The Recording Industry Association of America
(116) Top-Selling Singles


(Totals are derived from cumulative U.S. singles sales totals only)





Over 11 million   (1)

  • "Candle In The Wind" (1997)   Elton John


    Over 8 million   (1)

  • "We Are The World"   USA for Africa


    Over 4 million   (7)

  • "I Will Always Love You"   Whitney Houston
  • "Macarena"   Los Del Rio
  • "Whoomp! (There It Is)"   Tag Team
  • "Hey Jude"   Beatles
  • "Hound Dog" / "Don't Be Cruel"   Elvis Presley
  • "Another One Bites The Dust"   Queen
  • "Low"   Flo Rida


    Over 3 million   (12)

  • "How Do I Live"   LeAnn Rimes
  • "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You"   Bryan Adams
  • "Gangsta's Paradise"   Coolio
  • "I'll Be Missing You"   Puff Daddy & Faith Evans
  • "Love Me Tender" / "Any Way You Want Me"   Elvis Presley
  • "Since U Been Gone"   Kelly Clarkson
  • "Eye of the Tiger"   Survivor
  • "Hot N Cold"   Katy Perry
  • "Viva la Vida"   Coldplay
  • "Stronger"   Kanye West
  • "I Kissed a Girl"   Katy Perry
  • "Apologize"   Timbaland



    Over 2 million   (95)   (In alphabetical order by song title)

  • "4 Minutes"   Madonna
  • "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now"   McFadden & Whitehead
  • "All Shook Up"   Elvis Presley
  • "Another One Bites the Dust"   Queen
  • "Are You Lonesome Tonight"   Elvis Presley
  • "Baby Got Back"   Sir Mix-a-Lot
  • "Bad Day"   Daniel Powter
  • "Bad Girls"   Donna Summer
  • "Before He Cheats"   Carrie Underwood
  • "Big Girls Don't Cry"   Fergie
  • "Black Water"   Doobie Brothers
  • "Blue Bayou"   Linda Ronstadt
  • "Boogie Nights"   Heatwave
  • "Boogie Oogie Oogie"   A Taste of Honey
  • "Can't Nobody Hold Me Down"   Puff Daddy
  • "Car Wash"   Rose Royce
  • "Celebration"   Kool & the Gang
  • "Crazy"   Gnarls Barkley
  • "Cyclone"   Baby Bash
  • "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy"   Rod Stewart
  • "Dani California"   Red Hot Chili Peppers
  • "Dazzey Duks"   Duice
  • "Disco Duck (Part 1)"   Rick Dees & His Cast Of Idiots
  • "Disco Lady"   Johnnie Taylor
  • "Disturbia"   Rihanna
  • "Don't Stop the Music"   Rihanna
  • "Elvira"   Oak Ridge Boys
  • "Emotion"   Samantha Sang
  • "Endless Love"   Diana Ross & Lionel Richie
  • "Fantasy"   Mariah Carey
  • "Fergalicious"   Fergie
  • "Funkytown"   Lipps Inc.
  • "Get Back"   Beatles
  • "Girlfriend"   Avril Lavigne
  • "Glamorous"   Fergie
  • "Gold Digger"   Kanye West
  • "Grease"   Frankie Valli
  • "Heartbreak Hotel" / "I Was the One"   Elvis Presley
  • "Hips Don't Lie"   Shakira
  • "Hot Child in the City"   Nick Gilder
  • "Hot Stuff"   Donna Summer
  • "How Do U Want It" / "California Love"   2Pac
  • "How to Save a Life"   The Fray
  • "I Love Rock 'n' Roll"   Joan Jett & The Blackhearts
  • "I Wanna Sex You Up"   Color Me Badd
  • "I Will Survive"   Gloria Gaynor
  • "I'm Yours"   Jason Mraz
  • "Irreplaceable"   Beyoncé
  • "Islands in the Stream"   Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton
  • "Jailhouse Rock"   Elvis Presley
  • "Jump"   Kris Kross
  • "Kiss and Say Goodbye"   The Manhattans
  • "Kiss Kiss   Chris Brown
  • "Knock on Wood"   Amii Stewart
  • "Le Freak"   Chic
  • "Let It Be"   Beatles
  • "(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear" / "Loving You"   Elvis Presley
  • "Love Song (Sara Bareilles song)"   Sara Bareilles
  • "Mickey"   Toni Basil
  • "Mr. Big Stuff"   Jean Knight
  • "Night Fever"   Bee Gees
  • "No One"   Alicia Keys
  • "One Sweet Day"   Boyz II Men & Mariah Carey
  • "O.P.P"   Naughty By Nature
  • "Paralyzer"   Finger Eleven
  • "Physical"   Olivia Newton-John
  • "Play That Funky Music"   Wild Cherry
  • "Pocketful of Sunshine"   Natasha Bedingfield
  • "Reunited"   Peaches & Herb
  • "Rump Shaker"   Wreckx-N-Effect
  • "SexyBack"   Justin Timberlake
  • "Shadow Dancing"   Andy Gibb
  • "Shake It"   Metro Station
  • "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)"   Jacksons
  • "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)"   Beyonce
  • "Smack That"   Akon
  • "Something"   Beatles
  • "Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band"   Meco
  • "Stayin' Alive"   Bee Gees
  • "Take Your Time (Do It Right) Part 1"   S.O.S. Band
  • "Tha Crossroads"   Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
  • "The Boy Is Mine"   Brandy and Monica
  • "Too Much Heaven"   Bee Gees
  • "Tragedy"   Bee Gees
  • "Umbrella"   Rihanna
  • "Unwritten"   Natasha Bedingfield
  • "Vogue"   Madonna
  • "We Are the Champions"   Queen
  • "What I've Done"   Linkin Park
  • "Whatever You Like"   T.I.
  • "When Doves Cry"   Prince
  • "Wild Thing"   Tone Loc
  • "Y.M.C.A."   Village People
  • "You Light Up My Life"   Debby Boone
  • "You're Beautiful"   James Blunt
  • "You're the One That I Want"   John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John




