Sales - it's a bet

[nwinther]

I would just like to know how many albums Pink Floyd has sold World Wide (If Possible, I'd appreciate you list which albums sold how much).

The bet is my freind, who says Dire Straits/Mark Knopfler has sold more than Pink Floyd

-Please help me.

[bubla]

You are right Nwither, you should win.

I'm sorry I don't have the numbers, but Dire Straits even with Mark Knopfler solo could not have sold more albums than Pink Floyd. Dire Straits/Mark Knopfler released less albums than Pink Floyd and are active for about 25 years, while Pink Floyd are active for some 35 years, so the fans had more time to buy Pink Floyd albums. And with the success of Dark Side of the Moon, there are only a few that can beat them (Stones, Beatles).

BTW Dire Straits is one of my favourite bands, "Brothers In Arms" is great, but the two records I like the most are "Dire Straits" and "Communique" - simple and great rock.

I'm sure somebody around here will know the numbers...

[Piper@Gates]

And don't forget Jackson's thriller

[stratman]

Here's some info I snagged off some website. Note the position of "our boys".

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-sellers of all times
Albums:

Michael Jackson's Thriller (1982, 51 million)
Celine Dion's Falling Into You (33 million)
Celine Dion's Let's Talk About Love (31 million)
Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon (1979, 29 million)
Alanis Morissette: Jagged Little Pill (1995, 28 million)
Eagles' Greatest Hits (1976, 26 million)
Fleetwood Mac's Rumours (25 million)
Mariah Carey's Music Box (1993, 23 million)
Pink Floyd's The Wall (1979, 20 million)
Beatles White Album (1968, 17 million)
Eminem's The Marshall Mathers LP (2000, 15 million)
Eagles: Hotel California (1976, 15 million)
Def Leppard's Pyromania (1983, 10 million)
Boston's Boston (1976, 10 million)
Singles:
Elton John's Candle In The Wind 1997 (11 million)
Beatles' Hey Jude (6 million)

Total album by artist:

Pink Floyd (180 million)
Celine Dion (155 million)
Beatles (150 million)
Led Zeppelin (125 million)
Mariah Carey (105 million)
Elvis Presley (100 million)
Michael Jackson (100 million)
Elton John (100 million)
Garth Brooks (92 million, USA)
Eagles (65 million, USA)
Billy Joel (63 million, USA)
Aerosmith (54 million, USA)
Van Halen (50 million, USA)
Whitney Houston (49 million, USA)
Madonna (46 million, USA)
AC/DC (45 million, USA)
Bruce Springsteen (44 million, USA)
Rolling Stones (41 million, USA)
Metallica (41 million)
U2 (40 million)
Meat Loaf: Bat Out of Hell (25 million)
Bon Jovi: Slippery When Wet (25 million)
(USA indicates the figures are for USA only, not worldwide)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Source: RIAA, 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 established the record of sales in the first week of a new release (2.4 million copies).

As of 1999 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.

[Fulghum]

Impresive numbers, thanks Stratters.

[DavidAV]

Originally posted by stratman
[b]
Pink Floyd (180 million)
Celine Dion (155 million)
Beatles (150 million)
Led Zeppelin (125 million)
Mariah Carey (105 million)
Elvis Presley (100 million)
Michael Jackson (100 million)
Elton John (100 million)
Garth Brooks (92 million, USA)
Eagles (65 million, USA)
Billy Joel (63 million, USA)
Aerosmith (54 million, USA)
Van Halen (50 million, USA)
Whitney Houston (49 million, USA)
Madonna (46 million, USA)
AC/DC (45 million, USA)
Bruce Springsteen (44 million, USA)
Rolling Stones (41 million, USA)
Metallica (41 million)
U2 (40 million)
Meat Loaf: Bat Out of Hell (25 million)
Bon Jovi: Slippery When Wet (25 million)
(USA indicates the figures are for USA only, not worldwide)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wait a minute, does this mean P/F is the BESTSELLING band EVER?

[stratman]

I guess so, if you can believe this guy's info. I can't seem to be able to confirm it, however. I'll keep looking, cause it's good to know, if true.

[Not Now John]

It's always a good idea to give your source when quoting something like that. I'd be rather interested to know where this came from. I had heard that Jagged Little Pill had bumped Fleetwood Mac's Rumours out of the top five, but I never heard about the Eagles losing their place, or Celine gaining 2 spots. I find the last to be rather impossible given how much time, and the legendary status, the others had had to gain on her.

[stratman]

Supposedly that list was from RIAA files as of 1999.

