List of best-selling singles in the United States

List of best-selling singles in the United States

This is a list of best selling singles in the United States that have been certified by the Recording Industry Association of America. All of these singles have sold over 2 million copies, meaning they are all multi-platinum singles. For more information on what makes a platinum single or album, see RIAA certification.

Notes about RIAA certification

*The RIAA only certifies a record if that record company pays for its official certification; some companies do not consider this an important distinction and will not request certifications unless pressed by its active, still saleable artists. A full and complete list of RIAA-certified recordings would be a very incomplete list of popular American music.

*The RIAA only certifies a particular recording of a song. For example, sales of Elton John's original "Candle in the Wind" single are not counted towards the 1997 version's official total.

*Retroactive RIAA certification only goes back to 1958; thus, a record like Bing Crosby's "White Christmas", released in 1942 and reported in 1963 as having sold 30 million copies, and currently listed by the Guinness Book of World Records at 50 million sales, would not be eligible. Bill Haley and His Comets' "Rock Around the Clock" is assumed to have sold more than 25 million copies since 1955. According to Billboard Magazine's statistician Joel Whitburn, other pre-1958 singles that would be affected by this cutoff point include Gene Autry's "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (8 million sales reported); Crosby's "Silent Night" (7 million); Vernon Dalhart's "The Prisoner's Song" (7 million); the Mills Brothers' "Paper Doll" (6 million); Patti Page's "The Tennessee Waltz" (6 million); Gene Austin's "My Blue Heaven" (5 million); and Ben Selvin's "Dardanella" (5 million); and another 21 single releases in the 2-3 million range. (That is, assuming their respective record companies would elect to bear the optional expense of an official RIAA certification. It is unlikely, for example, that Sony BMG Music Entertainment, which absorbed RCA Records, which in turn had long ago purchased the Victor Talking Machine Company, now sees any particular advantage in precisely determining the sales for Selvin's 1920 smash hit on Victor Records.) The first officially RIAA-certified million-selling single was Perry Como's "Catch a Falling Star", in March 1958.

Over 11 million copies

* "Candle in the Wind 1997/Something About the Way You Look Tonight", Elton John

Over 8 million copies

* "We Are the World", USA for Africa [ http://www.RIAA.com ]

Over 4 million copies: in alphabetical order

* "Another One Bites the Dust", Queen
* "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You", Bryan Adams
* "Hey Jude", The Beatles
* "Hound Dog"/"Don't Be Cruel", Elvis Presley
* "I Will Always Love You", Whitney Houston
* "Let's Get it On", Marvin Gaye
* "Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix)", Los Del Rio
* "Whoomp! (There It Is)", Tag Team

Over 3 million copies: in alphabetical order

* "Apologize", Timbaland presents OneRepublic
* "Billie Jean ", Michael Jackson
* "Before He Cheats", Carrie Underwood
* "Bleeding Love", Leona Lewis
* "Crank That (Soulja Boy)", Soulja Boy
* "Don't Matter", Akon
* "Eye of the Tiger", Survivor
* "Gangsta's Paradise", Coolio feat. L.V.
* "How Do I Live", LeAnn Rimes
* "Beautiful, Christina Aguilera
* "I'll Be Missing You", Puff Daddy & Faith Evans feat. 112
* "Irreplaceable", Beyoncé
* "It's Not Over", Daughtry
* "Love Me Tender/Any Way You Want Me", Elvis Presley
* "Low", Flo Rida feat. T-Pain
* "SexyBack", Justin Timberlake

