25 Biggest Hard Rock Albums

Plus the 45 All-Time Top Selling Hard Rock Artists 🏆 + more

Since 2016, the RIAA has included Album Equivalent Units, adding streaming and single track sales into the totals. (The Eagles Greatest Hits jumped from 29 million to 38 million with the new criteria.) The below numbers reflect the current RIAA standard.

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Top 25 All-Time Hard Rock/Metal/Punk Albums 
By RIAA Certified U.S. Album Sales 

📸: Ross Halfin

1. AC/DC, Back in Black (1980) 25 Million*

2. Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin IV (1971) 24M 

3. Pink Floyd, The Wall (1979) 23M 

4. Guns N’ Roses, Appetite for Destruction (1987) 18M 

5. Boston, Boston (1976) 17M 

6. Led Zeppelin, Physical Graffiti (1975) 16M

7. Metallica, Metallica (1991) 16M

8. Journey, Greatest Hits 15M (1988)

9. Pink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon (1973) 15M 

10. Meat Loaf, Bat Out of Hell (1977) 14M

11. Pearl Jam, Ten (1991) 13M 

12. Bon Jovi, Slippery When Wet (1986) 12M 

13. Def Leppard, Hysteria (1987) 12M

14. Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin II (1969) 12M 

15. Linkin Park, Hybrid Theory (2000) 12M 

16. Aerosmith, Aerosmith’s Greatest Hits (1980) 11M 

17. Creed, Human Clay (2000) 11M 

18. Led Zeppelin, Houses of the Holy (1973) 11M 

19. Def Leppard, Pyromania (1983) 10M 

20. Green Day, Dookie (1994) 10M 

21. Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin (1969) 10M 

22. Nickelback, All the Right Reasons (2005) 10M 

23. Nirvana, Nevermind (1991) 10M 

24. No Doubt, Tragic Kingdom (1995) 10M 

25. Smashing Pumpkins, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995) 10M 

*No. 4 on the All-Genre list. Estimated 50M worldwide.

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Top All-Time Hard Rock/Metal/Punk Artists 
By RIAA Certified U.S. Album Sales 

📸: Neal Preston

1. Led Zeppelin 112.5 million 

2. AC/DC 75 million 

3. Pink Floyd 75 million 

4. Aerosmith 66.5 million 

5. Metallica 63 million 

6. Van Halen 56.5 million 

7. Journey 48 million

8. Guns N’ Roses 44.5M

9. Queen 43M 

10. Def Leppard 35.5M 

11. Bon Jovi 34.5M 

12. Pearl Jam 31.5M 

13. Boston 31M 

14. Ozzy Osbourne 29.2M 

15. Linkin Park 28.5M 

16. Nirvana 28M 

17. Rush 26M 

18. Creed 25M 

19. Mötley Crüe 25M 

20. Red Hot Chili Peppers 25M 

21. Green Day 24M 

22. Nickelback 24M 

23. Jimi Hendrix 23M 

24. Heart 22.5M 

25. Kiss 21M 

26. Smashing Pumpkins 19.7M 

27. Stone Temple Pilots 17.5M 

28. Korn 16.5M 

29. Limp Bizkit 16.5M

30. Black Sabbath 15M 

31. No Doubt 15M 

32. The Offspring 14.5M

33. Poison 14.5M 

34. The Cranberries 14.5M 

35. Ted Nugent 14M

36. 3 Doors Down 13M

37. Alice In Chains 12.5M 

38. Tool 12.5M 

39. Whitesnake 12.5M 

40. Live 12M 

41. Disturbed 11.5M 

42. Bush 10.5M 

43. Nine Inch Nails 10.5M 

44. Scorpions 10.5M 

45. Blink-182 10M 

46. Evanescence 10M 

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The Week’s Most-Streamed Artists 
Top 50 Hard Rock, Metal, Punk, Etc. 
Apr 23, 2021 - Apr 29, 2021 

