update July 18, 2009 Where did I get my information for the Best Selling Albums of All Time?
The May 3, 1996 Entertainment Weekly published a list of the 25 Best-Selling Albums in the United States. Since then, I updated the list each month when Billboard reports on RIAA certifications. Lately, I have had to rely on the RIAA web site. The original listing distinguished albums with the same number of units shipped by looking at how long the album was at number one or on the chart. My updates put the most recently certified multiplatinum at the bottom of the tie-list on the assumption that it has sold less than albums certified at the same level at an earlier date.
