Michael is certified as the 7th best selling artist in the United States by the RIAA

billyworld99

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Here are the top ten best selling artists of all time in the United States


BEATLES, THE

177



PRESLEY, ELVIS

134.5



BROOKS, GARTH

128



LED ZEPPELIN

111.5



EAGLES

100



JOEL, BILLY

81.5



JACKSON, MICHAEL

75



PINK FLOYD

74.5



JOHN, ELTON

72



AC/DC

71.5

As you can see Michael is the 7th best selling artist with 75 million albums sold

here are some new certifications on his albums that were updated this year

Albums certificates by @riaa - USA (part one):

Off The Wall 8x MULTI PLATINUM
Thriller 29xp MULTI PLATINUM (biggest selling album in USA)

Albums certificates by @riaa - USA (part 2)

(NEW) Bad 9x MULTI PLATINUM
Dangerous 7x MULTI PLATINUM
History 7xp MULTI PLATINUM

Albums certificates by @riaa - USA (part 3)

Blood on the Dance Floor 1x PLATINUM
Invincible 2xp MULTI PLATINUM

Albums certificates by @riaa - USA (part 4)

Greatest Hits: History - Volume 1 1x PLATINUM
(NEW) Number Ones 4x MULTI PLATINUM

Albums certificates by @riaa - USA (part 5)

(NEW) Ultimate Collection 1x PLATINUM
(NEW) The Essential 3x MULTI PLATINUM

Albums certificates by @riaa - USA (part 6)

(NEW) This Is It 2x MULTI PLATINUM
(NEW) Michael 1x PLATINUM

US certifications (@RIAA): Live in Bucharest 8x platinum (800,000) & Live At Wembley Gold (50,000) by @michaeljackson.

http://riaa.com/goldandplatinum.php?content_selector=top-selling-artists
 
Not sure these numbers are even accurate, but why don't they include the sales of Michael's Motown solo albums? And what does it look like when you add singles sales and J5/Jackson sales?
 
Good point^^. Well for a guy with only a few single studio albums, he did well and should be at the top.
 
Well since Michael was about the world I would be more interested to see how he ranks in the world than just the US.
 
Well since Michael was about the world I would be more interested to see how he ranks in the world than just the US.

Yeah someone that's good at finding a WORLD-WIDE sales rank post, not just country by country it always cause Drama here anyway. Michael is WORLD WIDE

ofc MJ is #1 to me, yet I like that he is #7 because he loved that number! :heart:
 
Even though I live in the US, I view Michael as a global artist and I have no doubt that he's the best selling worldwide. To me, that's what matters. In the US, the Beatles and Elvis always rank at the top of everything and Michael is always underrated below them. I, too, question the accuracy of this. I also don't believe Elvis sells as much as they want us to think. It reminds me of the US college rankings where, no matter what, Harvard and Princeton always top the list and the rest just follow. I wish we could see his total worldwide sales though. Wasn't there a thread on here with a message from the estate confirming he's reached the billion mark, or did I dream that? And I have an honest question: Who's Garth Brooks?
 
To me the average sales per studio album are far more important then total sales because at the end of the day sales are inflated by the amount of albums you release.
 
:scratch: I m so sorry but I don't believe this "LIST" at all ! In the world in the Universe in the REALITY Michael is NO #1 PERIOD ! I have herd time buying anything from this so called US LIST ! If Michael is not NO1# I really can't take it seriously at all ! Thanks for Posting this anyway :heart:
 
How do they even measure the sales of the Beatles and Elvis Presley? Were sales even certified back then or is this an "estimate"? Not that I care, but I have a very hard time believing they sold twice as much as MJ.

Besides, they would be the "most-selling" artists, not the "best-selling" artists. There's a difference.
 
I think World Wide the Beatles would probably be Nr 1 too, but Michael would be ahead of all other artists.

Please consider that most of those artists ahead of him have more albums than he does. And artists like Billy Joel and the Eagles, while not unknown, but they are by far not as popular globally as in the US. Garth Brooks' popularity is virtually non-existent outside of the US. (@Courtney: He's a country star. Country is very popular in the US, but not so popular anywhere else.) So most of those artists cannot compete with Michael globally.
 
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How do they even measure the sales of the Beatles and Elvis Presley? Were sales even certified back then or is this an "estimate"? Not that I care, but I have a very hard time believing they sold twice as much as MJ.