1. Queen* 22.6M Total Song Streams (Top Song: “Bohemian Rhapsody”) 

2. AC/DC 18.9M (Top Song: “Thunderstruck”) 

3. Twenty One Pilots 18.6M (“Shy Away”) 

4. Linkin Park 17M (“In the End”)

5. Panic! At The Disco 16.7M (“High Hopes”) 

6. Red Hot Chili Peppers 16M (“Under the Bridge”) 

7. Metallica 15.8M (“Enter Sandman”) 

8. Led Zeppelin 15.1M (“Stairway to Heaven”)  

9. Five Finger Death Punch 14M (“Blue on Black”) 

10. Nirvana 13.8M (“Smells Like Teen Spirit”) 

11. Fall Out Boy 13.7M (“Sugar, We’re Goin Down”) 

12. Pink Floyd 13.4M (“Wish You Were Here”) 

13. Green Day 13M (“Basket Case”) 

14. Blink-182 10.7M (“All the Small Things”) 

15. Guns N’ Roses 10.7M (“Sweet Child O’ Mine”) 

16. Three Days Grace 10.6M (“(I Hate) Everything About You”)

17. 5 Seconds Of Summer 10.6M (“Youngblood”) 

18. Journey 10.5M (“Don’t Stop Believin”) 

19. Disturbed 10.3M (“The Sound of Silence”) 

20. Shinedown 10.2M (“Simple Man”) 

21. Paramore 10.1M (“Misery Business”) 

22. Weezer 10M (“Island in the Sun”) 

23. Aerosmith 9.4M (“Dream On”) 

24. My Chemical Romance 9.1M (“Teenagers”) 

25. Van Halen 9M (“Jump”) 

26. Slipknot 8.9M (“Duality”) 

27. Breaking Benjamin 8.8M (“The Diary of Jane”) 

28. Foo Fighters 8.7M (“Everlong”) 

29. All Time Low 8.5M (“Monsters” ft. Blackbear) 

30. System Of A Down 7.9M (“Chop Suey!”) 

31. Bon Jovi 7.9M (“Livin’ on a Prayer”) 

32. Pearl Jam 7.8M (“Black”) 

33. Nickelback 7.8M (“How You Remind Me”) 

34. Korn 7.8M (“Coming Undone”) 

35. Bring Me The Horizon 7.4M (“Can You Feel My Heart”) 

36. Mötley Crüe 7.1M (“Kickstart My Heart”) 

37. Def Leppard 7M (“Pour Some Sugar On Me”) 

38. Avenged Sevenfold 7M (“Hail to the King”) 

39. Alice In Chains 6.9M (“Man in the Box”) 

40. Skillet 6.8M (“Monster”) 

41. Tool 6.7M (“Sober”) 

42. Godsmack 6.3M (“Bulletproof”) 

43. A Day To Remember 6.3M (“If It Means a Lot to You”) 

44. Seether 6.2M (“Fake It”) 

45. Falling In Reverse 6.2M (“Popular Monster”) 

46. 3 Doors Down 6M (“Kryptonite”) 

47. The Offspring 6M “Self Esteem”) 

48. Ozzy Osbourne 5.7M (“Crazy Train”) 

49. Papa Roach 5.7M (“Last Resort”) 

50. Theory Of A Deadman 5.1M (“Rx (Medicate)”) 

*No. 69 all-genre 
(Source: Rolling Stone)

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Top 30 Hard Rock, Metal, Punk, Etc. 
All Time Digital Singles - By RIAA Certified Units 

1. Twenty One Pilots* 44M 

2. Panic! At The Disco 32.5M 

3. Queen 32.5M 

4. Linkin Park 30M 

5. Fall Out Boy 26M 

6. Paramore 17M 

7. Three Days Grace 14M 

8. Breaking Benjamin 12.5M 

9. Daughtry 12.5M 

10. Shinedown 12.5M 

11. 3 Doors Down 10.5M 

12. Bon Jovi 10.5M 

13. Skillet 10M 

14. 5 Seconds Of Summer 9.5M 

15. Foo Fighters 8.5M 

16. Survivor 8M 

17. Theory Of A Deadman 8M 

18. Red Hot Chili Peppers 7.5M 

19. My Chemical Romance 7M 

20. Plain White T’s 7M 

21. No Doubt 6.5M 

22. Muse 6M 

23. Chevelle 5.5M 

24. Green Day 5.5M 

25. The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus 5.5M 

26. Disturbed 5M 

27. Evanescence 5M 

28. Journey 5M 

29. Portugal. The Man 5M 

30. The All-American Rejects 5M 

*No. 27 All Genre 

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Keep up with my bullshit.

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1. Updated November 20, 2021