Music Charts

Websites with charts:

Also, check the charts posted by radio stations on RockNews, "a music news and information service for modern rock radio listeners".

My own preferences:


Chronology of popular music
History of rock music
Best rock albums of all time
Best jazz albums of all time
Album reviews
Other information in English
Altre rubriche in Italiano

Most popular songs


1900-1909: Haydn Quartet: Put On Your Old Gray Bonnet
1910-1919: Billy Murray: Casey JOnes
1920-1929: Gene Austin: My Blue Heaven
1930-1939: Fred Astaire: Cheek To Cheek
1940-1949: Francis Craig: Near You
1950-1959: Patti Page: Tennessee Waltz
1960-1969: Beatles: Hey Jude
1970-1979: Debby Boone: You Light Up My Life
1980-1989: Olivia Newton-John: Physical
1990-1999: Mariah Carey & Boyz II Men: One Sweet Day

Best-selling albums of all time

Albums:

  1. Michael Jackson's Thriller (1982, 51 million)
  2. Celine Dion's Falling Into You (33 million)
  3. Celine Dion's Let's Talk About Love (31 million)
  4. Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon (1979, 29 million)
  5. Alanis Morissette: Jagged Little Pill (1995, 28 million)
  6. Eagles' Greatest Hits (1976, 26 million)
  7. Fleetwood Mac's Rumours (25 million)
  8. Mariah Carey's Music Box (1993, 23 million)
  9. Pink Floyd's The Wall (1979, 20 million)
  10. Beatles White Album (1968, 17 million)
  11. Eminem's The Marshall Mathers LP (2000, 15 million)
  12. Eagles: Hotel California (1976, 15 million)
  13. Whitney Houston: Whitney Houston (1985, 13 million)
  14. Def Leppard's Pyromania (1983, 10 million)
  15. Boston's Boston (1976, 10 million)
  16. Led Zeppelin: Untitled (IV)
  17. Billy Joel: Greatest Hits Volume I & II (1985)
  18. AC/DC: Back in Black (1980)
  19. Shania Twain: Come on Over (1997)
  20. The Beatles: The Beatles [White Album] (1968)
  21. Fleetwood Mac: Rumours (1977)
  22. Whitney Houston &Various Artists: The Bodyguard (1992)
  23. Boston: Boston (1976)
  24. Garth Brooks: No Fences (1990)
  25. Hootie & the Blowfish: Cracked Rear View (1995)
  26. Eagles: Hotel California (1976)
  27. The Beatles: 1967-70 (1973)
  28. Bruce Springsteen: Born in the U.S.A. (1984)
  29. Pink Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon (1973)
  30. Guns N' Roses: Appetite for Destruction (1987)
  31. Elton John: Greatest Hits (1974)
  32. The Bee Gees & Various Artists: Saturday Night Fever (1977)
  33. Led Zeppelin: Physical Graffiti (1975)
  34. The Beatles: 1962-66 (1973)
  35. Garth Brooks: Double Live Double Live (1998)
  36. Garth Brooks: Ropin' the Wind ropin' the wind (1991) Meat Loaf: Bat Out of Hell (1977)
  37. Backstreet Boys: Backstreet Boys (1997)
  38. Prince: Purple Rain (1984)
  39. Britney Spears: ...Baby One More Time (1999)
  40. Backstreet Boys: Millenium Millenium (1999)
  41. Simon & Garfunkel: Simon & Garfunkel's Greatest Hits Simon & Garfunkel (1972)
  42. Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band: Live/1975-85 (1986)
  43. Bon Jovi: Slippery When Wet (1986)
  44. Boyz II Men: II (1994)
Singles:
  1. Elton John's Candle In The Wind 1997 (11 million)
  2. Whitney Houston: I Will Always Love You (10 million)
  3. Beatles' Hey Jude (6 million)
Total album by artist:
  1. Pink Floyd (180 million)
  2. Celine Dion (155 million)
  3. Beatles (150 million)
  4. Led Zeppelin (125 million)
  5. Mariah Carey (105 million)
  6. Elvis Presley (100 million)
  7. Michael Jackson (100 million)
  8. Elton John (100 million)
  9. Garth Brooks (92 million, USA)
  10. Eagles (65 million, USA)
  11. Billy Joel (63 million, USA)
  12. Aerosmith (54 million, USA)
  13. Van Halen (50 million, USA)
  14. Whitney Houston (49 million, USA)
  15. Madonna (46 million, USA)
  16. AC/DC (45 million, USA)
  17. Bruce Springsteen (44 million, USA)
  18. Rolling Stones (41 million, USA)
  19. Metallica (41 million)
  20. U2 (40 million)
  21. Meat Loaf: Bat Out of Hell (25 million)
  22. Bon Jovi: Slippery When Wet (25 million)
(USA indicates the figures are for USA only, not worldwide)
(Source: RIA, november 1999)

The Beatles have sold more than 106 million records in the USA alone. They have five diamond albums, signifying sales of greater than 10 million copies: the White Album at 17 million copies, Beatles/1967-1070 at 14 million, and Beatles/1962-1966 at 13 million, Sgt Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band at 11 million, Abbey Road at 11 million.

Elvis Presley remains the artist with the most gold and platinum records (77 million albums sold in the USA alone).

The Eagles' Greatest Hits 1971-1975 is certified 26 times platinum, one more than Michael Jackson's Thriller (1982).

Mariah Carey's Music Box (1993) sold 23 million copies.

In 1999 'N Sync set the record of sales in the first week of a new release (2.4 million copies).

In 1999 the Pink Floyd had sold 180 million copies of their albums, about 20 million of The Wall (1979) alone. Dark Side Of The Moon (Harvest, 1973) was in the "Billboard" charts for over 600 weeks.

In 1999 the Led Zeppelin had sold 82 million copies of their albums.

Eminem's The Marshall Mathers LP (Columbia, 2000) sold 15 million copies in two years. 50 Cent's Get Rich or Die Tryin' had sold over six million copies in the first year (2003).

The album that spent the longest time at the number one spot of the Billboard charts is still the soundtrack of the musical West Side Story (1962): 54 weeks.