  • (Source:  Recording Industry Association of America)

    ABOUT THE RIAA: The Recording Industry Association of America, which represents U.S. record companies, has been the official certification agency for single and album certifications since 1958. The gold award is bestowed on albums that have shipped 500,000 units. The RIAA added platinum awards, signifying shipments of one million copies, in 1976, multiplatinum awards, for 2 million units and above, in 1984, and Diamond awards, 10 million units for a single title, in 1999.

    * The RIAA only certifies a record if that record company pays for its official certification; some companies do not consider this an important distinction and will not request certifications unless pressed by its active, still saleable artists. A full and complete list of RIAA-certified recordings would be a very incomplete list of popular American music.

    * The RIAA only certifies a particular recording of a song. For example, sales of Elton John's original "Candle in the Wind" single are not counted towards the 1997 version's official total.

    * Retroactive RIAA certification only goes back to 1958; thus, a record like Bing Crosby's "White Christmas", released in 1942 and reported in 1963 as having sold 30 million copies, and currently listed by the Guinness Book of World Records at 50 million sales, would not be eligible. Bill Haley and His Comets' "Rock Around the Clock" is assumed to have sold more than 25 million copies since 1955. According to Billboard Magazine's statistician Joel Whitburn, other pre-1958 singles that would be affected by this cutoff point include Gene Autry's "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (8 million sales reported); Crosby's "Silent Night" (7 million); Vernon Dalhart's "The Prisoner's Song" (7 million); the Mills Brothers' "Paper Doll" (6 million); Patti Page's "The Tennessee Waltz" (6 million); Gene Austin's "My Blue Heaven" (5 million); and Ben Selvin's "Dardanella" (5 million); and another 21 single releases in the 2-3 million range. (That is, assuming their respective record companies would elect to bear the optional expense of an official RIAA certification. It is unlikely, for example, that Sony BMG Music Entertainment, which absorbed RCA Records, which in turn had long ago purchased the Victor Talking Machine Company, now sees any particular advantage in precisely determining the sales for Selvin's 1920 smash hit on Victor Records.) The first officially RIAA-certified million-selling single was Perry Como's "Catch a Falling Star", in March 1958.

    * Prior to 1989, singles were awarded with a Gold certification for sales of 1,000,000 units and a Platinum certification for sales of 2,000,000 units. For certification dates after January 1, 1989, a Gold award represents sales of 500,000 units and a Platinum award represents sales of 1,000,000 units.













    It's very interesting who earned their way onto these lists...
    it's interesting who did not!  I suppose these RIAA certified
    lists may help put many, many things more clearly into perspective.









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