Showing posts with label world's bestsellers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label world's bestsellers. Show all posts

Monday, March 16, 2020

The World’s Best-Selling Songs by Year, 1970-2019

First posted 12/29/2011; last updated 2/29/2020.

image from dreamstime.com

Songs:

The World’s Best Sellers by Year

Figuring out the best-selling song for each year isn’t as easy as it seems. A variety of sources for sales figures (see here) were tapped in the absence of an official agency to track worldwide sales. As such, some figures have likely been inflated by record companies or other vested parties.

On top of that, reported figures don’t always strictly represent sales. In the 21st century especially, other figures such as such as the number of times songs were streamed via Spotify, YouTube or other services have been factored in. That means a song certified for 10 million in sales may not have actually “sold” that many copies.

Nonetheless, this list has been assembled in the hopes of offering some idea of the bestselling song of each year from 1900 to present. The numbers in parentheses indicates the number of sales in millions.

  • 2019: Billie Eilish “Bad Guy” (19.5 m)
  • 2018: Lil Nas X with Billy Ray Cyrus “Old Town Road” (18.4 m)
  • 2017: Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee “Despacito” (25.3 m)
  • 2016: The Chainsmokers with Halsey “Closer” (20.7 m)
  • 2015: Wiz Khalifa & Charlie Puth “See You Again” (20.9 m)
  • 2014: Marc Ronson & Bruno Mars “Uptown Funk!” (20.0 m)
  • Lorde “Royals” (22.0 m)
  • 2012: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis with Wanz “Thrift Shop” (14.25 m)
  • 2011: LMFAO with Lauren Bennett & GoonRock “Party Rock Anthem” (18.87 m)
  • 2010: Adele “Rolling in the Deep” (20.6 m)

  • 2009: Black Eyed Peas “I Gotta Feeling” (15.0 m)
  • 2008: Beyoncé “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” (14.11 m)
  • 2007: Flo Rida with T-Pain “Low” (12.0 m)
  • 2006: Shakira with Wyclef Jean “Hips Don’t Lie” (10.0 m)
  • 2005: Kanye West with Jamie Foxx “Gold Digger” (8.54 m)
  • 2004: O-Zone “Dragostea Din Tei” (8.0 m)
  • 2003: Pan’Jabi MC “Mudian to Bach Ke” (10.0 m)
  • 2002: Eminem “Lose Yourself” (15.38 m)
  • 2001: Shakira “Whenver, Wherever” (8.5 m)
  • 2000: Britney Spears “Oops!...I Did It Again” (6.0 m)

  • 1999: Ricky Martin “Livin’ La Vida Loca” (8.0 m)
  • 1998: Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman “Time to Say Goodbye” (12.0 m)
  • 1997: Elton John “Candle in the Wind 1997 (Goodbye England’s Rose)” (37.0 m)
  • 1996: Toni Braxton “Un-Break My Heart” (10.0 m)
  • 1995: Los Del Rio “Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix)” (11.0 m)
  • 1994: Mariah Carey “All I Want for Christmas Is You” (16.0 m)
  • 1993: Tag Team “Whoomp! There It Is” (4.04 m)
  • 1992: Whitney Houston “I Will Always Love You” (20.0 m)
  • 1991: Bryan Adams “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You” (15.0 m)
  • 1990: The Scorpions “Wind of Change” (15.0 m)
  • 1989: Kaoma “Lambada” (15.0 m)
  • 1988: Tone Loc “Wild Thing” 2.54 m)
  • 1987: Whitney Houston “I Wanna Dance with Somebody Who Loves Me” (8.0 m)
  • 1986: Bon Jovi “Livin’ on a Prayer” (4.3 m)
  • 1985: U.S.A. for Africa “We Are the World” (20.0 m)
  • 1984: Band Aid “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” (11.7 m)
  • 1983: Bonnie Tyler “Total Eclipse of the Heart” (6.0 m)
  • 1982: The Goombay Dance Band “Sun of Jamaica” (10.0 m)
  • 1981: Trio “Da Da Da” (13.0 m)
  • 1980: Kenny Rogers “Lady” (16.0 m)

