1. Eminem, 31,127,000. First charted: 1999. Eminem, 36, is the top male artist and the top rap artist so far in this decade. His 2000 album The Marshall Mathers LP is his best-seller. It has sold 10,178,000 copies.
2. The Beatles, 27,591,000. First charted: 1964. The Beatles have sold more albums in the 2000s than any other group, rock act or foreign act. Their 2000 compilation 1 is their best-seller. It has sold 11,402,000 copies. The Beatles were the #5 album-selling act of the 1990s.
3. Tim McGraw, 24,295,000. First charted: 1994. McGraw, 42, is the #1 country artist so far in the 2000s, nosing out Toby Keith. McGraw was the #38 album-selling act of the ‘90s. His 2000 compilation Greatest Hits is his best-selling album of the decade. It has sold 5,995,000 copies.
4. Toby Keith, 24,189,000. First charted: 1993. Keith, 47, is the #2 country artist of this decade. His 2003 album Shock'n Y'All is his best-seller. It has sold 4,420,000 copies.
5. Britney Spears, 22,937,000. First charted: 1999. Spears, 27, is the youngest artist on this list, edging out Josh Groban by one year. She is also #1 female artist in this decade. Her 2000 album, Oops!...I Did It Again, is her best-seller of the decade. It has sold 9,183,000 copies. Spears was the #108 album-selling act of the ‘90s.
6. Kenny Chesney, 21,396,000. First charted: 1996. Chesney, 41, is the #3 country artist of this decade. His best-selling album is 2004's When The Sun Goes Down, which has sold 4,111,000 copies.
7. Nelly, 21,206,000. First charted: 2000. Nelly, 34, is the #1 new artist to emerge in this decade, edging out Linkin Park. He's also the #1 African American artist, edging out Jay-Z, and the #2 rap artist. Nelly's 2000 debut, Country Grammar, is his best-selling album. It has sold 8,454,000 copies.
8. Linkin Park, 21,125,000. First charted: 2000. Linkin Park is the #2 rock group of the decade, behind the Beatles. It's also the #2 new artist. The band's 2000 debut album, Hybrid Theory, is its best-seller. It has sold 9,600,000 copies.
9. Creed, 20,398,000. First charted: 1997. Creed is the #3 rock group of the decade. 1999's Human Clay is the band's best-selling album. It has sold 9,480,000 copies since January 2000. Creed was the #167 album-selling act of the ‘90s.
10. Jay-Z, 19,379,000. First charted: 1996. Jay-Z, 39, is the #3 rap artist of the decade. 2003's The Black Album is his best-selling album of this decade. It has sold 3,338,000 copies. Jay-Z was the #152 album-selling act of the ‘90s.
11. Nickelback, 19,158,000. First charted: 2000. The Canadian group is the #2 foreign act of this decade (after the Beatles). Nickelback is also the #3 new artist and the #4 rock group. 2005's All The Right Reasons is its best-seller, with sales of 7,159,000 copies.
12. Josh Groban, 19,115,000. First charted: 2001. Groban, 28, is the #1 pop male artist of this decade. He's the #4 new artist. The pop/classical star's 2003 album Closer is his best-seller, with sales of 5,746,000 copies
13. Rascal Flatts, 18,831,000. First charted: 2000. The trio is the #1 country group of this decade, nosing out Dixie Chicks. It's also the #5 new act. 2004's Feels Like Today is the act's best-selling album. It has sold 5,134,000 copies.
14. Metallica, 18,490,000. First charted: 1984. Metallica is the #1 hard rock act of the decade (unless you count the genre-bending Linkin Park). The band's 1991 blockbuster Metallica is the band's best-selling album of this decade. It has sold 3,691,000 copies since January 2000. Metallica was the #3 album-selling act of the ‘90s.
15. Alan Jackson, 18,479,000. First charted: 1990. Jackson, 50, is the oldest solo artist on this list, edging out Toby Keith. 2002's Drive is his best-selling album of this decade. It has sold 3,508,000 copies. Jackson was the #17 album-selling act of the ‘90s.
16. *NSYNC, 18,402,000. First charted: 1998. The boy band is the #1 pop group of this decade (assuming you classify the Beatles as rock). *NSYNC's 2000 album No Strings Attached is its best-seller, with sales of 11,111,000 copies. The quintet was the #80 album-selling act of the ‘90s.
17. Dixie Chicks, 18,293,000. First charted: 1998. The female trio is the #2 country group so far in this decade. 2002's Home is the act's best-selling album of this decade. It has sold 5,997,000 copies. Dixie Chicks was the #105 album-selling act of the ‘90s.
18. Johnny Cash, 17,860,000. First charted: 1958. The country legend, who died in 2003 at age 71, is the most surprising name on the list. He made it on the strength of an enormous catalog and a renewed focus on him after his death. His 1999 compliation 16 Greatest Hits is his best-seller of the decade. It has sold 2,846,000 copies since January 2000.
19. Kid Rock, 17,606,000. First charted: 1999. Kid Rock, 38, is the #1 male rock artist of this decade. Kid's 2001 album Cocky is his best-seller of the decade. It has sold 5,045,000 copies.
20. Celine Dion, 17,579,000. First charted: 1991. The Canadian diva, 41, is the #2 pop female artist of this decade, behind Britney Spears. Dion's 1999 greatest hits album, All The Way...A Decade Of Song, is her best-seller in the decade. It has sold 4,971,000 copies since January 2000. Dion was the #4 album-selling act of the ‘90s
Chart Watch Extra: The Top 20 Album Sellers Of The 2000s - Chart Watch
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