Tim McGraw has sold 40 million units across his career.Frederick Breedon IV/Getty Images
The best-selling musicians of all time include Taylor Swift, Tim McGraw, and Whitney Houston.
RIAA ranked the best-selling musicians of all time based on total album units sold in the US.
Swift, Drake, and Eminem are among the newest artists to make the cut.
You might feel like Taylor Swift is the biggest musician of all time thanks to the number of albums she's recorded, the tickets she's sold, and the headlines she's generated. But in actuality, she hasn't cracked the top 25.Business Insider turned to the Recording Industry Association of America's (RIAA) list to find out who tops the list of best-selling musicians of all time. The list is based on total certified album units sold in the US and includes streaming figures.Artists from multiple different genres — pop, country, instrumental jazz, rap, metal — have earned their spots on this list.Keep scrolling to see the 50 best-selling music artists of all time in the US by album sales.This post has been updated with the most recent data from RIAA. John Lynch, Travis Clark, and Will Gendron contributed to a previous version of this post. 50. Def Leppard — 35.5 million unitsDef Leppard has released two No. 1 albums: "Hysteria" in 1987 and "Adrenalize" in 1992.Hulton Archive/Getty Images49. Bob Dylan — 36 million unitsTimothée Chalamet is going to play Dylan in the upcoming biopic "A Complete Unknown."Val Wilmer/Redferns/Getty Images48. Tupac Shakur — 36.5 millionShakur released four albums before his death in 1996.Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection/Getty Images47. Backstreet Boys — 37 million unitsThe Backstreet Boys' 2019 album "DNA" was their third No. 1 album.Paul Bergen/Redferns/Getty Images46. Rod Stewart — 38 million unitsStewart has released 32 albums over the course of 55 years.Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images45. Foreigner — 38 million unitsForeigner's best-known song is "I Want to Know What Love Is."Terry Wyatt/Getty Images44. Simon & Garfunkel — 38.5 million unitsPaul Simon and Art Garfunkel met in elementary school in the '50s.Hulton Archive/Getty Images43. Britney Spears — 38.5 millionSome of Spears' No. 1 albums include "...Baby One More Time," "Oops! I Did It Again," "Britney," "Circus," and "Femme Fatale."Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images42. Chicago — 40 million unitsChicago had five consecutive No. 1 albums from 1972 to 1975.Ian Showell/Keystone/Getty Images41. Tim McGraw — 40 million unitsAlmost all of McGraw's albums have topped the country charts.Michael Hickey/Getty Images40. Eric Clapton — 40 million unitsClapton had his first hit single, "I Shot the Sheriff," 50 years ago.Phil Dent/Redferns/Getty Images39. Reba McEntire — 41 million unitsMcEntire released her 32nd album, "Not That Fancy," in 2023.Jason Kempin/Getty Images38. Bon Jovi — 41 million unitsBon Jovi was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018.Paul Natkin/Getty Images37. Queen — 43 million unitsRami Malek won an Oscar for portraying Queen front man Freddie Mercury in the film "Bohemian Rhapsody."Fin Costello/Redferns/Getty Images36. Santana — 43.5 million unitsCarlos Santana is the only member of Santana who has remained in the band since its inception in 1966.Jason Squires/WireImage/Getty Images35. Guns N' Roses — 44.5 million unitsGuns N' Roses' debut album, 1987's "Appetite for Destruction," peaked at No. 1.Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Power Trip34. Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band — 44.5 million unitsSeger retired from performing in 2019 after 50 years.Scott Legato/WireImage/Getty Images33. Alan Jackson — 44.5 million unitsJackson's hit songs include "Don't Rock the Jukebox," "Chattahoochee," and "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere," which he performed with Jimmy Buffett.Rick Diamond/Getty Images32. Kenny Rogers — 47.5 million unitsRogers died in 2020 at the age of 81.David Redfern/Redferns/Getty Images31. Drake — 47.5 million unitsDrake is one of the best-selling artists of the 21st century.Prince Williams/Wireimage/Getty Images30. Shania Twain — 48 million unitsTwain is the only female artist in history to have three consecutive albums be certified diamond.Getty29. Kenny G — 48 million unitsKenny G's album "Breathless" is the best-selling instrumental album of all time.Getty28. Alabama — 49 million unitsAlabama formed in 1969.David Redfern/Redferns/Getty Images27. Neil Diamond — 49.5 million unitsDiamond's "Sweet Caroline" is one of the most recognizable songs in music history.Denise Truscello/Getty Images for Keep Memory Alive26. Taylor Swift — 51 million unitsSwift's Eras Tour is the first tour to gross $1 billion.AP Photo/George Walker IV25. U2 — 52 million unitsU2's most successful albums include "The Joshua Tree," "Rattle and Hum," and "Achtung Baby."Sergione Infuso/Corbis/Getty Images24. Journey — 52.5 million unitsGuitarist Neal Schon (left) is the only original member of Journey who's still in the band.Michael Putland/Getty Images23. Celine Dion — 53 million unitsDion has released 27 albums, 10 of which have reached the top 10.Monica Schipper/Getty Images for The Recording Academy22. Fleetwood Mac — 55.5 million units"Rumours," released in 1977, is regularly called one of the best albums of all time.Rick Diamond/Getty Images21. Van Halen — 56.5 million unitsVan Halen was hugely successful but only had one No. 1 song, "Jump," in 1983.David Tan/Shinko Music/Getty Images20. Whitney Houston — 61 million unitsHouston is still the only artist to have seven consecutive No. 1 hits.Getty19. Eminem — 61.5 million unitsEminem is the best-selling rapper of all time.Getty18. Metallica — 63 million unitsMetallica released their 11th album, "72 Seasons," in 2023.Paul Bergen/Redferns/Getty Images17. Madonna — 65.5 million unitsMadonna is known as the Queen of Pop.Richard Corkery/NY Daily News Archive/Getty Images16. The Rolling Stones — 66.5 million unitsThe Rolling Stones celebrated their 62nd anniversary in 2024.Getty15. Barbra Streisand — 68.5 million unitsStreisand is one of the few artists to win an EGOT.Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for BSB14. George Strait — 69.5 million unitsStrait has had 60 No. 1 songs across various Billboard charts, the most of any artist in any genre.Jason Kempin/Getty Images13. Aerosmith — 69.5 million unitsAerosmith retired from touring in 2024, 51 years after their debut album was released.Lisa Lake/Getty Images12. Bruce Springsteen — 71 million unitsSpringsteen became a billionaire in July 2024.Jemal Countess/Getty Images11. Pink Floyd — 75 million unitsPink Floyd's biggest hits include "Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2," "Money," and "Keep Talking."MJ Kim/Getty Images10. Mariah Carey — 75 million unitsCarey has had 19 No. 1 hits, the most of any female artist.Kevin Winter/Getty Images for iHeartMedia9. Elton John — 80 million unitsJohn completed his EGOT in 2024 when he won an Emmy.Leon Neal/Getty Images8. AC/DC — 83 million unitsIt took eight albums for AC/DC to top the charts.Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Power Trip7. Billy Joel — 86 million unitsJoel released "Turn the Lights Back On" in 2024, his first new song in 17 years.Kevin Mazur/Getty Images6. Michael Jackson — 89 million unitsJackson has been crowned the King of Pop.Getty5. Led Zeppelin — 112.5 million unitsLed Zeppelin hasn't released a new album since 1982's "Coda."Jay Dickman/CORBIS/Corbis/Getty Images4. Eagles — 120 million unitsThe Eagles' album "Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975)" is the best-selling album of the 20th century in the US.Fotos International/Getty Images3. Elvis Presley — 146.5 million unitsPresley is an iconic symbol of American pop culture.Bettmann/Getty Images2. Garth Brooks — 162 million unitsBrooks has recorded nine albums that have been certified platinum, the only musician to do so.Getty1. The Beatles — 183 million unitsIt's unlikely that the Beatles will ever be surpassed in the era of streaming.GettyRead the original article on Business Insider
