And the Top 250 Best Selling Musicians of All Time Are…

While a list like the one Digital Music News just published [which came our way via Lambgoat] listing the 250 top selling musicians/bands of all time might not seem to have much relevance to the metal world, 1) it’s still fun to look at, 2) it’s a stark reminder of how much the entire music industry has changed and the small role our little tiny niche occupies within it, and 3) a good number of metal artists make appearances on the list.

So consider this: The Beatles are #1, duh. The rest of the Top 10 includes other names you’d expect to see such as Elvis Presley, Led Zeppelin and Michael Jackson. But then things get a little more topical. Some highlights you may find interesting:

#11: AC/DC (72 million)
#13: The Rolling Stones (66.5 million)
#14: Aerosmith (66.5 million)
#18: Metallica (62 million)
#20: Van Halen (56.5 million)
#30: Guns N’ Roses (44.5 million)
#46: Def Leppard (35 million)
#48: Bon Jovi (34.5 million)
#62: Ozzy Osbourne (28.75 million)
#79: ZZ Top (25 million)
#81: Rush (25 million)
#82: Nirvana (25 million)
#83: Motley Crue (25 million)

And that’s just the Top 100. Read the rest of the list of 250 here, which includes appearances by Limp Bizkit, Black Sabbath, Whitesnake, Alice in Chains, Nine Inch Nails, Scorpions and Cattle Decapitation. OK, kidding about that last one.

This list ranks album sales in the U.S., not the whole world.