Elvis Presley or Michael Jackson: Who is the best-selling solo artist of all time?

Who is the best-selling musical artist of all time? This is always an interesting question and subject of debate. It has been widely reported by different media outlets that both The Beatles and Elvis Presley have sold one billion records worldwide many years ago. A few years later, around 2012, reports started to emerge that Michael Jackson sold over a billion records too. Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) was one of the first organizations to report this figure. What is the truth in all of this? Did any of these artists sell a billion records worldwide or not?

Artists and their records sales are the subjects of many exaggerated, and outright false claims. Records companies are often noted for overstating an artist’s claimed sales to enhance the reputation of their artist. Record labels also hope to increase their own stock by exaggerating an artist’s claimed sales. Let’s start with Elvis Presley. In 1972, The Tampa Tribune reported that Elvis Presley had sold 200 million records worldwide. In 1977, the same year of Presley’s death, the Guardian reported that the singer sold more than 260 million records. In 1997, The Irish Times reported that Elvis Presley sold 100 Million records worldwide in 20 years since his death in 1977, thus bringing his total claimed sales to 360 Million. If we factor in the pace at which Elvis’ records are selling, it is safe to assume that since 1997, Elvis has not sold another 100 million records, or anywhere near that figure. With this being the case, from where have these claimed sales of a billion records come from? Where does Elvis get the other 640 million records from? Some point a finger at Ernst Jorgensen, Elvis fan and Elvis historian, who’s responsible for Presley‘s catalog at Sony, for the inflated claimed sales. There are many articles that parrot these wild claimed sales figures. These articles are well known among Elvis fans. Written by Nick Keene, Tony Galvin, and Ernst Jorgensen himself, on multiple occasions, they all follow the same false narrative and conclude the same thing: Elvis is the top-selling solo artist of all time with a billion claimed sales. Similarly in 2006, Raymone Bain, Michael Jackson’s publicist at that time, claimed that Jackson sold 750 million copies worldwide.

Record sales are often estimated on the basis of the sum total of all available certifications of an artist. If we calculate the total available certification of the top three best-selling artists, as of October 2021, the total available certifications for the Beatles, Elvis Presley, and Michael Jackson are 285.8 million, 229.1 million, and 244 million respectively. So while comparing the total available certifications of both Elvis and Jackson, Jackson is ahead by 14.9 Million units.

Those who claim Elvis is still the best-selling solo artist have two arguments in an attempt to justify their claims. The first argument is that there was no certification system or online database in any consumer markets in the world, except the USA at the time in the ’50s and ’60s, which would have been Elvis’ biggest selling market anyway. The second argument is that because Elvis has more gold and platinum records in the USA, there could be many more records that haven’t been fully certified. The threshold for RIAA a Gold certification is 500k in record sales and for a platinum certification, it’s 1 million. They argue that there could be up to 640 million records that are unaccounted for because his records could be under certified,

If we take both of these arguments into consideration, we can see that these same arguments also apply to Michael Jackson’s certified sales as well. For example, Jackson’s solo records released between 1971 to 1977 weren’t certified in the USA even though RIAA was already established in the ’50s. This is because Jackson’s then-record label’s founder, Berry Gordy, refused to allow any certifications or sales figures for Motown records to be released until 1977. Furthermore, countries like Japan, the world’s second-largest music market, only started to certify records in 1989 only, after the release of blockbuster albums like Off the Wall, Thriller, and Bad. Similarly, countries like Australia, Austria, Mexico, Brazil, Belgium, Italy only started to certify records in the ’90s and ‘00’s. This would affect Jackson far more than it would affect The Beatles or Elvis Presley.

If we examine the total available certification for Elvis Presley, we can see that 199.650 million out of 229.1 million of Presley’s total available certifications are from the United States, which accounts for more than 87% of the total available certifications for Elvis Presley followed by 17.715 million in the UK. This means 95% of Elvis Presley’s total available certifications are generated from these two English-speaking markets, thus proving Elvis Presley was not a blockbuster success beyond these two countries. It’s important to keep in mind that from the 1950s to the late-1970’s that these two markets held about 70% shares in the world of music sales.

In comparison, when one deep dives Michael Jackson’s total available certification, they can see 150.3 million out of 244. million total available sales are from the USA. That is roughly 62% of Jacksons’ total available certifications, followed by 36.095 million in the UK. This means 76% of Jackson’s total available certifications are generated from these two markets, and the market share of these two countries was less than 50% in the ’80s and ’90s. This proves that when it comes to global success, Jackson is way ahead of Elvis Presley. Presley’s Popularity was limited to English-speaking countries. When it comes to album sales outside the USA and the UK, this is the same story for the Beatles as well. Outside of these two markets, Madonna has sold more records than both the Beatles and Elvis and has become a real contender to Jackson, although this is partial because she has released far more albums than Jackson has. Elvis didn’t tour much outside of the USA. Both Jackson and Madonna have toured extensively outside the USA and English-speaking markets. Music of the ’50s or ’60s doesn’t get worldwide exposure like the music of the ’80s or ’90s, these are some of the reasons that have contributed to the success of Michael Jackson and Madonna beyond English-speaking markets.

So, have any of these artists sold a billion records? That’s not likely. Who is the best-selling solo artist of all time? Considering the facts, all of the arguments, and total available certification from all the available markets discussed here, the best-selling solo artist, with over 500-million records sold, is Michael Jackson. Elvis Presley has sold about 450 million records, give or take. And the Beatles remains the best-selling artist of all time with sales of up to 550 million records worldwide.