There’s still a month (OK, more like three weeks) left but Nielsen SoundScan has already released the list of the top 10 selling albums of the decade (in the US.) The numbers are updated through November 1 of 2009 so there will be two months of sales to add to this list for the final tally but that probably won’t make any significant difference in the rankings.

#1 The Beatles - 1 - 11.5 Million

This is the only one of these 10 that is currently in the Billboard 200 album charts (it’s at #179 this week.) It’s also at #87 on Amazon’s current best selling music list.

Overall, The Beatles were the second biggest selling artist of the decade, which is not bad considering they broke up in 1970. Through November 1, 2009 - The Beatles had sold 30 million copies of their albums during the 2000s. If The Beatles are #2, who is #1? Take a guess. The answer is below.

#2 NSync - No Strings Attached - 11.1 Million

Currently #4,814 on Amazon’s bestselling music list. Justin and the boys don’t have quite the staying power that the Fab Four have, eh?

#3 Norah Jones - Come Away With Me - 10.5 Million

I never realized that Norah Jones was this popular. This album is currently at #198 on Amazon’s best seller’s list. Not too bad in the staying power department, I imagine sales have jumped recently because of the November 17th release of her latest album, The Fall.

My favorite Norah Jones factoid is that she is the daughter of sitarist Ravi Shankar (I’m not sure if Ravi is well known to non Beatles freaks, but he’s the dude that taught George Harrison how to play sitar and he’s known as one of the greatest sitar players ever.)

#4 Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP - 10.2 Million

The Marshall Mathers LP is currently at #2,837 on Amazon’s bestselling music list.

Eminem is the biggest selling artist of the decade, beating out The Beatles for the most albums sold in the 2000s crown with 32 million copies sold to 30 million copies sold. Although, I think it would have been a lot closer if it weren’t for The Beatles Stereo Box Set & The Beatles Mono Box Set. What do I mean? Well each sale of those box sets only counts as one sale each and the people that buy those box sets would have likely bought all of the copies of the albums if they had only been sold individually (I know I would have.)

#5 Eminem - The Eminem Show - 9.8 Million

This one is at #2,077 on the bestselling albums list so it may be slowly catching up with The Marshall Mathers LP. Although Amazon.com sales don’t necessarily correlate with overall albums sales, there usually is some correlation made clear by comparing the list with Billboard’s numbers.

#6 Usher - Confessions - 9.7 Million

Released in 2004, this is the only album on this list that wasn’t released in the first 3 years of the decade (and it was still released in the first 5.) This is a pretty strong indication of how quickly album sales numbers have fallen over the past 10 years.

This album is currently at #4,599.

#7 Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory - 9.6 Million

I really, really hated this band back then in the early 2000s when lots of other people loved them (I can’t believe they sold almost 10 million copies of this crap, I didn’t realize they were that popular.) Now I don’t have to hate them because I never hear them anymore, thankfully. This album is now at #1,114 on Amazon’s best selling music list.

#8 Creed - Human Clay - 9.5 Million

This horrendous album was actually released in September of 1999 so it’s sold even more than that 9.5 million number. The good news is at least people aren’t buying it anymore as it’s only #5,890 on Amazon’s bestselling music even though they had a new album out recently (Full Circle was released on October 26 and is currently at #81 on Amazon, so these guys do still have a following, how sad is that?)

#9 Britney Spears - Oops! … I Did It Again - 9.1 Million

#5,300.

#10 Nelly - Country Grammar - 8.5 Million

The “clean” version is at #190,736 (that’s not a typo, Amazon has a ridiculous amount of music available) and the “explicit lyrics” version is at #21,030.

Britney Spears, The Beatles, Creed, NSync, Norah Jones

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