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List of best-selling singles in the United States

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This list compiles the best-selling singles in the United States, based on reported sales figures. Some of the singles have been certified by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). In music, a single is a song considered commercially viable enough by the artist and record company to be released separately from an album, usually featured on an album as well. For more information, see single.

  • The RIAA certifies a record only 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. Remixes, live and other versions count as separate.
  • Prior to 1989, physical singles were awarded with a Gold certification for shipments of 1,000,000 units and a Platinum certification for shipments of 2,000,000 units. For certification dates since January 1, 1989, a Gold award represented shipments of 500,000 units and a Platinum award represented shipments of 1,000,000 units.
  • Since May 9, 2013, RIAA certifications for singles in the "digital" category include on-demand audio and/or video song streams in addition to downloads.[1] The current formula since February 1, 2016 is 150 on-demand streams = 1 song download.[2]
  • Physical sales figures backed by RIAA certifications may be inaccurate as physical singles can be "overcertified" (sell less copies than were shipped to stores) or "undercertified" (sell beyond their current certification level and not receive a new certification).

Physical singles

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Elton John's "Candle in the Wind 1997" is the best-selling physical single in the United States since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking music sales in 1991.

All of these physical singles have sold over four million copies according to either reliable third-party claims or RIAA multi-platinum certifications.

Song Artist(s) Release year Claimed sales
(million)[A] 		No. of times Platinum[3]
"Candle in the Wind 1997" Elton John 1997 8.84[4] 11×
"We Are the World" USA for Africa 1985 8[5] 4×
"Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" Gene Autry 1949 7[6] None
"Paper Doll" The Mills Brothers 1943 6[7] None
"The Tennessee Waltz" Patti Page 1948 6[7] None
"Hound Dog" / "Don't Be Cruel" Elvis Presley 1956 5[8] 4×
"That Silver Haired Daddy of Mine" Gene Autry 1935 5[9] None
"The Ballad of the Green Berets" Barry Sadler 1966 5[10] None
"Dardanella" Ben Selvin 1919 5[11] None
"My Blue Heaven" Gene Austin 1928 5[12] None
"I Will Always Love You" Whitney Houston 1992 4.59[13] 4×
"Macarena" Los del Río 1996 4.3[14] 4×
"(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" Bryan Adams 1991 4.1[15] 3×
"Le Freak" Chic 1978 4[16] 1×
"I Heard It Through the Grapevine" Marvin Gaye 1968 4[17] None
"I'm a Believer" The Monkees 1966 4[18] None
"You Light Up My Life" Debby Boone 1977 4[19] 1×
"Hey Jude" The Beatles 1968 4 4×
"Whoomp! (There It Is)" Tag Team 1993 4 4×

Digital singles

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See also: a comprehensive list of the highest-certified singles at RIAA's website. Manually adjust it to platinum awards filter, single format, and digital type.

The below singles have sold at least 6 million digital copies as reported by Luminate (or previously Nielsen SoundScan). Sales figures are not fully represented by RIAA certifications, which have included on-demand streaming-equivalent units since May 2013.[20] Thus the actual sales figures will be different from the amounts specified by the RIAA.

