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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.

Each year, one album taps into the hearts and ears of the public on its way to topping the Billboard year-end album chart.

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"

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Copies sold:

Notable singles: "Shape of You," "Perfect"

2016: Drake — "Views"

Copies sold:

Notable singles:

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2015: Adele — "25"

Copies sold:

2014: Taylor Swift — "1989"

Copies sold: 3,661,000

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2013: Justin Timberlake — "The 20/20 Experience"

Copies sold: 2,430,000

2012: Adele — "21"

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Copies sold: 4,410,000

2011: Adele — "21"

Copies sold: 5,824,000

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2010: Eminem — "Recovery"

Copies sold: 3,415,000

2009: Taylor Swift — "Fearless"

Copies sold: 3,217,000

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2008: Lil Wayne — "Tha Carter III"

Copies sold: 2,874,000

2007: Josh Groban — "Noël"

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Copies sold: 3,699,000

2006: "High School Musical" (Soundtrack)

Copies sold: 3,719,000

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2005: Mariah Carey — "The Emancipation of Mimi"

Copies sold: 4,969,000

2004: Usher — "Confessions"

Copies sold: 7,979,000

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2003: 50 Cent — "Get Rich or Die Tryin'"

Copies sold: 6,536,000

2002: Eminem — "The Eminem Show"

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Copies sold: 7,608,000

2001: Linkin Park — "Hybrid Theory"

Copies sold: 4,813,000

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2000: NSYNC — "No Strings Attached"

Copies sold: 9,936,000

1999: Backstreet Boys — "Millennium"

Copies sold: 9,446,000

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1998: James Horner and Celine Dion — "Titanic: Music from the Motion Picture"

Copies sold: 9,338,000

1997: Spice Girls — "Spice"

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Copies sold: 5,302,000

1996: Alanis Morissette — "Jagged Little Pill"

Copies sold: 7,380,000

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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

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1993: Whitney Houston/Various Artists — "The Bodyguard: Original Soundtrack Album"

Copies sold: 5,460,000

1992: Billy Ray Cyrus — "Some Gave All"

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Copies sold: 4,832,000

1991: Mariah Carey — "Mariah Carey"

1990: Janet Jackson — "Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814"

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1989: Bobby Brown — "Don't Be Cruel"

1988: George Michael — "Faith"

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1987: Bon Jovi — "Slippery When Wet"

1986: Whitney Houston — "Whitney Houston"

1985: Bruce Springsteen — "Born in the U.S.A."

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1984: Michael Jackson — "Thriller"

1983: Michael Jackson — "Thriller"

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1982: Asia — "Asia"

1981: REO Speedwagon — "Hi Infidelity"

1980: Pink Floyd — "The Wall"

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1979: Billy Joel — "52nd Street"

Notable single:" target="_blank"My Life"

1978: "Saturday Night Fever: The Original Movie Sound Track"

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1977: Fleetwood Mac — "Rumours"

1976: Peter Frampton — "Frampton Comes Alive!"

1975: Elton John — "Elton John's Greatest Hits"

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1974: Elton John — "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road"

1973: War — "The World Is a Ghetto"

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1972: Neil Young — "Harvest"

1971: "Jesus Christ Superstar"

1970: Simon and Garfunkel — "Bridge over Troubled Water"

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1969: Iron Butterfly — "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida"

1968: The Jimmy Hendrix Experience — "Are You Experienced"

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1967: The Monkees — "More of The Monkees"

1966: Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass — "Whipped Cream & Other Delights"

1965: "Mary Poppins (Original Soundtrack)"

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1964: "Hello, Dolly! (Original Broadway Cast)"

1963: "West Side Story (Soundtrack)"

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1962: "West Side Story (Soundtrack)"

Notable single:"Maria" target="_blank"

1961: "Camelot (Original Broadway Cast)"

1960: "The Sound of Music (Original Broadway Cast)"

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1959: Henry Mancini — "Music from Peter Gunn"

1958: "My Fair Lady (Original Broadway Cast)"

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1957: "My Fair Lady (Original Broadway Cast)"

1956: Harry Belafonte — "Calypso"

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