Each year, one album taps into the hearts and ears of the public on its way to topping the Billboard year-end album chart.
The best-selling album the year you were born
We compiled all the best-selling albums dating back to 1956, so you can see, and hear, which album was the soundtrack to your birth year.
Times have changed, though. In the 2010s, pop stars like Adele and Taylor Swift have dominated the charts, while in the 1950s and early 1960s, musical soundtracks and Broadway cast recordings tended to top the list.
Billboard has been tracking the top album of the year since 1956. From 1992 onward, total album sales were recorded by Nielsen SoundScan. Before 1992, the top album chart was "
2017: Ed Sheeran — "Divide"
Copies sold:
Notable singles: "Shape of You," "Perfect"
2016: Drake — "Views"
Copies sold:
Notable singles:
2015: Adele — "25"
Copies sold:
Notable singles:"Hello," target="_blank"" target="_blank"When We Were Young"
2014: Taylor Swift — "1989"
Copies sold: 3,661,000
Notable singles:" target="_blank"Shake It Off,"" target="_blank"Blank Space,"" target="_blank"Bad Blood"
2013: Justin Timberlake — "The 20/20 Experience"
Copies sold: 2,430,000
Notable singles:" target="_blank"Suit & Tie,""Mirrors" target="_blank"
2012: Adele — "21"
Copies sold: 4,410,000
Notable singles:" target="_blank"Someone Like You,"" target="_blank"Set Fire to the Rain,"" target="_blank"Rumour Has It"
2011: Adele — "21"
Copies sold: 5,824,000
Notable singles:" target="_blank"Rolling In The Deep"
2010: Eminem — "Recovery"
Copies sold: 3,415,000
2009: Taylor Swift — "Fearless"
Copies sold: 3,217,000
2008: Lil Wayne — "Tha Carter III"
Copies sold: 2,874,000
Notable singles:"Lollipop," target="_blank"" target="_blank"A Milli"
2007: Josh Groban — "Noël"
Copies sold: 3,699,000
Notable single:" target="_blank"The First Noel (feat. Faith Hill)"
2006: "High School Musical" (Soundtrack)
Copies sold: 3,719,000
Notable single:" target="_blank"Breaking Free"
2005: Mariah Carey — "The Emancipation of Mimi"
Copies sold: 4,969,000
2004: Usher — "Confessions"
Copies sold: 7,979,000
2003: 50 Cent — "Get Rich or Die Tryin'"
Copies sold: 6,536,000
Notable singles:" target="_blank"In da Club,"" target="_blank"21 Questions"
2002: Eminem — "The Eminem Show"
Copies sold: 7,608,000
2001: Linkin Park — "Hybrid Theory"
Copies sold: 4,813,000
Notable single:" target="_blank"In The End"
2000: NSYNC — "No Strings Attached"
Copies sold: 9,936,000
Notable singles:" target="_blank"Bye Bye Bye,"" target="_blank"It's Gonna Be Me"
1999: Backstreet Boys — "Millennium"
Copies sold: 9,446,000
1998: James Horner and Celine Dion — "Titanic: Music from the Motion Picture"
Copies sold: 9,338,000
Notable single:" target="_blank"My Heart Will Go On"
1997: Spice Girls — "Spice"
Copies sold: 5,302,000
Notable singles:"Wannabe," target="_blank"" target="_blank"Say You'll Be There"
1996: Alanis Morissette — "Jagged Little Pill"
Copies sold: 7,380,000
1995: Hootie and the Blowfish — "Cracked Rear View"
Copies sold: 7,020,000
1994: Elton John/Hans Zimmer — "The Lion King: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack"
Copies sold: 4,934,000
1993: Whitney Houston/Various Artists — "The Bodyguard: Original Soundtrack Album"
Copies sold: 5,460,000
Notable single:" target="_blank"I Will Always Love You"
1992: Billy Ray Cyrus — "Some Gave All"
Copies sold: 4,832,000
Notable singles:" target="_blank"Achy Breaky Heart"
1991: Mariah Carey — "Mariah Carey"
1990: Janet Jackson — "Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814"
Notable singles:" target="_blank"Miss You Much,"" target="_blank"Rhythm Nation"
1989: Bobby Brown — "Don't Be Cruel"
Notable single:" target="_blank"My Prerogative"
1988: George Michael — "Faith"
Notable singles:" target="_blank"One More Try,"" target="_blank"Father Figure"
1987: Bon Jovi — "Slippery When Wet"
1986: Whitney Houston — "Whitney Houston"
1985: Bruce Springsteen — "Born in the U.S.A."
1984: Michael Jackson — "Thriller"
Notable singles: " target="_blank"Billie Jean,"" target="_blank"Beat It"
1983: Michael Jackson — "Thriller"
1982: Asia — "Asia"
Notable single:" target="_blank"Heat of the Moment"
1981: REO Speedwagon — "Hi Infidelity"
1980: Pink Floyd — "The Wall"
Notable singles:" target="_blank"Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2)"
1979: Billy Joel — "52nd Street"
Notable single:" target="_blank"My Life"
1978: "Saturday Night Fever: The Original Movie Sound Track"
1977: Fleetwood Mac — "Rumours"
Notable singles:" target="_blank"Go Your Own Way,"" target="_blank"Don't Stop"
1976: Peter Frampton — "Frampton Comes Alive!"
Notable single:" target="_blank"Show Me The Way"
1975: Elton John — "Elton John's Greatest Hits"
Notable singles:" target="_blank"Your Song,""Daniel" target="_blank"
1974: Elton John — "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road"
Notable single:" target="_blank"Bennie and the Jets"
1973: War — "The World Is a Ghetto"
Notable single:" target="_blank"The Cisco Kid"
1972: Neil Young — "Harvest"
Notable single:" target="_blank"Heart of Gold"
1971: "Jesus Christ Superstar"
Notable single:"Superstar" target="_blank"
1970: Simon and Garfunkel — "Bridge over Troubled Water"
1969: Iron Butterfly — "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida"
Notable single:"In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" target="_blank"
1968: The Jimmy Hendrix Experience — "Are You Experienced"
Notable singles:" target="_blank"Purple Haze,"" target="_blank"Foxy Lady"
1967: The Monkees — "More of The Monkees"
Notable single:" target="_blank"I'm A Believer"
1966: Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass — "Whipped Cream & Other Delights"
Notable single:" target="_blank"A Taste of Honey"
1965: "Mary Poppins (Original Soundtrack)"
Notable singles:" target="_blank"A Spoonful of Sugar,""
1964: "Hello, Dolly! (Original Broadway Cast)"
Notable single:" target="_blank"Hello, Dolly!"
1963: "West Side Story (Soundtrack)"
Notable single:" target="_blank"I Feel Pretty"
1962: "West Side Story (Soundtrack)"
Notable single:"Maria" target="_blank"
1961: "Camelot (Original Broadway Cast)"
Notable single:" target="_blank"If Ever I Would Leave You"
1960: "The Sound of Music (Original Broadway Cast)"
1959: Henry Mancini — "Music from Peter Gunn"
Notable single:" target="_blank"Peter Gunn"
1958: "My Fair Lady (Original Broadway Cast)"
Notable single:" target="_blank"With A Little Bit of Luck"
1957: "My Fair Lady (Original Broadway Cast)"
Notable single:" target="_blank"The Rain in Spain"
1956: Harry Belafonte — "Calypso"
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