"I Gotta Feeling" by the Black Eyed Peas is the best-selling digital single in the U.S., with over 8.7 million downloads sold.
Lady Gaga is the first artist to have two 7-million-selling digital singles.[21]
Katy Perry is the first artist to have three 6-million-selling digital singles.[22]
Song Artist(s) Release
year 		Reported sales (million) No. of times Platinum[23]
"I Gotta Feeling" The Black Eyed Peas 2009 8.7[21] 10×
"Rolling in the Deep" Adele 2010 8.4[21] 8×
"Radioactive" Imagine Dragons 2012 8.2[24] 16×
"Uptown Funk" Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars 2014 8.1[25] 11×
"Party Rock Anthem" LMFAO featuring Lauren Bennett and GoonRock 2011 8.1[21] 10×
"Somebody That I Used to Know" Gotye featuring Kimbra 2011 7.9[21] 14×
"Cruise" Florida Georgia Line 2012 7.6[26] 14×
"Call Me Maybe" Carly Rae Jepsen 2011 7.6[27] 10×
"Poker Face" Lady Gaga 2008 7.5[28] 10×
"Lose Yourself" Eminem 2002 7.4[29] 13×
"Firework" Katy Perry 2010 7.2[30] 12×
"Just Dance" Lady Gaga featuring Colby O'Donis 2008 7.2[28] 11×
"Don't Stop Believin'" Journey 1981 7.0[31] 18×
"Just the Way You Are" Bruno Mars 2010 7.0[31] 13×
"Low" Flo Rida featuring T-Pain 2007 7.0[32] 10×
"Happy" Pharrell Williams 2014 6.9[33] 11×
"Boom Boom Pow" The Black Eyed Peas 2008 6.9[21] 5×
"I'm Yours" Jason Mraz 2008 6.8[34] 13×
"We Are Young" fun. featuring Janelle Monáe 2011 6.8[35] 10×
"Tik Tok" Kesha 2009 6.8[36] 12×
"Need You Now" Lady Antebellum 2009 6.7[37] 12×
"Moves like Jagger" Maroon 5 featuring Christina Aguilera 2011 6.7[38] 10×
"Love the Way You Lie" Eminem featuring Rihanna 2010 6.5[21] 13×
"Blurred Lines" Robin Thicke featuring T.I. and Pharrell Williams 2013 6.5[39] 10×
"Hey, Soul Sister" Train 2009 6.4[35] 11×
"Roar" Katy Perry 2013 6.4[40] 15×
"Sexy and I Know It" LMFAO 2011 6.4[21] 8×
"Party in the U.S.A." Miley Cyrus 2009 6.3[41] 14×
"Dark Horse" Katy Perry featuring Juicy J 2013 6.3[40] 11×
"Thrift Shop" Macklemore & Ryan Lewis featuring Wanz 2013 6.2[39] 10×
"Love Story" Taylor Swift 2008 6.2[42] 8×
"Sail" Awolnation 2010 6.1[31] 10×
"Grenade" Bruno Mars 2010 6.1[21] 10×
"Viva la Vida" Coldplay 2008 6.1[35] 5×
"Thinking Out Loud" Ed Sheeran 2014 6.0[25] 18×
"All of Me" John Legend 2014 6.0[25] 14×
"Fuck You / Forget You" CeeLo Green 2010 6.0[43] 7×
"Someone like You" Adele 2011 6.0[21] 5×
"Apologize" Timbaland featuring OneRepublic 2007 6.0[44] 4×

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ For those where sales figures are not cited, sales figures are based on certified amounts by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

