-selling Latin albums in the United States

References

External links

• RIAA Website
• RIAA "Top 100" Albums
• Billboard Magazine – a magazine that publishes weekly music rankings