Taylor Swift Becomes First Female Artist To Sell Over 100 Million Albums In The US
With more than 105 million album sales in the US alone, Taylor Swift is the only female act to be found within a very exclusive musical club.
Taylor Swift (Credit: Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott/MCA Nashville)
Taylor Swift has added a new achievement to her already-packed CV, becoming the first female artist to exceed more than 100 million album sales in the US.
The grand total of Swift's sales, according to the Recording Industry Association Of America (RIAA), now sits at a very respectable 105 million, making her the sixth highest-selling artist in the US.
Currently, the only artists ahead of her include The Beatles (183 million album sales), Garth Brooks (162 million), Elvis Presley (146.5 million), Eagles (120 million), and Led Zeppelin (112.5 million).
However, most notable is Swift's status as being the only female to crack the ton, with her closest competitor – Mariah Carey – currently sitting at 75 million album sales as the 11th highest-selling artist.
The only other female artists in the top 30 include Barbra Streisand (68.5 million album sales, 17th place), Madonna (65.5 million, 19th place), Whitney Houston (62 million, 20th place), Celine Dion (53 million, 24th place), Shania Twain (48 million, 30th place).
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The nascent achievement also comes following a new batch of certifications for Swift, including 11x and 14x Platinum certification for her Fearless (2008) and 1989 (2014) records. A Platinum certification indicates sales of 1 million copies, with records reaching Diamond certification upon sales above 10 million.
As a result, the new certifications also cement the records' place within the top 100 highest-selling albums in the US, with 1989 tied as one the 15th best-selling records thanks to its 14 million sales, while Fearless tied for 18 with its 11 million sales.
But how does this compare with the sales in Australia?
For one thing, there's a far greater representation of female acts on the local front. While Meat Loaf's Bat Out Of Hell remains Australia's favourite album with over 1.8 million sales (and certified 26x Platinum, whereby Platinum refers to sales of 70,000 in Australia), Shania Twain's Come On Over sits in second place at 1.75 million sales.
Female-featuring acts are also represented by way of ABBA, whose Gold and The Best Of ABBA compilations boast a combined 2.3 million sales. Adele, Delta Goodrem, Alanis Morissette, Olivia Newton-John, Madonna, Celine Dion, Pink, and Tina Arena are also featured within the top 50.
Of the 50 highest-selling albums in Australia, only seven are home-grown, with John Farnham's Whispering Jack sitting in third position with 1.68 million sales and Goodrem's Innocent Eyes (1.05 million sales) the only two local albums to sell in excess of a million copies. AC/DC's Back In Black, Savage Garden's self-titled debut, and Jimmy Barnes' Soul Deep also round out the Australian representation.
Notably, Swift's one and only appearance for Australia – for her 1989 album – sees her tied for equal-33rd highest-selling album, with 750,000 copies sold.
The announcement of Swift's newest sales achievement comes just two days ahead of the release of her forthcoming 12th album, The Life Of A Showgirl, which is likely going to join her celebrated discography with millions of sales, and will quite possibly become her 14 consecutive studio release to top the ARIA charts.
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