Johnny Cash. To date, the Man in Black has released a jaw-dropping 167 albums, although 104 of those albums are compilations (making him the official compilation heavyweight champion of the world).
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.
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.
As of June 22, 2023, The Beatles have the highest total certified albums and Drake has the highest total certified digital singles.
The number in parentheses indicates the total of number-one hits for that band on this chart. With a total of 18 songs, Shinedown hold the record for the most number-ones songs.
It was never a hit single and got almost no play on Top 40 radio. There's even a dispute over the exact title. Yet “It's a Small World,” also known as “It's a Small, Small World” and “It's a Small World (After All),” is very likely the most played song in music history — nearly 50 million times.
Michael Jackson
As the King of Pop, it makes sense to begin the list with Michael Jackson. The legendary singer achieved fame at a young age through his musical family and their group the Jackson 5. This led him to regular studio work and performances across the Midwest, notably through Motown Records.
25 by Adele is the fastest-selling album of all time in the US with 3,378,000 copies sold in its first seven days.
The Beatles have the most No. 1 hits of all time: 20.
As of July 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.
The champion of creating long albums is Bull of Heaven, an experimental outfit that holds the record for the longest album ever made. The project, formed by Clayton Counts and Neil Keener, released 310: ΩΣPx0(2^18×5^18)p*k*k*k in 2014, which is 3.343 quindecillion years long. How they achieved such a feat is baffling.
Post Malone holds the record for the most diamond-certified songs with eight to his name.
Elvis Presley tops the chart with combined sales of over 21.7 million singles. And despite his tragic death in 1977, Elvis' legacy lives on strongly in the UK. Over the last decade, The King Of Rock And Roll has sold over 5.7 million albums and 2.2 million singles (this includes 1.3 million track downloads).
With 146.5 million cumulative Album Awards, spanning 101 separate Gold (or higher) albums, Elvis has earned the most Gold Album Awards of any artist in RIAA history.
"Old Town Road" holds the record for the longest stretch at No. 1 with 19 weeks. It also became the fastest song in history to be certified diamond.
1. Thriller - Michael Jackson. Heading this list, we have one of the greatest albums of all time, and it's not hard to see why. The album, which was released in 1982, shows hues of post-disco and rock tunes and features a collection of timeless hits, including Beat It, Billie Jean, and the title track Thriller.
Coincidentally, Michael Jackson's Bad and Katy's Teenage Dream are the only albums in US chart history to each score five Number 1s on the Billboard Hot 100.
Speaking to OfficialCharts.com, Queen guitarist Brian May says: “We're here to bring you the joyous news that Queen's Greatest Hits album has sold 7 million copies, which nobody has ever done before. No album has done this before in history.
It is estimated that Elvis Presley sold over one billion records worldwide. His biggest selling single was " Suspicious Minds ," which was released in 1969. The single sold over two million copies in the United States alone and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America.