The top-selling female-fronted album of all time based on certified unit sales worldwide is currently Whitney Houston's 1992-released 'The Bodyguard Soundtrack,' with a massive 45 million copies sold. Fleetwood Mac's breakup magnum opus 'Rumors,' released in 1977, ranked second with 40 million sales, while Shania Twain's third studio effort, 1997's 'Come On Over,' ranked third - and first, when considering studio albums by a solo female artist - with 40 million.
Canadians stay in control
Alanis Morissette's 'Jagged Little Pill' and Celine Dion's 'Falling Into You', released in 1995 and 1996, respectively, followed on Shania Twain's heels with sales of 33 million and 32 million each. This translates to an all-Canadian crew securing the top three of the best-selling solo female studio albums of all time, a fact that is made even more interesting when considering that these three blockbusters were all released within the span of fewer than 30 months.
Fleetwood Mac remains in force - with a little help from TikTok
Despite being the oldest entry in the top 10, 'Rumors' enjoyed a resurgence in 2020 thanks to a viral TikTok video that prominently featured the rockers' monster hit 'Dreams.' In October 2020, the album shot its way up to number seven on the United States Billboard 200 chart, marking its return to the top 10 after 42 years. The British-American ensemble was beset by loss in November 2022, when Christine McVie - a vocalist and songwriter behind some of the band's biggest hits - passed away at the age of 79.
Adele - sole keeper of numbers from the last century
Adele's 2008 debut album '19' was an international smash in its own right, but her sophom*ore release - 2011's '21' - was the one that propelled her to stratospheric heights, reaching numbers that had not been seen in over a decade. With its 31 million copies shipped, '21' went on to become the best-selling album of the 21st Century - a gargantuan feat, amid increasingly dwindling revenues from physical album sales.