I looked up a RIAA website (current as of 11-01-2002) which gives some conflicting numbers for the top selling albums. Like "The Wall" has way outsold DSOTM?
Who knows what to believe.

http://www.riaa.com/Gold-Best-5.cfm

[bubla]

Every source has its own numbers. Sometimes they differ really much. Strange statistics.

[nwinther]

I'm sorry, I don't know where I heard or read this, but I heard that DSOTM is selling 8,500 copies per WEEK in the US ALONE

[nwinther]

I found this on the RIAA website.
The numbers are US numbers alone. However, if stratman's numbers are correct, then Beatles would have sold NEGATIVE 14 mio. albums outside US.
With 164,5 mio. in US alone, Beatles must the world's best-selling group/artist. (I know PF was popular outside USA, but it's the biggest market in the world
"...if you can make it there - you can make it...anywhere" as Frankie S used to sing.

Artist Certified Units
(in Millions)
BEATLES, THE 164.50
LED ZEPPELIN 105.00
BROOKS, GARTH 105.00
PRESLEY, ELVIS 102.00
EAGLES 86.00
JOEL, BILLY 77.00
PINK FLOYD 73.50
STREISAND, BARBRA 68.50
JOHN, ELTON 64.50
AEROSMITH 63.50
AC/DC 63.00
ROLLING STONES, THE 62.50
MADONNA 59.00
SPRINGSTEEN, BRUCE 58.50
JACKSON, MICHAEL 58.00
CAREY, MARIAH 53.00
HOUSTON, WHITNEY 53.00
ROGERS, KENNY 50.50
STRAIT, GEORGE 50.50
VAN HALEN 50.50
DIAMOND, NEIL 49.50
METALLICA 48.00
KENNY G 47.50
FLEETWOOD MAC 46.50
U2 46.00
ALABAMA 45.00
DION, CELINE 42.50
SANTANA 42.50
JOURNEY 40.00
NELSON, WILLIE 39.00
CLAPTON, ERIC 38.50
CHICAGO 36.50
PRINCE 36.50
BACKSTREET BOYS 36.00
SIMON & GARFUNKEL 36.00
FOREIGNER 36.00
GUNS 'N ROSES 35.50
MC ENTIRE, REBA 34.50
2 PAC 33.50
BON JOVI 33.00
DYLAN, BOB 32.50
DENVER, JOHN 32.50
DEF LEPPARD 32.00
COLLINS, PHIL 32.00
TWAIN, SHANIA 32.00
RONSTADT, LINDA 31.50
JACKSON, ALAN 31.00
SEGER, BOB/SILVER BULLET BAND 30.50
STEWART, ROD 30.00
TAYLOR, JAMES 29.50
DOORS, THE 29.50
BOSTON 29.00
'N SYNC 28.00
BOLTON, MICHAEL 28.00
PETTY, TOM & THE HEARTBREAKERS 27.00
MATTHEWS, DAVE BAND 27.00
OSBOURNE, OZZY 26.75
PEARL JAM 26.50
MELLENCAMP, JOHN 26.50
BOYZ II MEN 26.50
SPEARS, BRITNEY 26.00
BEE GEES 25.50
ZZ TOP 25.00
QUEEN 24.50
JACKSON, JANET 24.00
CARPENTERS 24.00
RUSH 24.00
KELLY, R. 24.00
DIXIE CHICKS 24.00
LYNYRD SKYNYRD 23.50
CARS, THE 23.50
MANILOW, BARRY 23.50
EARTH, WIND & FIRE 23.00
NIRVANA 23.00
MC CARTNEY, PAUL 23.00
MANNHEIM STEAMROLLER 22.50
MOTLEY CRUE 22.50
SADE 22.50
BROOKS & DUNN 22.50
DOOBIE BROTHERS 22.00
POLICE, THE 22.00
CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL 22.00
ESTEFAN, GLORIA 22.00
ENYA 22.00
SINATRA, FRANK 22.00
R.E.O. SPEEDWAGON 21.50
GENESIS 21.50
GILL, VINCE 21.50
VANDROSS, LUTHER 21.50
TLC 21.00
BEASTIE BOYS 21.00
CREED 21.00
MORISSETTE, ALANIS 20.50
MEAT LOAF 20.50
HEART 20.50
RICHIE, LIONEL 20.50
HOOTIE & THE BLOWFISH 20.00
HENDRIX, JIMI 20.00
HILL, FAITH 20.00
This chart was generated on 11/01/2002

[mad yannis]

Anyway, the 180 million albums worldwide for Pink Floyd is correct.

[nwinther]

Where do you get that number from

[ILIAS]

OH, please dont forget about Enigma which has sold more than
33 million copies!
Including 15 million copies of 1990 album MCMXCa.D.

ENIGMA (Michael Cretu) has got 90 platinum and 140 gold discs!!!