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. The current formula since February 1, 2016 is 150 on-demand streams = 1 song download. 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
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) No. of times Platinum "White Christmas" Bing Crosby 1941 12 "Candle in the Wind 1997" Elton John 1997 8.84 11×"We Are the World" USA for Africa198584× "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" Gene Autry1949 7 "Paper Doll"The Mills Brothers 1943 6 "The Tennessee Waltz"Patti Page1948 6 "Hound Dog" / "Don't Be Cruel" Elvis Presley 1956 54× "It's Now or Never" Elvis Presley 1960 51× "I Want to Hold Your Hand" The Beatles1963 5 Gold "That Silver Haired Daddy of Mine" Gene Autry1935 5 "The Ballad of the Green Berets" Barry Sadler1966 5 "Dardanella" Ben Selvin1919 5 "My Blue Heaven" Gene Austin1928 5CD liner notes: Chart-Toppers of the Twenties, 1998 ASV Ltd. "I Will Always Love You" Whitney Houston 1992 4.59 4× "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" Bryan Adams1991 4.13× "Macarena" Los del Río19964Sales in the United States for Macarena: (3.7 million until 1996) (4 million since 1997) 4× "Le Freak" Chic 197841× "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" Marvin Gaye1968 4 "I'm a Believer" The Monkees1966 4 "You Light Up My Life" Debby Boone1977 4 1× "Hey Jude" The Beatles196844× "Whoomp! (There It Is)" Tag Team199344×
Digital singles
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. Thus the actual sales figures will be different from the amounts specified by the RIAA.
Song Artist(s) Releaseyear Reported sales (million)No. of times Platinum "I Gotta Feeling" The Black Eyed Peas2009 8.7 15× "Rolling in the Deep" Adele 2010 8.4 8× "Radioactive" Imagine Dragons20128.216× "Uptown Funk"Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars2014 8.1 11× "Party Rock Anthem" LMFAO featuring Lauren Bennett and GoonRock 2011 8.1 10× "Somebody That I Used to Know"Gotye featuring Kimbra 2011 7.9 14× "Cruise" Florida Georgia Line 2012 7.6 14× "Call Me Maybe" Carly Rae Jepsen2011 7.610× "Poker Face" Lady Gaga 2008 7.5 10× "Lose Yourself" Eminem20027.413× "Firework"Katy Perry 2010 7.2 12×"Just Dance"Lady Gaga featuring Colby O'Donis20087.211× "Don't Stop Believin" Journey 1981 7.0 18×"Just the Way You Are"Bruno Mars20107.021× "Low" Flo Rida featuring T-Pain 20077.010× "Happy"Pharrell Williams 2013 6.9 11× "Boom Boom Pow" The Black Eyed Peas 2008 6.9 10× "I'm Yours" Jason Mraz 2008 6.8 13× "We Are Young" fun. featuring Janelle Monáe 2011 6.8 10× "Tik Tok"Kesha 2009 6.8 12× "Need You Now"Lady Antebellum 2009 6.7 12× "Moves like Jagger"Maroon 5 featuring Christina Aguilera 2011 6.710× "Viva la Vida"Coldplay 2008 6.6 5× "Love the Way You Lie"Eminem featuring Rihanna20106.513×"Blurred Lines"Robin Thicke featuring T.I. and Pharrell Williams 2013 6.5 10× "Hey, Soul Sister" Train 2009 6.4 11× "Roar" Katy Perry20136.415× "Sexy and I Know It" LMFAO 2011 6.4 8× "Party in the U.S.A."Miley Cyrus 2009 6.3 15× "Dark Horse" Katy Perry featuring Juicy J 2013 6.3 11× "Thrift Shop" Macklemore & Ryan Lewis featuring Wanz 2013 6.2 10× "Love Story" Taylor Swift 2008 6.2 8× "Sail"Awolnation 2010 6.1 10× "Grenade" Bruno Mars 2010 6.1 16× "Thinking Out Loud"Ed Sheeran 2014 6.0 18× "All of Me"John Legend 2013 6.0 14× "Fuck You / Forget You" CeeLo Green 2010 6.0 7× "Someone like You" Adele 2011 6.0 5× "Apologize"Timbaland featuring OneRepublic2007 6.0 4×
See also
RIAA certification List of highest-certified music artists in the United States List of highest-certified digital singles in the United States List of best-selling singles List of best-selling singles of 2014 in the United States List of best-selling albums in the United States List of Spotify streaming records
Notes
References
External links RIAA Website Detailed List of Artists with Most Singles Certification Units Billboard Magazine - a magazine that publishes weekly music rankings