A list dominated by Garth Brooks.
It’s safe to say it’s been a massive decade so far for country music. With the genre being the biggest (and arguably best) it’s ever been, the demand for country has seemingly grown exponentially. Thanks to this, the genre has seen nothing short of an explosion in streaming numbers from its biggest stars such as Ella Langley, