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| The best-selling female singers in history: the Top 10 |
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The best-selling singers in history: the Top 10
With the introduction and success of digital platforms, the way of spreading music and albums has also totally changed, as has the method for certifying sales.
Who are the female artists who have sold the most records and singles in history? It is possible to make a ranking inspired by some authoritative sources such as
Here is the
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The best-selling singers in the world: the Top Ten
Who are the artists who have sold the most records and singles (both physical and digital) in history? It is possible to make a ranking inspired by some authoritative sources such as Billboard, Rolling Stone, MTV, VH1, the Recording Industry Association of America and, finally, also the Guinness World Records. Here is the Top Ten of the singers who have sold the most in the history of music. However, it must be borne in mind that the figures are constantly changing and that, especially in the first positions, the numbers can fluctuate since it is complex to determine the exact number of sales.
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10. P!nk (about 135 million sales)
P!nk surprisingly excludes from the Top 10 two extraordinary artists like Lady Gaga and Adele, eleventh and twelfth in the ranking with 124 and 120 million sales between records and singles. In addition to having sold more than 80 million singles and more than 40 million albums in his career, P!nk has also received prestigious awards such as 7 MTV Video Music Awards and 3 Grammy Awards.
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9. Shirley Bassey (about 140 million sales)
With a powerful voice and a unique vocal timbre, Shirley Bassey has achieved worldwide popularity thanks to her songs included in the soundtrack of several films based on the James Bond saga. Numerous artists have written songs for her: among them, even Elton John.
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9. Donna Summer (about 140 million sales)
On a par with Shirley Bassey we also find the unforgettable Donna Summer, who unfortunately died in 2012. The queen of Disco Music still makes many people dance thanks to extraordinarily successful songs like "I Feel Love". Donna Summer during her incredible career has also won 5 Grammy Awards.
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8. Katy Perry (about 143 million sales)
One success after another, starting with "I Kissed a Girl" in 2008. Katy Perry is one of the leading figures of world pop, capable of achieving incredible results: the Californian singer holds for example the record (previously by Michael Jackson) for the most consecutive weeks spent in the Billboard 100: between May 2010 and September 2011 she remained there for 69 weeks, positioning herself in the charts with five different singles.
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7. Barbra Streisand (approximately 150 million sales)
An institution: Barbra Streisand is a global icon of entertainment, one of the very few people to be part of the EGOTT group, that is, those people capable of obtaining at least an Emmy Award, a Grammy Award, an Oscar and a Tony Award.
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6. Beyoncé (about 200-160 million sales)
Recently Beyoncé has achieved yet another record of her career: she has become the artist with the most Grammy Awards won ever, 32, 22 of which solo. In the case of Beyoncé, we must also keep in mind the success with Destiny's Child, certified with about 60 million sales between records and singles of the group.
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5. Taylor Swift (200-170 million sales)
Taylor Swift's career began very early, but since her debut her success has been extraordinary: for example, her first album remained within the US charts for 275 weeks, with a total of 5 million copies sold overall. On October 31, 2022, Taylor Swift became the first artist in history to occupy the entire Top 10 of the Billboard 100 chart.
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4. Céline Dion (about 200-175 million sales)
Céline Dion is much loved by her audience who has never left her alone, especially in the most difficult moments such as the death of her husband René Angélil. Her sublime voice has allowed her to score incredible numbers both in terms of sales and in terms of the awards received in her career.
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3. Mariah Carey (about 220-200 million sales)
Undisputed star of world music, Mariah Carey has also contributed to the affirmation of hip hop, making this musical genre known to a much wider audience. Mariah Carey is also the best-selling singer of the nineties, a period in which she spent 467 weeks on the Billboard 100.
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3. Whitney Houston (approx. 220-200 million sales)
Tied with Mariah Carey in third place is Whitney Houston, who also sadly died in 2012. The singer has set record after record thanks to her beautiful voice and in 2006 the Guinness World Records declared her "the most awarded and famous artist of all time".
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2. Rihanna (about 220-200 million sales)
In her career Rihanna has never stopped being appreciated all over the world, despite the fact that over the years she has distanced herself from the world of music on more than one occasion. Rihanna is the third artist to have more hits at number one on the US charts, surpassing Michael Jackson (13 singles) and placing behind only Mariah Carey (19 singles) and The Beatles (20 singles).
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