Besides, they would be the "most-selling" artists, not the "best-selling" artists. There's a difference.

At least they do not cite them as selling over a billion, like they usually do. It's very hard to believe that the Beatles and Elvis sold over a billion world wide when they sold 177 million and 134.5 million in the US. Which are the markets where they sold additional 800 million copies? BS.

But you are right that it's in their case where it is the hardest to give an accurate number of sales. Especially in Elvis' because back then they did not track sales very accurately. So his numbers are more like estimates.
 
I'm not buying this "list" at all... I mean, yes I agree the Beatles probably come #1 but Michael should be #2 or #3... c'mon, #7? :no: I'm not being biased but Thriller alone would be enough to give him a boost to the first three positions in the U.S.A., hasn't it sold at least 30mill there, right? and that is just with one album, what about the rest? pfff. I don't mean to sound bitter but all I see is white flags at the top of the list... if you know what I mean.
 
Sure MJ sold more than 75 million albums in the US.

75 million must be only OTW, Thriller, BAD, Dangerous, HIStory, BOTDF, Invincible and greatest hits album. - If you add J5/Jacksons and his Motown solo albums the number is more likely 100+ millions.
 
I would like to see where Garth Brooks ranks in the world.. :rolleyes:

Honestly, I'm from Denmark and I'm 26 years old - and I have NEVER heard about Garth Brooks...


It must be the same as Robbie Williams - the biggest star in Europe - totally unknown in the US...

MJ really was universal and global. - He reached ALL! All colours, religions etc. - LOVE is for all to enjoy, and that's what MJ was/IS all about!!
 
Considering how badly he was treated in the US are any of you actually surprised how low he comparitively ranked? Elvis didn't have a witch hunt after him and nor did The Beatles or even Garth Brooks for that matter. Those artists weren't treated as harshly.
 
guys, you know that this is kind of conspiracy, because.... RIAA has been doing this all the time, or lets say some people want such lists for their agenda because only a few years ago the list was different, here on MJJC there is such thread about the record/album sales, so we can check it out.
And mysteriously..., for some artists like Elvis... the numbers are growing..., but MJs sales... theres something slow...., but hey... how many albums has MJ released? (in comparison to Elvis....)
For some of Mjs albums, the numbers were known for years... and still the same numbers? :fortuneteller:

anyway, remember to add your comments to articles on the net..., not like crazy MJ fans..., but rationally that this is fake list with mostly estimations... not real sales for the Beatles or Elvis...
 
I don't buy this list at all. Elvis has jumped up waaay more on this list than MJ has through the years and no way Elvis has sold more albums than MJ in these last 12-15 years. It's like each time they come out with a new list they add on another 30 million for Elvis and 7 million for MJ.
 
To me the average sales per studio album are far more important then total sales because at the end of the day sales are inflated by the amount of albums you release.

My point exactly. I was just having this discussion at work the other day. You absolutely have to account for the number of albums each artist or group released. And I highly doubt these numbers are accurate.
 
I don't believe this list one bit, just the eagles hit ablum magically outsell thriller is the big crap to me.
 
Don't even know who "Brook Garth" is. Worldwide is what is relevant.
 
Not sure these numbers are even accurate, but why don't they include the sales of Michael's Motown solo albums? And what does it look like when you add singles sales and J5/Jackson sales?

Motown didn't audit their 1961-1978 sales figures to RIAA. Reportedly MJ's albums in Motown (four studio) about 2.5 million copies combined. J5/The Jacksons are not included because they're a group and they're only counting MJ's Epic/Sony figures. And this is only stating how many albums, not singles.
 
Thriller 29xp MULTI PLATINUM (biggest selling album in USA)



(NEW) Michael 1x PLATINUM

Wait, is Thriller now finally acknowledged as the biggest selling album in the US? They let MJ be greater than the Eagles? ;)

I had no idea that 'Michael' sold 1 million.
 
I spoke too soon hehe.

They both have sold 29 millions according to RIAA

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Motown didn't audit their 1961-1978 sales figures to RIAA. Reportedly MJ's albums in Motown (four studio) about 2.5 million copies combined. J5/The Jacksons are not included because they're a group and they're only counting MJ's Epic/Sony figures. And this is only stating how many albums, not singles.
I know that, I'd just be interested to see where Michael ranks with all of those things taken into account.
 
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