Best-Selling Album From the Year You Were Born, Per Billboard

Press Room

2 hours ago

Each year, one album taps into the hearts and ears of the public on its way to becoming the year’s best-selling album.

Times have changed, though. In recent years, singers like Adele and Taylor Swift have dominated the charts, while in the 1950s and early 1960s, musical soundtracks and Broadway cast recordings often topped the list.

Billboard has been tracking the best-selling album of the year since 1956, but its methodology has changed several times. Before 1991, the outlet relied on retailer report, but that year it began using Nielsen SoundScan data, which was more accurate, according to Billboard.

And since 2015, Nielsen Soundscan — now called Luminate — has incorporated album-equivalent units into its data to account for streaming. This means that in 2022, Taylor Swift’s “Midnights” was the best-selling album based on sales alone, while Bad Bunny’s “Un Verano Sin Ti” was the top album overall, including album-equivalent units.

Methodology aside, the list isn’t without its surprises. In 1967, The Beatles’ critically acclaimed album “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” was outsold by The Monkees’ “More of The Monkees.”

Using Billboard and Luminate’s data, Business Insider compiled all the best-selling albums and their respective notable singles, dating back to 1956, so you can see which album was the soundtrack to your birth year (provided you’re 70 or younger).

See the best-selling album every year since 1956.

1956: Harry Belafonte — “Calypso”

Notable singles: “Day-O (The Banana Boat Song),” “Jamaica Farewell”

1957: “My Fair Lady (Original Broadway Cast)”

“My Fair Lady (Original Broadway Cast).”

Columbia Records

Notable single: “The Rain in Spain”

1958: “My Fair Lady (Original Broadway Cast)”

“My Fair Lady” is the studio cast recording of the original Broadway musical.

Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

Notable single: “With A Little Bit of Luck”

1959: Henry Mancini — “Music from Peter Gunn”

“Music from Peter Gunn.”

RCA Victor Records

Notable single: “Peter Gunn”

1960: “The Sound of Music (Original Broadway Cast)”

“The Sound of Music (Original Broadway Cast).”

Columbia Records

Notable single: “Do-Re-Mi,” “The Sound of Music”

1961: “Camelot (Original Broadway Cast)”

“Camelot (Original Broadway Cast).”

Columbia Records

Notable single: “If Ever I Would Leave You”

1962: “West Side Story (Soundtrack)”

“West Side Story (Soundtrack).”

United Artists Records

1963: “West Side Story (Soundtrack)”

The “West Side Story” soundtrack is from the 1961 film.

Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images

Notable single: “I Feel Pretty”

1964: “Hello, Dolly! (Original Broadway Cast)”

“Hello, Dolly! (Original Broadway Cast).”

RCA Victor Records

Notable single: “Hello, Dolly!”

1965: “Mary Poppins (Original Soundtrack)”

“Mary Poppins (Original Soundtrack).”

Walt Disney Records

Notable singles: “A Spoonful of Sugar,” “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”

1966: Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass — “Whipped Cream & Other Delights”

“Whipped Cream & Other Delights.”

A&M Records

Notable single: “A Taste of Honey”

1967: The Monkees — “More of The Monkees”

Notable single: “I’m A Believer”

1968: The Jimmy Hendrix Experience — “Are You Experienced”

Notable singles: “Purple Haze,” “Foxy Lady”

1969: Iron Butterfly — “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida”

Notable single: “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida”

1970: Simon and Garfunkel — “Bridge over Troubled Water”

Notable singles: “Bridge over Troubled Water,” “The Boxer”

1971: “Jesus Christ Superstar”

Notable single: “Superstar”

1972: Neil Young — “Harvest”

Notable single: “Heart of Gold”

1973: War — “The World Is a Ghetto”

“The World Is a Ghetto.”

United Artists

Notable single: “The Cisco Kid”

1974: Elton John — “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”

“Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.”

MCA Records

Notable single: “Bennie and the Jets”

1975: Elton John — “Elton John’s Greatest Hits”

Notable singles: “Your Song,” “Daniel”

1976: Peter Frampton — “Frampton Comes Alive!”

Notable single: “Show Me The Way”

1977: Fleetwood Mac — “Rumours”

Notable singles: “Go Your Own Way,” “Don’t Stop”

1978: “Saturday Night Fever: The Original Movie Sound Track”

“Saturday Night Fever: The Original Movie Sound Track.”

RSO Records

Notable singles: “How Deep Is Your Love,” “Stayin’ Alive”

1979: Billy Joel — “52nd Street”

Notable single: “My Life”

1980: Pink Floyd — “The Wall”

Notable singles: “Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2)”

1981: REO Speedwagon — “Hi Infidelity”

Notable singles: “Keep on Loving You,” “Take It on the Run”

1982: Asia — “Asia”

Notable single: “Heat of the Moment”

1983: Michael Jackson — “Thriller”

Notable singles: “Thriller,” “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)”

1984: Michael Jackson — “Thriller”

Michael Jackson singing “Thriller” in performance.

George De Sota/Redferns via Getty Images

Notable singles: “Billie Jean,” “Beat It”

1985: Bruce Springsteen — “Born in the U.S.A.”

Notable singles: “Dancing In The Dark,” “Born In The U.S.A.”

1986: Whitney Houston — “Whitney Houston”

Notable singles: “How Will I Know,” “Greatest Love Of All”

1987: Bon Jovi — “Slippery When Wet”

Notable singles: “You Give Love A Bad Name,” “Livin’ On A Prayer”

1988: George Michael — “Faith”

Notable singles: “One More Try,” “Father Figure”

1989: Bobby Brown — “Don’t Be Cruel”

Notable single: “My Prerogative”

1990: Janet Jackson — “Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814”

“Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814.”

A&M Records

Notable singles: “Miss You Much,” “Rhythm Nation”

1991: Mariah Carey — “Mariah Carey”

Notable singles: “Vision of Love,” “Love Takes Time”

1992: Billy Ray Cyrus — “Some Gave All”

Copies sold: 4,832,000

Notable singles: “Achy Breaky Heart”

1993: Whitney Houston/Various Artists — “The Bodyguard: Original Soundtrack Album”

“The Bodyguard: Original Soundtrack Album.”

Arista

Copies sold: 5,460,000

Notable single: “I Will Always Love You”

1994: Elton John/Hans Zimmer — “The Lion King: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack”

“The Lion King: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.”

Walt Disney Records

Copies sold: 4,934,000

Notable singles: “Can You Feel The Love Tonight,” “Circle of Life”

1995: Hootie and the Blowfish — “Cracked Rear View”

Copies sold: 7,020,000

Notable singles: “Hold My Hand,” “Only Wanna Be With You”

1996: Alanis Morissette — “Jagged Little Pill”

Copies sold: 7,380,000

Notable singles: “You Oughta Know,” “Hand In My Pocket”

1997: Spice Girls — “Spice”

Copies sold: 5,302,000

Notable singles: “Wannabe,” “Say You’ll Be There”

1998: James Horner and Celine Dion — “Titanic: Music from the Motion Picture”

“Titanic: Music from the Motion Picture.”

Sony Classical

Copies sold: 9,338,000

Notable single: “My Heart Will Go On”

1999: Backstreet Boys — “Millennium”

Copies sold: 9,446,000

Notable singles: “I Want It That Way,” “Larger Than Life”

2000: NSYNC — “No Strings Attached”

Copies sold: 9,936,000

Notable singles: “Bye Bye Bye,” “It’s Gonna Be Me”

2001: Linkin Park — “Hybrid Theory”

Copies sold: 4,813,000

Notable single: “In The End”

2002: Eminem — “The Eminem Show”

“The Eminem Show.”

Aftermath Entertainment

Copies sold: 7,608,000

Notable singles: “Without Me,” “Sing For The Moment”

2003: 50 Cent — “Get Rich or Die Tryin'”

“Get Rich or Die Tryin’.”

