Can you name the best selling female solo singers in the U.S.?

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Best-Selling Female Singers Quiz

Rating:	Report a mistake
Created by: awallaceunc -
Contributed: October 10th, 2009
Published: October 18th, 2009
Category: Music
Plays: 92,585

Tags: rank, singer, primary, female, genre, best-selling, solo, best, selling

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	Nolij:	Oct 17th, 2009 at 05:23 GMT	37 points
	I am shocked that all of these women outsold Aretha, and to a lesser extent, Gladys Knight, Pat Benatar and Diana Ross.

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	Mearn:	Oct 18th, 2009 at 16:01 GMT	19 points
	Obviously a lot of people listen to them, as they are among the 25 best selling female sings in the US. Just because you don't like them doesn't mean nobody does. Get a clue.

	leviper:	Oct 18th, 2009 at 16:08 GMT	14 points
	Patsy Cline is a goddess.

	Duodelisto:	Oct 18th, 2009 at 16:11 GMT	5 points
	no beyonce?

	dudemanbearpig:	Oct 18th, 2009 at 16:16 GMT	7 points
	No Dusty Springfield makes me a sad panda.

	heatherh:	Oct 18th, 2009 at 16:17 GMT	11 points
	Shocking. Where's the rest of them? Jewel and no Beyonce? Diana Ross, Tina Turner, Aretha Franklin, even Dusty Springfield, Patti Smith, Billie Holiday, Joni Mitchell, Nina Simone? It's a shame.

	GoldLion:	Oct 18th, 2009 at 16:40 GMT	10 points
	The one that surprised me the most was Toni Braxton. I'd never in a million years would've guessed that she'd be that high.

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debbiedoesnothin:

Oct 18th, 2009 at 17:11 GMT

10 points

I'm always guessing Linda Ronstadt on music quizzes. The one time she's one of the answers, I didn't guess her.

	newenglander:	Oct 18th, 2009 at 17:18 GMT	6 points
	@duodelisto,heatherh-beyonce rose to fame in the age of digitally downloading music. this list is based on record sales

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	GrooGruxKing:	Oct 18th, 2009 at 17:26 GMT	35 points
	I'm just glad there is no Mi* Cy*

	BamaRainbow:	Oct 18th, 2009 at 18:02 GMT	6 points
	@newenglander: From the RIAA website (which is, after all, the source of this): "The RIAA’s shipment statistics for the recorded music industry include key formats (CD’s, cassettes, downloads etc.), and both the number of units and dollar values are included as well."

	mennoknight:	Oct 18th, 2009 at 18:19 GMT	12 points
	Can you put "of all time?" It's unclear what time frame we're looking at here.

	Kuzybus:	Oct 18th, 2009 at 18:29 GMT	2 points
	No Beyonce or Kelly Clarkson..The whole quiz I was like, who sings brodway, and I put Midler in like 10 times, and at the last second I was like STREISAND, but alas, time expired!

	MovieDynamic:	Oct 18th, 2009 at 18:36 GMT	2 points
	This was actually a really good quiz, guys!

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	JayHankEdLyonJr:	Oct 18th, 2009 at 18:54 GMT	4 points
	Wait wait wait wait wait, this list can't be right. No Hillary Duff!

	GoldLion:	Oct 18th, 2009 at 19:15 GMT	14 points
	@bostoncane: that's Mary J. Blige, not Toni Braxton.

	raggedyanne:	Oct 18th, 2009 at 19:19 GMT	7 points
	Sad commentary that the world at large today is missing out on true divas like Aretha, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Etta James, Eartha Kitt, Sarah Vaughan and Astrud Gilberto.

	BigThing:	Oct 18th, 2009 at 19:23 GMT	11 points
	Keep at it, Björk!

	Freddie:	Oct 18th, 2009 at 19:26 GMT	4 points
	Thank god for Patsy!

	kingstony:	Oct 18th, 2009 at 19:33 GMT	7 points
	No Christina Aguilera?

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	thefooman:	Oct 18th, 2009 at 20:00 GMT	7 points
	@SAEinSoCal: there is source listed at the top of the page, what part of that is fiction?

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	DRB:	Oct 18th, 2009 at 20:14 GMT	7 points
	According to the source, Sade is at 22.5 million units, putting her between Faith Hill and Alanis Morissette.

	HarryNJ:	Oct 18th, 2009 at 20:32 GMT	11 points
	To add to the list of surprising absences: Donna Summer and Cher.

	kidcanada:	Oct 18th, 2009 at 21:20 GMT	7 points
	no Dolly Parton!

	cheezguyty:	Oct 18th, 2009 at 21:30 GMT	-4 points
	This list isn't accurate. Miley Cyrus has sold almost 16 million albums and should be ranked 23rd.

	curses:	Oct 18th, 2009 at 22:06 GMT	6 points
	Linda Ronstadt - she's that woman on the simpsons mr. plow episode, right?

	CharlieBrown:	Oct 18th, 2009 at 22:10 GMT	1 point
	@BamaRainbow: P2P

	zalagreensbury:	Oct 18th, 2009 at 22:26 GMT	5 points
	I'm surprised Aguilera wasn't on the list she's actually had more billboard hits than Britney...hmmm. Also, I thought Beyonce would be higher up for some reason--maybe cause she had one of the greatest videos of all time--all time! I kid about that last part.

	DisplacedScot:	Oct 18th, 2009 at 22:30 GMT	6 points
	I couldn't believe some that weren't on there. I'm typing 'Dolly Parton' and 'Beyonce' over and over again, thinking 'Is there a different way to spell these names?!!!'

	BHW:	Oct 18th, 2009 at 22:57 GMT	2 points
	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_music_artists Nice quiz, slighlty confusing source. Some of the omissions do seem bizarre. Dolly Partons not even on the RIAA list and i'm sure she must have sold more records than Nine Inch Nails, Avril Lavigne etc. Plus ABBA are very low given that they have sold over 300 million.

	SexualCamel:	Oct 18th, 2009 at 23:21 GMT	2 points
	"How come Patsy Cline don't make no more records?" Kudos if you know the reference.

	thefooman:	Oct 19th, 2009 at 00:21 GMT	4 points
	@DRB - Sade is a band, a one woman band, but billed as a band nonetheless.

	bayareamech:	Oct 19th, 2009 at 01:39 GMT	7 points
	The RIAA uses a very bizarre set of criteria, and thus aren't a very accurate source for measuring total album sales. The best way is to go to the individual record label for your favorite artist and research, for they take into account all revenue generated (whether it be singles, mp3s, cassettes, CDs, etc). When using that criteria Celine Dion is number one with a little over 200 million albums sold, Mariah is second with around 180 million, and Whitney is third with 150 million. The greats like Aretha and Dolly also have over 100 million according to their labels.