4 ms·

There can be only 1 best selling album of all time. And that album is Thriller by Michael Jackson.

• unwind 17y ago
  Uh ... Except at each point in time, there can be a different best selling album. It's not as if it's now a universal constant, that can never change, is it? On the other hand, with the concept of "album" feeling slightly old-school, perhaps that makes it less probably that the king is ever dethroned, who knows.
  • davidmathers 17y ago
    It's not as if it's now a universal constant, that can never change, is it? I'd be willing to bet a large amount of money that it will never change. ..just checked the best selling albums list: Best seller of 90s: 42 million copies Best seller of 00s: 24 million copies Thriller: 100+ million copies
    • jollojou 17y ago
      What is your source?
      • davidmathers 17y ago
        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_albums_worldwide http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_albums_wor...
  • xsmasher 17y ago
    I doubt his record will ever be dethroned, partly due to changes in the musical landscape. There's been a great divergence in musical tastes since the 80's, probably aided by the increased availability of "niche" music that would have had too small an audience to be profitable in the past - dollars that would have gone to the #1 album are now being spread down "the long tail." Michael Jackson's popularity also seemed to cut across racial lines and some age lines in a way that doesn't happen anymore. Can you imagine the same audience listening to Mariah Carey and Snoop Dogg? Tren Reznor's fans listening to Miley Cyrus? Jackson had a genre-crossing power.