  • 1979: Patrick Hernandez “Born to Be Alive” (11.0 m)
  • 1978: Olivia Newton-John & John Travolta “You’re the One That I Want” (15.0 m)
  • 1977: Baccara “Yes Sir, I Can Boogie” (18.0 m)
  • 1976: Prince Nico Mbarga “Sweet Mother” (13.0 m)
  • 1975: Queen “Bohemian Rhapsody” Queen (12.61 m)
  • 1974: Terry Jacks “Seasons in the Sun” (11.5 m)
  • 1973: Tony Orlando & Dawn “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree” (6.0 m)
  • 1972: The Pipes & Drums & Military Band of Royal Scots Dragoon Guards “Amazing Grace” (7.0 m)
  • 1971: Led Zeppelin “Stairway to Heaven” (10.0 m)
  • 1970: Mungo Jerry “In the Summertime” (30.0 m)
Resources and Related Links:
at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Tuesday, June 1, 1993

Ace of Base’s The Sign released

First posted 11/15/2010; updated 11/24/2020.

Happy Nation/The Sign

Ace of Base

Released: December 1992 HN,
June 1, 1993 TS

Peak: 12 US, 12 UK, 113 CN, 9 AU

Sales (in millions): 9.0 US, 0.6 UK, 23.0 world (includes US and UK)

Genre: dance pop

HN Happy Nation
TS The Sign

Tracks on Happy Nation: (Click for codes to singles charts.)

  1. Voulez-Vous Danser
  2. All That She Wants (5/8/93, 2 US, 1 UK, 22 AC, 17 MR, platinum single)
  3. Just Chaos *
  4. Happy Nation (11/13/93, 40 UK)
  5. Waiting for Magic
  6. Fashion Party *
  7. Wheel of Fortune (8/28/93, 20 UK)
  8. Dancer in a Daydream
  9. My Mind
  10. W.O.F. (original club mix) *
  11. Dimension of Depth *
  12. Young and Proud
  13. All That She Wants (Banghra Version)

* not on The Sign

Tracks on The Sign:

  1. All That She Wants (5/8/93, 2 US, 1 UK, 22 AC, 17 MR, platinum single)
  2. Don’t Turn Around ** (5/7/94, 1a US, 5 UK, 7 AC, gold single)
  3. Young and Proud
  4. The Sign ** (1/1/94, 1 US, 2 UK, 2 AC, platinum single)
  5. Living in Danger ** (10/22/94, 16a US, 18 UK, 35 AC)
  6. Dancer in a Daydream
  7. Wheel of Fortune (8/28/93, 20 UK)
  8. Waiting for Magic
  9. Happy Nation (11/13/93, 40 UK)
  10. Voulez-Vous Danser
  11. My Mind
  12. All That She Wants (Banghra Version)
** not on Happy Nation

Rating:

3.872 out of 5.00 (average of 15 ratings)

Awards:

About the Album:

Tracking the development of these two albums (of which each has at least two versions) is confusing. First, this was “released in Europe as Happy Nation in 1992” WK with Wheel of Fortune being the lead single in Scandanavia in the summer of 1992. However, the album didn’t really take off until All That She Wants was a #1 hit in the U.K. in the spring of 1993.

Then the album was “re-issued with a different track listing in the US as The Sign September 25, 1993.” WK Four songs were left off Happy Nation and replaced with three songs that became major hits – The Sign, Don’t Turn Around, and Living in Danger. “It’s easy to see why they were hits – the beat is relentless and the hooks are incessantly catchy.” STE

However, “Ace of Base’s strong point is not versatility – all of their hit singles have exactly the same beat. But that doesn’t matter.” STE Ace of Base “managed to create a piece of melodic Euro-disco that was a huge hit all over the world, appealing to both dance clubs and pop radio.” STE

As far as the albums go, matters were confused even more when the album was released again in Europe as The Sign and the bonus track ‘Hear Me Calling’ was added. As if this didn’t muddle the waters enough, now this new version of The Sign was then released again in the U.S. as Happy Nation: U.S. Version.

