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The singers with the most ever sales in history: the Top 10

With the introduction and success of digital platforms, the way of releasing music and albums has also totally changed, as has the method of certifying sales.

Who are the female artists who have sold the most records and singles in history? It is possible to make a ranking from some authoritative sources such as Billboard, Rolling Stone, MTV, VH1, the Recording Industry Association of America and, finally, even Guinness World Records.

Here are the Top Ten best-selling singers in music history.

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The singers with the most sales in the world: the Top Ten
Who are the female artists who have sold the most records and singles (both physical and digital) in history? It is possible to make a ranking from some authoritative sources such as Billboard, Rolling Stone, MTV, VH1, the Recording Industry Association of America and, finally, even Guinness World Records. Here are the Top 10 best-selling singers in music history. However, it must be kept in mind that the figures are constantly changing and that, especially in the top positions, the numbers can fluctuate as it is complex to determine the exact number of sales.
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10. P!nk (135 million sales approx.)
P!nk surprisingly excludes from the top 10 two extraordinary artists such as Lady Gaga and Adele, 11th and 12th on the charts 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 her 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 (140 million sales approx.)
With a powerful voice and unique vocal timbre, Shirley Bassey has achieved worldwide popularity thanks to her songs included in the soundtrack of several movies based on the saga of James Bond. Numerous artists have written songs for her: among them, Elton John.
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9. Donna Summer (140 million sales approx.)
Also tied with Shirley Bassey is the unforgettable Donna Summer, who unfortunately died in 2012. The queen of Disco Music still makes so many people dance thanks to extraordinarily successful songs such as "I Feel Love". Donna Summer during her incredible career also won 5 Grammy Awards.
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8. Katy Perry (143 million sales approx.)
One success after another, starting with "I Kissed a Girl" in 2008. Katy Perry is one of the leading figures of the pop world, capable of achieving incredible results: for example, the California singer holds the record (formerly of Michael Jackson) for the most consecutive weeks spent in the Billboard 100: between May 2010 and September 2011, she remained there for 69 weeks, placing five different singles on the charts.
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7. Barbra Streisand (150 million sales approx.)
An institution: Barbra Streisand is a worldwide icon of show business, one of the very few people to be part of the EGOT group , that is, those people who are able to obtain at least one Emmy Award, one Grammy Award, one Oscar and one Tony Award.
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6. Beyoncé (200-160 million sales approx.)
Beyoncé recently achieved yet another record in her career: she has become the artist with the most Grammy Awards won ever, 32, 22 of them solo. In Beyoncé's case, one must also take into account her success with Destiny's Child, certified with around 60 million sales between the group's records and singles.
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5. Taylor Swift (200-170 million sales approx.)
Taylor Swift's career started very early, but since her debut her success has been extraordinary: for example, her first album stayed on the US charts for 275 weeks, with a total of 5 million copies sold. On 31 October 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 ( 200-175 million sales approx.)
Céline Dion is much loved by her audience, which has never left her alone, especially during the most difficult times such as the death of her husband René Angélil. Her sublime voice has allowed her to total incredible numbers in both sales and awards received in her career.
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3. Mariah Carey (220-200 million sales approx.)
An undisputed star of world music, Mariah Carey also contributed to the establishment of hip hop, introducing this genre of music to a much wider audience. Mariah Carey is also the singer with the most records sold in the 1990s, a period in which she remained on the Billboard 100 for 467 weeks.
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3. Whitney Houston (220-200 million sales approx.)
Tied with Mariah Carey in third place is Whitney Houston, who unfortunately also died in 2012. The singer conquered record after record thanks to her beautiful voice and in 2006 Guinness World Records declared her 'the most awarded and famous artist of all time'.
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2. Rihanna (220-200 million sales approx.)
Throughout her career Rihanna has never ceased to be popular worldwide, despite stepping away from the music business on more than one occasion over the years. Rihanna is the third artist to have the most number one hits on the US charts, surpassing Michael Jackson (13 singles) and ranking behind only Mariah Carey (19 singles) and The Beatles (20 singles).
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1. Madonna (345-330 million sales approx.)
At the (possibly) unreachable top is Madonna, who is also according to Guinness World Records the best-selling female artist in music history. In 2015, thanks to the single 'Ghosttown', Madonna became the artist with the most number one singles on a music chart (45) - a simply incredible career!
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