New decade- new albums. The album market certainly isn't what it was once but that doesn't stop us counting down the top 100 best selling albums of the decade so far, if only so we can complain about the lack of new albums.

33 of albums on the list are greatest hits compilations so where possible I'll try to focus on albums released in this decade.....

Charts covered are 09.01.2020- 04.01.2025.

The top positions will probably be well known so no spoilers please!

100. Greatest Hits- The Platinum Collection Queen (54-84-92-99-100) 327,000 (T/S 2,581,000)
98. Hypersonic Missiles Sam Fender (72-90-72-90-99) 328,000 (T/S 442,000)
98. Timeless- The All Time Greatest Hits Bee Gees (86-82-91-98) 330,000 (T/S 454,000)
97. Good Girl Gone Bad- Rihanna (NEW) 330,000 (t/s 2,390,000)
96. Harry Styles Harry Styles (94-73-80-96) 330,000 (T/S 579,000)

The highlight in our first selection is the return of Rihanna! Who needs new music when we clearly still love her golden era from almost 20 years ago! More greatest hits from Queen and Bee Gees are still selling and the first of 3 albums from Harry makes an appearance.

95. The Diamond Collection- Post Malone (NEW) 333,000
94. Music To Be Murdered By Eminem (11-25-36-72-94) 336,000
93. Staying At Tamara's George Ezra (43-59-63-85-93) 340,000 (T/S 1,363,000)
92. The Eminem Show- Eminem (NEW) 341,000 (t/s 2,150,000)
91. Nevermind Nirvana (85-68-76-91) 346,000 (T/S 2,629,000)

Double Eminem as his 20+ year old album overtakes his 2020 album, and Post Malone’s compilation set proves a winner.

90. Hit Me Hard And Soft- Billie Eilish (NEW) 346,000
89. Without Fear Dermot Kennedy (47-37-49-69-89) 347,000 (T/S 395,000)
88. Favourite Worst Nightmare- Arctic Monkeys (95-89-88) 352,000 (T/S 1,395,000)
87. Greatest Hits Guns N Roses (84-93-84-86-87) 355,000 (T/S 2,514,000)
86. ? Xxxtentacion (44-45-59-74-86) 357,000 (T/S 597,000)

First of 4 Billie Eilish albums (and most recent) sneaks in to the countdown, and Arctic Monkeys have 3 albums on the list with this one still improving position wise year after year.

85. High Expectations Mabel (17-22-31-50-85) 367,000 (T/S 441,000)
84. The Sound Of….- The Smiths (NEW) 368,000 (t/s 908,000)
83. I Will Always Love You- The Best Of- Whitney Houston (NEW) 369,000 (T/S 506,000)
82. Short N Sweet- Sabrina Carpenter (NEW) 373,000
81. Curtain Call 2- Eminem (NEW) 376,000

A mildly exciting section with Mabel scoring the biggest faller on the survey compared to two years ago and four new entries- albeit three are GH sets. At least we have something new from Sabrina Carpenter- the saviour of 2024!

Great to see Billie's latest album showing up here - it's her best body of work to date for me and a big favourite of the decade so far overall.

80. Nirvana- Nirvana (92-80) 378,000 (t/s 1,453,000)
79. Greatest Hits….So Far Pink (89-89-79-79) 379,000 (t/s 1,500,000)
78. Definitive Collection Stevie Wonder (76-76-74-75-78) 379,000 (T/S 1,628,000)
77. Get To Know Becky Hill (27-28-34-45-77) 380,000 (T/S 414,000)
76. Seventeen Going Under- Sam Fender (58-63-76) 381,000

Sales get diverted to “Nirvana” as it accelerates up the survey at the expense of “Nevermind” which slumps. Meanwhile more GH sets show their sticking power with Pink hitting the 1.5 million mark, and a second and final showing for Sam Fender.

75. Goodbye & Good Riddance Juice WRLD (40-41-55-68-75) 382,000 (T/S 512,000)
74. Planet Her Doja Cat (74-45-55-74) 383,000
73. Singles Collection- Britney Spears (100-87-73) 388,000 (T/S 603,000)
72. Certified Lover Boy Drake (81-51-48-72) 388,000
71. Elv1s- 30 Number One Hits- Elvis Presley (93-71) 397,000 (T/S 2,349,000)

The clear winners here are Britney and Elvis who both see GH sets race up the countdown, Spears seeing her album go double platinum!

