Best Selling Vinyl Records Of All Time (6 Monster Albums)

I’ll admit, I was way off.

I thought I had a good idea what the best selling vinyl records of all time might be.

I was only right about two of them.

Do you think you can guess more of them than I did?

Go ahead and list the top 6, then keep reading below to find out how many you got right.

As mentioned, I only got two. And I never would have guessed the 5th one in a million years. I don’t know anyone who owns that album.

 

Best Selling Vinyl Records Of All Time

The following 6 albums are the top selling records in history. As mentioned, I was especially surprised by number 5.

 

Thriller by Michael Jackson

Released in late 1982, Thriller was Michael Jackson’s sixth solo album. It was the world’s best-selling album of 1983 and has gone on to become the best-selling album of all time worldwide, selling an estimated 70 million copies.

Featuring some of the King of Pop’s best-loved singles, like The Girl Is Mine, Billie Jean, Beat It, and Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’, as well as the album’s title track Thriller, there’s little surprise it has sold so many copies.

The album’s popularity also received a boost thanks to the title track’s music video, which was directed by film-maker John Landis. The video, featuring Jackson dancing alongside zombies, was widely anticipated. And after its premier on MTV, sales of the album rose significantly.

It has since been voted as the greatest music video of all time on numerous occasions. And the album still tops the charts as the best-selling album in history.

 

Back In Black by AC/DC

Following the breakthrough success of their previous release, Highway to Hell, AC/DC was planning to record a follow-up. But in February 1980, lead singer Bon Scott tragically died from alcohol poisoning after a drinking binge.

Rather than disband, the Aussie rockers decided to continue. They brought in English singer Brian Johnson to fill the void at the microphone.

Released on 25 July 1980, Back in Black became the band’s seventh studio album and spawned four singles: You Shook Me All Night Long, Hells Bells, Rock and Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution, and the title track Back in Black.

The unfortunate death of Bon Scott buoyed the initial sales of Back in Black, and the band hit the road on a year-long world tour to promote it. Having sold more than 50 million copies worldwide, it is the world’s best-selling rock album and the best-selling album that never reached the top of the US charts.

 

The Dark Side Of The Moon by Pink Floyd

English psychedelic rockers Pink Floyd formed in London in 1965 and are vaunted by some as the greatest progressive rock band of all time.

Upon its release on 1 March 1973, The Dark Side of the Moon became the band’s eighth studio album and went on to sell over 45 million copies worldwide. It’s Pink Floyd’s best-selling album, was the best-selling album of the 70s, and it is the third-best-selling vinyl album of all time.

The Dark Side of the Moon was written as a concept album, and it’s collection of tracks tackle themes such as conflict, greed, death, and mental illness.

Each side features five tracks that blend together without gaps, with side two beginning with the album’s two singles: Money and Us and Them. Although the album sat in top spot in the US for only one week, it remained in the Billboard 200 albums chart until 16 July 1988.

This is not just the third best-selling album of all time. It is also an incredibly well produced album. In fact, it is one of our favorite vinyl albums to listen to over headphones and it made our list of the best engineered albums of all time.

 

Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) by The Eagles

The Eagles formed in Los Angeles in 1971 and they released Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) as their first compilation album. It features hits from the band’s first four studio albums: The Eagles, Desperado, On the Border, and One of These Nights.

The album has sold close to 45 million copies across the globe. Nine of the album’s ten tracks had previously been released as singles between 1972 and 1975. The other track, Desperado, was never released as a single, but is still one of the band’s best-loved songs.

Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) hit number four on the U.S. album chart in its first week and claimed the number one spot the following week, where it stayed for five weeks. Its popularity is often cited as being helped by the fact that there are no ‘filler tracks,’ with each song already a well-known hit.

Released in February 1976, the album was the first to receive a Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) platinum award, which had just been introduced at the time.

 

Bat Out of Hell by Meat Loaf

Bat Out of Hell is the debut album of American rock singer Meat Loaf. It was released in October 1977, having been developed from a futuristic musical version of Peter Pan.

The iconic album has sold over 43 million copies worldwide, yet it almost never saw the light of day. According to Meat Loaf’s autobiography, the band spent most of 1975 writing and recording, and two and a half years auditioning the record and being rejected by recording companies.

While it has gone on to sell 43 million copies, it wasn’t an immediate hit upon its release. Helped in part by the UK music program The Old Grey Whistle Test airing a live performance of the nine-minute title track, British and Australian audiences were the first to begin to buy it in numbers.

On the back of that initial small success, the album began to get more US radio play, and audiences loved it. Bat Out of Hell went on to be certified 14 times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America!

 

Hotel California by The Eagles

Released the year after their huge-selling Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975), Hotel California was the Eagles’ first album with guitarist Joe Walsh. The success of the album – it has sold over 42 million copies – is largely due to the album’s title track, which is the band’s best-known recording.

The album was an immediate critical and commercial success and has become one of the greatest albums of all time, placing at number 37 on Rolling Stone’s list of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time” in 2003.

The song Hotel California is the album’s opening track, and it has become one of the world’s most instantly recognizable songs. The album also spawned two other singles: New Kid in Town and Life in the Fast Lane.

But its eponymous opening track is still its best known. The track famously features a two-minute dueling guitar coda between Don Henley and Joe Walsh, which has since been voted the best guitar solo of all time by readers of Guitarist magazine.

 

Top Selling Vinyl Of All Time: Final Thoughts

The cultural impact and enduring popularity of vinyl records are exemplified by the staggering sales of these iconic albums. From Michael Jackson’s Thriller to The Eagles’ Hotel California, these records have not only defined their respective eras but have also stood the test of time, captivating new generations of listeners.

The combination of groundbreaking music, innovative production, and memorable artwork has solidified these albums as the best-selling vinyl records of all time.

Their continued success in a digital age is a testament to the unique experience that vinyl offers—a tangible connection to the music and artists that have shaped the soundtrack of our lives. And this is perhaps most noticeable in jazz. I urge you to check out some of the best jazz records on vinyl and see what I mean.