Top 10 Best-Selling Country Albums of All Time
From Johnny Cash to Dolly Parton to Shania Twain…we hate to admit it but deep inside we darn love our good ole country music!
When vinyl made its resurgence in 2006, country music artists have also caught on with the craze and released some albums on vinyl. This is especially easy for musicians these days because they can have custom vinyl records in 100 units or even less.
If you’re planning to own one or two, you might as well choose the most sought-after country albums of all time to be sure you’re getting
#10 GREATEST HITS – WAYLON JENNINGS
Year: 1979
Weeks spent at No. 1 for Top Country Albums: 16
Copies sold: 5,300,000
The 1979 compilation album was released in the month of April through his record label, RCA Nashville. Just like the many albums he has released before it, it topped the Billboard’s Top Country Albums at no. 1, becoming his eighth consecutive album to do so. It bore most of Jenning’s iconic tracks like “Amanda”, “I’ve Always Been Crazy”, and “I’m a Ramblin’ Man”.
#9 ALWAYS & FOREVER – RANDY TRAVIS
Year: 1987
Weeks spent at No. 1 for Top Country Albums: 43
Copies sold: 5,500,000
Randy’s best-selling album “Always & Forever” was released by Warner Bros. Nashville. A month and more after its release, it topped the charts for 10 consecutive weeks and continued to top the charts for 25 weeks in its year of release. This album holds many singles that also topped Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart like “I Told You So”, “Forever and Ever, Amen”, and “Too Gone Too Long”.
#8 SOME HEARTS – CARRIE UNDERWOOD
Year: 2005
Weeks spent at No. 1 for Top Country Albums: 27
Copies sold: 7,785,000
“Some Hearts” is Underwood’s studio debut album that topped the Top Country Albums chart all throughout 2005 to 2007 for 27 weeks. The album includes singles like “Jesus, Take the Wheel”, “Don’t Forget to Remember Me”, “Wasted”, and “Before He Cheats”, which reached no.1 in the Country Songs’ chart.
#7 ‘O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU SOUNDTRACK – VARIOUS ARTISTS
Year: 2000
Weeks spent at No. 1 for Top Country Albums: 35
Copies sold: 8,875,800
The artists for this album soundtrack was already done recording even before the film’s actors started filming. This was because of the crucial role the soundtrack played for the film’s production. The album was produced by famous guitarist, T-Bone Burnett, featuring famed bluegrass artists like The Stanley Brothers, John Hartford, and Ralph Stanley.
#6 PATSY CLINE’S GREATEST HITS – PATSY CLINE
Year: 1967
Weeks spent at No. 1 for Top Country Albums: Never reached no.1
Copies sold: 10,000,000
Though Patsy’s compilation album of her greatest hits never reached no. 1 in Billboard’s Top Country Albums, it’s copies were sold out. In 2005, it reached the 10 million mark and became the highest selling album that never charted on the Billboard 200. In addition, Patsy Cline’s Greatest Hits was the greatest selling album of a female country artist until Shania Twain’s “The Woman In Me” in 1995.
#5 FEARLESS – TAYLOR SWIFT
Year: 2008
Weeks spent at No. 1 for Top Country Albums: 35
Copies sold: 12,000,000
Taylor Swift has had many great country albums that contained songs 2000 babies would surely never forget. One of these great albums is Taylor’s “Fearless” album, her best-selling and second studio album. This album contains her famous songs “Fearless”, “You Belong With Me”, “Love Story”, “Hey Stephen”, “Fifteen” and more.
#4 KENNY ROGERS’ GREATEST HITS – KENNY ROGERS
Year: 1980
Weeks spent at No. 1 for Top Country Albums: 11
Copies sold: 13,155,000
The celebrated country artist released his second compilation filled with his greatest hits in September of 1980 through Liberty Records. The album topped both Pop and Country charts in the US at no.1 and has achieved RIAA’s diamond certification. It contains 12 different hits like “Lady”, “You Decorated My Life”, and “The Gambler”.
#3 WIDE OPEN SPACES – DIXIE CHICKS
Year: 1998
Weeks spent at No. 1 for Top Country Albums: 7
Copies sold: 13,710,000
Dixie Chicks fourth studio album was also their debut album after signing under a major record label. Since 2003, the album has received a diamond certification after shipping more than 13 million copies all around the world. And at the 41st Grammy Awards, the album was awarded as the Best Country Album while its track “There’s Your Trouble” was awarded the Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.
#2 NO FENCES – GARTH BROOKS
Year: 1990
Weeks spent at No. 1 for Top Country Albums: 41
Copies sold: 18,845,000
With the numerous best-selling country albums Brooks has put out, we have picked the best of the best. His second studio album “No Fences” has remained as his best-selling album with 18 million copies sold and shipped in the US and more than 800,000 copies to the rest of the world. The album did not only enter Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart, it also entered Billboard 200 peaking at no.3.
#1 COME ON OVER – SHANIA TWAIN
Year: 1997
Weeks spent at No. 1 for Top Country Albums: 49
Copies sold: 37,309,958
Though Twain’s 1995 album, “The Woman In Me”, was her first album to break Patsy’s record, her third studio album has already surpassed that. The album already has a double diamond certification from RIAA and has also stayed at Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart for 49 weeks, making it the album with most weeks spent at No.1 in this list.
Which one of these would you buy if you have all the money in the world?