Take a look below for our list of 10 of the best selling music artists.
1. Elvis Presley
Leading the way in the chart of highest album sales is the original King of Rock ‘n Roll. Between 1954 and 1977, Elvis Persley recorded a total of 77 albums, with all but nine of them reaching the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart. After his death, countless boxsets and reissues have been released, helping to push sales records even higher.
2. The Beatles
In their eight years recording together, The Fab Four from Liverpool recorded a total of 12 original albums, finding immense success all over the world. Since the Beatles split, there have been numerous remasterings of their work, and just this year there has been a digitally remastered release of the entire Beatles discography, soon to be offered on iTunes for the first time – sure to push them into contention as the highest selling music artists of all time.
3. Michael Jackson
Before going a little bit mad, “King of Pop” Michael Jackson was at one time probably the biggest star in the world. Starting out at the tender age of 7 in The Jackson Five with his brothers, Michael Jackson went on to form one of the most successful solo careers ever, releasing 11 albums and countless record-breaking singles.
4. Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra has probably the longest music career out of our best selling music artists, beginning his career in the 1930’s and still performing just a few years before his death in 1998. With international hits ranging from Come Fly With Me to New York, New York, the renowned singer and Oscar-winning actor is one of only four artists with a claim to selling over 500,000,000 albums.
5. Abba
Another 4-piece to make it into the list of highest selling musicians, Abba had a plethora of international hits in the 70s. Reaching fame with their breakthrough track Waterloo at the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest, Abba enjoyed over 10 years recording and touring together.
6. Led Zeppelin
Formed in 1968, Led Zeppelin are considered one of the first heavy metal bands. Interestingly the band never released any of their songs as singles in Britain (a few singles were released in the US against their wishes), instead working under the concept of album-oriented rock. Ranked at number one in VH1’s list of the 100 greatest artists of hard rock, Led Zeppelin have sold over 300 million albums and make it to number 6 on our list of the best selling musicians of all time.
7. Nana Mouskouri
Starting her music career in 1958 and still recording now, Greek-born Nana Mouskari is known for her trademark squarish black-rimmed eyeglasses and straight black hair parted in the middle, and longing, melancholy love songs to which her unique voice is so suited. She has recorded countless albums in an array of languages, leading her to sell around 300 million records worldwide.
8. Queen
Formed in 1970 by Brian May, Freddie Mercury and Roger Taylor (John Deacon joined them a year later), the English rock band have notched up an impressive 300 million sales between their 15 studio albums, 5 live albums and numerous compilation albums. Generally regarded as one of the greatest live bands of all time, Queen had great international success at their peak, gaining critical acclaim from all over the world.
9. Tino Rossi
An active and succesful singer and actor from 1929 to 1982, Tino Rossi operatic voice and “Latin Lover” persona helped him become one of the highest selling music artists of all time. Through his career he produced hundreds of records and appeared in over 25 films.
10. Julio Iglesias
While there are many music artists to claim they have sold 250 million records (Alla Pugacheva, Cliff Richard, Elton John, Madonna, Pink Floyd), we have decided to go with Julio Iglesias to finish off our list of the biggest selling music artists. A promising career as a goalkeeper for Real Madrid FC cut short by a car accident, Julio Iglesias developed a highly successful music career, selling 77 albums and performing approximately 5,000 concerts and counting.