References

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  1. ^ "Recording Industry Association of America - April 25, 2014". RIAA. Archived from the original on August 7, 2013. Retrieved April 25, 2014.
  2. ^ "RIAA Debuts Album Awards with Streams". RIAA.com. RIAA. February 2016. Retrieved May 3, 2019.
  3. ^ "Gold & Platinum – Physical single". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
  4. ^ Grein, Paul (June 27, 2012). "Week Ending June 24, 2012. Songs: Elton & The Peas". yahoo.com. Yahoo-HuffPost Entertainment Network. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
  5. ^ Edwards, Gavin (March 6, 2020). "'We Are the World': A Minute-by-Minute Breakdown". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on November 22, 2021. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
  6. ^ Badger, Reid; Salem, James (December 22, 1996). "America's Holiday Sound– Distinctive artists". The Tuscaloosa News. Retrieved October 17, 2013.
  7. ^ a b Whitburn, Joel (1986). Joel Whitburn's Pop memories, 1890-1954. Record Research. ISBN 9780898200836.
  8. ^ Rees, Dafydd; Crampton, Luke (1991). Rock movers & shakers, Volume 1991, Part 2. ABC-CLIO. p. 400. ISBN 9780874366617. Retrieved February 17, 2013.
  9. ^ The Biographical Encyclopedia of American Radio. Routledge. 2011. ISBN 9780415995498. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
  10. ^ Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2, illustrated ed.). Barrie & Jenkins. p. 211. ISBN 0-214-20480-4.
  11. ^ Whitburn, Joel (1986). Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954. Wisconsin, USA: Record Research Inc. p. 379. ISBN 0-89820-083-0.
  12. ^ CD liner notes: Chart-Toppers of the Twenties, 1998 ASV Ltd.
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  15. ^ Sandiford-Waller, Theda (November 9, 1996). "Hot 100 Singles Spotlight". Billboard. Vol. 108, no. 45. BPI Communications Inc. p. 83. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved February 26, 2015.
  16. ^ Perrone, Pierre (April 27, 1996). "Obituary: Bernard Edwards". The Independent. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
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  20. ^ "RIAA Adds Digital Streams To Historic Gold & Platinum Awards". Recording Industry Association of America. May 9, 2013. Archived from the original on June 29, 2015. Retrieved March 11, 2018.
  21. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Trust, Gary (October 2, 2015). "Ask Billboard: Lady Gaga First Artist With Two 7-Million-Selling Downloads". Billboard. Retrieved October 3, 2015.
  22. ^ Payne, Chris (June 26, 2014). "Katy Perry Becomes the RIAA's All-Time Top Digital Artist". Billboard.
  23. ^ "Gold & Platinum – Digital singles". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  24. ^ "Nielsen SoundScan charts – Digital Songs – Week Ending: 09/14/2017" (PDF). Nielsen SoundScan. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 19, 2017. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
  25. ^ a b c "Top Digital Songs of the 2010s" (PDF). Nielsen Music Year-End Music Report U.S. 2019: 18. January 2020. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
  26. ^ Bjorke, Matt (November 1, 2016). "Top 30 Digital Singles Sales Report: November 1, 2016". Roughstock.
  27. ^ Horowitz, Steven (August 14, 2015). "Carly Rae Jepsen: 'I Wanted to Be Brave' With New Album 'E-Mo-Tion'". Billboard. Retrieved August 15, 2015.
  28. ^ a b Trust, Gary (February 10, 2019). "Ask Billboard: Lady Gaga's Career Sales & Streams; Ariana Grande Takes '7' to 1". Billboard. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
  29. ^ "Nielsen SoundScan charts – Digital Songs – Week Ending: 09/28/2017" (PDF). Nielsen SoundScan. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 16, 2023. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
  30. ^ "Nielsen SoundScan charts – Digital Songs – Week Ending: 07/06/2017" (PDF). Nielsen SoundScan. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 19, 2017. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
  31. ^ a b c "Nielsen SoundScan charts – Digital Songs – Week Ending: 5/13/2017" (PDF). Nielsen SoundScan. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 21, 2017.
  32. ^ Grein, Paul (June 5, 2014). "Chart Watch: 'Rude,' 'Summer' Hit Top 10". Yahoo!. Retrieved January 29, 2024.
  33. ^ "The Rise of Uptown Funk: Could It Become the All-Time #1 Seller?". Hits. April 9, 2015. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  34. ^ Grein, Paul (April 24, 2014). "Chart Watch: Former Teen Stars Make Good!". Yahoo!. Retrieved January 29, 2024.
  35. ^ a b c Grein, Paul (January 2, 2014). "Chart Watch: 'Radioactive' Sets A Rock Record". Yahoo!. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
  36. ^ Trust, Gary (March 6, 2016). "Ask Billboard: Rihanna's Record Streak of Seven Studio Albums With Hot 100 No. 1s". Billboard. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
  37. ^ Bjorke, Matt (June 28, 2016). "Top 30 Digital Country Singles Report: June 28, 2016". Roughstock. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
  38. ^ ""Funk" Watch 2015". Hits Daily Double. HITS Digital Ventures. June 19, 2015. Archived from the original on June 21, 2015. Retrieved June 21, 2015.
  39. ^ a b Caulfield, Keith (January 2, 2014). "Justin Timberlake's '20/20' 2013's Best Selling Album, 'Blurred Lines' Top Song". Billboard. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
  40. ^ a b Trust, Gary (February 20, 2017). "Ask Billboard: Katy Perry's Career Song & Album Sales". billboard.com. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
  41. ^ Denis, Kyle (August 24, 2023). "Miley Cyrus & Selena Gomez on the Charts: Ahead of 'Used to Be Young' & 'Single Soon', How Do They Compare?". Billboard. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
  42. ^ Trust, Gary (October 21, 2022). "Ask Billboard: Taylor Swift's Career Streaming, Airplay & Sales, Ahead of the Chart Debut of Midnights". Billboard. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
  43. ^ Grein, Paul (April 10, 2013). "Week Ending April 7, 2013. Songs: Discount Helps Bruno Reach #1". Yahoo Music (Chart Watch). Retrieved April 10, 2013.
  44. ^ "The Rise of "Uptown Funk": Could It Become the All-Time #1 Seller?". April 9, 2015. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
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