Elvis Presley, recognised as the best-selling solo music artist of all time by Guinness World Records, sold over 400.
Mariah Carey (USA) has topped the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart on 19 different occasions.
The following list contains the most-streamed artists on the audio streaming platform Spotify. As of June 2023, Canadian rapper Drake is the most-streamed artist of all time on Spotify, while American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift is the most-streamed female artist.
Elvis Presley – 146.5 million units. Eagles – 101 million units. Billy Joel – 82.5 million units. Michael Jackson – 81 million units.
Over the course of Elvis' life, he achieved some of the highest accolades in music and film. It is estimated that more than one billion Elvis records have been sold worldwide, more than anyone in record industry history.
Asha Bhosle – Most recorded artist in music history
Asha Bhosle has recorded up to 11000 solo, duets and chorus backed songs and several others in over 20 Indian languages since 1947.
As of June 2023, "Blinding Lights" (2019) by Canadian singer the Weeknd is the most-streamed song of all time on Spotify, while "Dance Monkey" (2019) by Australian singer-songwriter Tones and I is the most-streamed song by a female artist.
“Lalisa” (Lisa)
The song became the most viewed in a single day on YouTube, with 73.6 million views in the first 24 hours of its release.
Frankie Laine – I Believe (18 weeks)
Famous composer Mantovani then claimed the Number 1 spot, before Frankie gave him a nudge and racked up an additional three weeks. Only five songs in history have scored three separate stints at the top!
Top-selling artists worldwide as of 2022
Perhaps unsurprisingly, British rock band The Beatles are top of the list for best-selling artists worldwide, with 183 million units certified sales. Second is Garth Brooks with over 157 million units sales, followed by Elvis Presley with 139 million units.
Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney and Phil Collins are the only musicians to have sold over 100 million albums as a solo artist and member of a group.
Gerhard Richter is at the very top of our list—the most famous living painter today. Born in 1932 in Dresden, Germany, Richter currently lives and works in Cologne, Germany.
Abel Tesfaye, more commonly known as The Weeknd, is statistically the most popular musician on the planet, and no one else even comes close. The 33-year-old Canadian singer's success has seen him set two new Guinness World Records titles: Most monthly listeners on Spotify – 111.4 million (as of 20 March 2023)
The Beatles song "Here Comes the Sun" has racked up more than 1 billion streams on Spotify. The song from the album "Abbey Road" joins 405 other songs in Spotify's Billions Club. Miley Cyrus' song "Flowers" recently became the fastest song to have gotten more than 1 billion.
Park Ji-min) reached 1 billion streams on Spotify to smash the 409-day record set by bandmate Jung Kook two months earlier. Jimin's six-track EP “FACE”, uploaded to Spotify on 24 March 2023, was the catalyst for his surge in popularity, with support from the singles “With You” (feat.
Artists need about 326 streams to make $1, and 1 billion streams equals roughly $3 million in royalties.
The Beatles have the most No. 1 hits of all time: 20. Though unclear for how long, the Beatles still reign supreme as the artist with the most No. 1 songs of all time.
“Despacito” by Luis Fonsi feat. Daddy Yankee (8.16 billion views)
Michael Jackson's Thriller, estimated to have sold 70 million copies worldwide, is the best-selling album ever. Jackson also currently has the highest number of albums on the list with five, Celine Dion has four, while the Beatles, Pink Floyd, Madonna and Whitney Houston each have three.
It's official: The Weeknd is statistically the most popular artist in the world according to Guinness World Records.
Fela Kuti recorded 46 albums as a solo artist over the course of a solo career spanning 23 years. The first solo album was recorded in 1969 and the last in 1992.
Most recorded artist in music history - Asha Bhosle
In 1974, the Guinness Book of Records had older sister Mangeshkar (now 87) down as recording the most songs in history - a staggering 25,000.