Over 2 million copies: in alphabetical order

* "4 Minutes", Madonna
* "ABC", Jackson 5
* "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now", McFadden & Whitehead
* "All Shook Up", Elvis Presley
* "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In", The 5th Dimension
* "Are You Lonesome Tonight", Elvis Presley
* "Baby Got Back", Sir Mix-a-Lot
* "...Baby One More Time", Britney Spears
* "Bad Girls", Donna Summer
* "Believe", Cher
* "Big Girls Don't Cry", Fergie
* "Blue Bayou", Linda Ronstadt
* "Bohemian Rhapsody", Queen
* "Boogie Fever", The Sylvers
* "Boogie Nights", Heatwave
* "Boogie Oogie Oogie", A Taste Of Honey
* "Can't Nobody Hold Me Down", Puff Daddy feat. Mase
* "Celebration", Kool & The Gang
* "Come Together", The Beatles
* "Crazy", Gnarls Barkley
* "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", Queen
* "Damaged"' Danity Kane
* "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy", Rod Stewart
* "Dancing Machine", Jackson 5
* "Dazzey Duks", Duice
* "Disco Duck (Part 1)", Rick Dees & His Cast Of Idiots
* "Disco Lady", Johnnie Taylor (first single ever to be certified Platinum by the RIAA -2 million units shipped-)
* "Don't Stop the Music," Rihanna
* "Elvira", Oak Ridge Boys
* "Emotion", Samantha Sang
* "Endless Love", Diana Ross & Lionel Richie
* "Enjoy Yourself", The Jacksons
* "Fantasy", Mariah Carey
* "Fergalicious", Fergie feat. will.i.am
* "Funkytown", Lipps Inc.
* "Gasolina", Daddy Yankee
* "Get Back", The Beatles
* "Girlfriend", Avril Lavigne
* "Glamorous", Fergie feat. Ludacris
* "Gold Digger", Kanye West feat. Jamie Foxx
* "Heartbreak Hotel", Elvis Presley
* "Hey There Delilah", Plain White T's
* "Hips Don't Lie", Shakira feat Wyclef Jean
* "Hot Child in the City", Nick Gilder
* "Hot Stuff", Donna Summer
* "How to Save a Life", The Fray
* "I Can't Get Next to You", The Temptations
* "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", Marvin Gaye
* "I Just Want to Be Your Everything", Andy Gibb
* "I Love Rock 'n' Roll", Joan Jett & The Blackhearts
* "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me", Supremes & Temptations
* "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)", Whitney Houston
* "I Wanna Sex You Up", Color Me Badd
* "I Want You Back", The Jackson 5
* "I Will Survive", Gloria Gaynor
* "It Takes Two", Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock
* "Islands in the Stream", Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton
* "Jailhouse Rock", Elvis Presley
* "Joy to the World", Three Dog Night
* "Jump", Kris Kross
* "Kiss and Say Goodbye", The Manhattans
* "Knock on Wood", Amii Stewart
* "Laffy Taffy", D4L
* "Let It Be", The Beatles
* "(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear/Loving You", Elvis Presley
* "Lips of an Angel", Hinder
* "My Sharona", The Knack
* "Mickey", Toni Basil
* "Mr. Big Stuff", Jean Knight
* "My Humps", The Black Eyed Peas
* "Never Can Say Goodbye", Jackson 5
* "Night Fever", The Bee Gees
* "No Air", Jordin Sparks
* "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)", Donna Summer and Barbra Streisand
* "No One", Alicia Keys
* "One Bad Apple", The Osmonds
* "One Less Bell to Answer", The 5th Dimension
* "One Sweet Day", Boyz II Men & Mariah Carey
* "O.P.P", Naughty By Nature
* "Physical", Olivia Newton-John
* "Play That Funky Music", Wild Cherry
* "Promiscuous", Nelly Furtado feat. Timbaland
* "Proud Mary", Creedence Clearwater Revival
* "Respect Yourself", The Staple Singers
* "Reunited", Peaches & Herb
* "Ring My Bell", Anita Ward
* "Rump Shaker", Wreckx-N-Effect
* "Say It Right", Nelly Furtado
* "Say, Say, Say", Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney
* "Sexual Healing", Marvin Gaye
* "Shadow Dancing", Andy Gibb
* "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)", The Jacksons
* "Shake You Down", Gregory Abbott
* "Shoulder Lean", Young Dro feat. T.I.
* "Smack That", Akon feat. Eminem
* "Someday We'll Be Together", Diana Ross & The Supremes
* "Something", The Beatles
* "Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band", Meco
* "Stay Fly", Three 6 Mafia
* "Stayin' Alive", The Bee Gees
* "Stronger", Kanye West
* "Suspicious Minds", Elvis Presley
* "Take Your Time (Do It Right) Part 1", S.O.S. Band
* "Temperature", Sean Paul
* "Tha Crossroads", Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
* "The Boy Is Mine", Brandy and Monica
* "The Long and Winding Road", The Beatles
* "The Love You Save", Jackson 5
* "The Sweet Escape", Gwen Stefani feat. Akon
* "The Way I Are", Timbaland feat. Keri Hilson
* "Too Much Heaven", The Bee Gees
* "Tragedy", The Bee Gees
* "Umbrella", Rihanna feat. Jay-Z
* "Unwritten", Natasha Bedingfield
* "Vogue", Madonna
* "We Belong Together". Mariah Carey
* "We've Only Just Begun", The Carpenters
* "We Will Rock You", Queen
* "What's Going On", Marvin Gaye
* "Wild Thing (Tone Lōc song)", Tone Lōc
* "Y.M.C.A.", Village People
* "You Light Up My Life", Debbie Boone
* "You're Beautiful", James Blunt

What makes a single?

In music, a single is a song considered commercially viable enough by the artist and record company to be released separately from an album, usually featured on an album as well.

For more information, see single.

See also

* For information about what makes a platinum album, see RIAA certification
* Lists of best-selling albums

References

External links

* [http://www.RIAA.org RIAA Website]
* [http://www.billboard.com "Billboard Magazine"] - a magazine that publishes weekly music rankings


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