70. Heavy Is The Head Stormzy (5-18-27-43-70) 397,000 (T/S 484,000)
69. The Singles Phil Collins (93-87-75-73-69) 403,000 (T/S 780,000)
68. Happier Than Ever- Billie Eilish (67-70-68) 403,000
67. X Ed Sheeran (52-43-46-61-67) 405,000 (T/S 3,935,000)
66. The Fame- Lady Gaga (91-78-66) 406,000 (T/S 3,453,000)

Hefty faller for Stormzy, but both Phil Collins and Billie Eilish (her second appearance) both climb the chart. Poor Ed only has four albums on the rundown now, and Gaga’s only appearance is predictably for “The Fame” which is a mere half million behind “X” in total sales as it darts past it here.

65. Christmas Michael Buble (57-52-56-58-65) 414,700 (T/S 3,443,800)
64. Direct Hits 2003-2013 The Killers (63-64-60-59-64) 417,000 (T/S 1,115,000)
63. Don't Smile At Me Billie Eilish (30-35-44-44-63) 421,000 (T/S 685,000)
62. Legends Never Die Juice WRLD (18-23-30-46-62) 424,000
61. Number Ones Michael Jackson (39-32-26-33-61) 426,000 (T/S 3,157,000)

Michael Buble’s “Christmas” made its annual trek to No 1 last year but it’s actually dropping on this survey. A third album from Eilish, second from Juice WRLD and a Michael Jackson GH album is not the favoured one at present and responds by hurtling down the survey.

60. In The Lonely Hour Sam Smith (70-61-54-53-60) 431,000 (T/S 3,024,000)
59. We're All Alone In This Together Dave (36-33-37-59) 433,000
58. After Hours The Weeknd (23-33-43-40-58) 433,000
57. Red (Taylor’s Version)- Taylor Swift (81-64-57) 436,000
56. 21 Adele (98-60-64-56-56) 436,000 (T/S 5,611,000)

First of three albums from Adele holds steady (and on over 5.6 million sales) but Taylor is once again on the rise with a re-recorded “Red”. Meanwhile Smith’s debut inches past the 3 million mark

55. Piano Man- The Very Best Of Billy Joel (95-76-66-55) 444,000 (T/S 1,546,000)
54. Doo Wops & Hooligans Bruno Mars (75-65-52-54) 446,000 (T/S 2,317,000)
53. Back To Black Amy Winehouse (66-51-57-67-53) 448,000 (T/S 4,471,000)
52. Greatest Hits- God's Favourite Band Green Day (85-83-70-62-52) 463,000 (T/S 612,000)
51. Greatest Hits- Pitbull (49-51) 467,000

Rises here for Billy Joel, Amy Winehouse, and Green Day whilst Bruno and Pitbull hold more or less steady outside the top 50.

50. Stick Season- Noah Kahan (NEW) 470,000
49. Teenage Dream Katy Perry (88-77-60-49) 471,000 (T/S 1,894,000)
48. 25 Adele (94-39-42-38-48) 474,000 (T/S 4,057,000)
47. Best Of- 50 Cent (57-47) 475,000 (t/s 612,000)
46. Greatest Hits Red Hot Chili Peppers (73-69-62-47-46) 475,000 (T/S 2,173,000)

Our second biggest new entry marks the halfway point with Noah Kahan, more Adele with another 4 million selling album, whilst 50 cent provides a surprise strong seller- it took over 5 years to go platinum but then double platinum in just over 2 years!

45. 1 The Beatles (34-31-28-27-45) 477,000 (T/S 3,996,000)
44. SOS- SZA (84-44) 482,000
43. Starboy- The Weeknd (71-43) 491,000 (t/s 864,000)
42. Born To Die- Lana Del Rey (97-51-42) 492,000 (T/S 1,683,000)
41. No 6 Collaborations Project Ed Sheeran (7-14-24-30-41) 496,000 (T/S 1,004,000)

The Beatles feel the effect of sales getting diverted to their other collections and drop heavily but “1” is almost at 4 million sales, and Ed Sheeran bags himself another million seller. Strong surges up for SZA, Lana Del Rey and The Weeknd with his second album on the list.

Great rundown. Thanks for doing this

Loving this, thanks for all the posts and information.

yes amazing <3

 

always surprised at how well the Billy Joel GH streams

would never had put him as more popular than say REM, U2, Sting etc but he beats them all

The fact that there’s looking to be 8 Taylor Swift albums in the top 40 is wild (Midnights, Tortured Poets, Folklore, Evermore, 1989, 1989 TV, Reputation, Lover).

 

Guess it really is Taylor Mania

I wonder if Dua's debut album will chart

Dua’s debut is her best performing album right now

Thanks to having fake streams from

One kiss and Electricity on it