Shady Records/Aftermath Entertainment

Copies sold: 6,536,000

Notable singles: “In da Club,” “21 Questions”

2004: Usher — “Confessions”

Copies sold: 7,979,000

Notable singles: “Burn,” “Confessions Pt. II,” “Yeah!”

2005: Mariah Carey — “The Emancipation of Mimi”

“The Emancipation of Mimi.”

Island Def Jam

Copies sold: 4,969,000

Notable singles: “We Belong Together,” “Shake It Off”

2006: “High School Musical” (Soundtrack)

“High School Musical.”

Walt Disney Records

Copies sold: 3,719,000

Notable single: “Breaking Free”

2007: Josh Groban — “Noël”

Copies sold: 3,699,000

Notable single: “The First Noel (feat. Faith Hill)”

2008: Lil Wayne — “Tha Carter III”

“Tha Carter III.”

Cash Money/Universal Motown

Copies sold: 2,874,000

Notable singles: “Lollipop,” “A Milli”

2009: Taylor Swift — “Fearless”

Copies sold: 3,217,000

Notable singles: “Love Story,” “You Belong With Me”

2010: Eminem — “Recovery”

Copies sold: 3,415,000

Notable singles: “Not Afraid,” “Love The Way You Lie”

2011: Adele — “21”

Copies sold: 5,824,000

Notable singles: “Rolling In The Deep”

2012: Adele — “21”

Adele performed at The BRIT Awards 2012.

JM Enternational/Redferns via Getty Images

Copies sold: 4,410,000

Notable singles: “Someone Like You,” “Set Fire to the Rain,” “Rumour Has It”

2013: Justin Timberlake — “The 20/20 Experience”

Copies sold: 2,430,000

Notable singles: “Suit & Tie,” “Mirrors”

2014: Taylor Swift — “1989”

Copies sold: 3,661,000

Notable singles: “Shake It Off,” “Blank Space,” “Bad Blood”

2015: Adele — “25”

Copies sold, including album-equivalent units: 8,008,000

Notable singles: “Hello,” “When We Were Young”

2016: Drake — “Views”

Copies sold, including album-equivalent units: 4,140,000

Notable singles: “Hotline Bling,” “One Dance”

2017: Ed Sheeran — “Divide”

Copies sold, including album-equivalent units: 2,764,000

Notable singles: “Shape of You,” “Perfect”

2018: Drake — “Scorpion”

Copies sold, including album-equivalent units: 3,905,000

Notable singles: “God’s Plan,” “Nice for What,” “In My Feelings”

2019: Post Malone — “Hollywood’s Bleeding”

Copies sold, including album-equivalent units: 3,001,000

Notable singles: “Wow,” “Goodbyes,” “Circles”

2020: Lil Baby — “My Turn”

Copies sold, including album-equivalent units: 2,632,000

Notable singles: “Woah,” “Sum 2 Prove”

2021: Morgan Wallen — “Dangerous: The Double Album”

“Dangerous: The Double Album.”

Big Loud

Copies sold, including album-equivalent units: 3,226,000

Notable singles: “7 Summers,” “Wasted on You”

2022: Bad Bunny — “Un Verano Sin Ti”

Copies sold, including album-equivalent units: 3,400,000

Notable singles: “Moscow Mule,” “Tití Me Preguntó”

2023: Morgan Wallen — “One Thing at a Time”

Copies sold, including album-equivalent units: 5,362,000

Notable singles: “You Proof,” “Thought You Should Know,” “Last Night

2024: Taylor Swift — “The Tortured Poets Department”

“The Tortured Poets Department.”

Republic

Copies sold, including album-equivalent units: 6,955,000

Notable singles: “Fortnight,” “I Can Do It with a Broken Heart”

2025: Taylor Swift — “The Life of a Showgirl”

Copies sold, including album-equivalent units: 5,607,000

Notable singles: “The Fate of Ophelia,” “Elizabeth Taylor”