In the end, the album that really is responsible for generating multi-million in sales worldwide is the original U.S. album entitled The Sign. It featured three top 5 hits in the U.S., another top 20 hit, and two more songs that were minor hits in the U.K. Only true fans need to seek out the original Happy Nation album.

Notes: To really confuse matters, this album has been released in several variations. However, The Sign featured all the singles noted above, whereas those noted with an asterisk (*) did not appear on the original album Happy Nation.

After The Sign was released in the U.S., it was also “re-issued in Europe with the same track listing as The Sign plus the previously unreleased track ‘Hear Me Calling.’” WK In the U.S., that album was then released “at the end of 1993 as Happy Nation U.S. Version.” WK

Information on this page refers primarily to the U.S. version of The Sign, unless noted otherwise.

Resources and Related Links:

at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , ,

Monday, September 21, 1992

Abba released Gold compilation

First posted 3/27/2008; updated 9/7/2020.

Gold: Greatest Hits

Abba

Buy Here:

Recorded: 1974-1982

Released: September 21 1992

Peak: 25 US, 18 UK, 4 CN, 14 AU

Sales (in millions): 6.0 US, 5.1 UK, 34.4 world (includes US and UK)

Genre: dance pop

Tracks: (Click for codes to singles charts.)

  1. Dancing Queen (8/21/76, #1 US, #1 UK, gold single)
  2. Knowing Me, Knowing You (2/26/77, #14 US, #1 UK, #7 AC)
  3. Take a Chance on Me (2/4/78, #3 US, #1 UK, #9 AC, gold single)
  4. Mamma Mia (12/13/75, #32 US, #1 UK, #12 AC) G1
  5. Lay All Your Love on Me (7/18/81, #7 UK)
  6. Super Trouper (11/15/80, #45 US, #1 UK, #14 AC)
  7. I Have a Dream (12/15/79, #2 UK)
  8. The Winner Takes It All (8/2/80, #8 US, #1 UK, #1 AC)
  9. Money, Money, Money (11/20/76, #56 US, #3 UK, #38 AC)
  10. S.O.S. (8/9/75, #15 US, #6 UK, #19 AC) G1
  11. Chiquitita (2/3/79, #29 US, #2 UK, #15 AC)
  12. Fernando (3/27/76, #13 US, #1 UK, #1 AC) G1
  13. Voulez-Vous (7/14/79, #80 US, #40 AC)
  14. Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man after Midnight) (10/20/79, #3 UK)
  15. Does Your Mother Know (5/5/79, #19 US, #4 UK, #41 AC)
  16. One of Us (12/12/81, #3 UK, #33 AC)
  17. The Name of the Game (10/22/77, #12 US, #1 UK, #9 AC)
  18. Thank You for the Music (11/12/83, #33 UK)
  19. Waterloo (4/20/74, #6 US, #1 UK) G1

Rating:

4.568 out of 5.00 (average of 14 ratings)

Awards:

About the Album:

In the U.K., Abba released two majorly successful #1 greatest hits compilations during their career. First up was 1976’s Greatest Hits, which was one of the country’s top 10 best-selling albums ever according to the 2007 report by the Official U.K. Charts Company. The first collection had only six charted hits, including #1 U.K. songs Waterloo, Mamma Mia, and Fernando.

1979’s Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 was a much more solid compilation that represented Abba’s heyday. It featured ten songs that went top 10 in the U.K., four of which went to #1 – Dancing Queen, Take a Chance on Me, Knowing Me, Knowing You, and The Name of the Game. ‘Dancing Queen’ was also a U.S. chart topper.

However, the best compilation didn’t appear until 1993. The “19-song Gold collection was the first hits compilation prepared specifically for the CD format by the 1970s supergroup.” AMG “Appearing after a period of several years in which their music had been off the market, [it] was a welcome addition to the catalog.” AMG It weeded out non-charting and unnecessary album cuts from the first two greatest hits sets and added material released after the second collection, most notably the U.K. #1 hits The Winner Takes It All and Super Trouper. “It is still the simplest and most straightforward collection of the group's material that it is possible to buy.” AMG

Resources and Related Links:

 
at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)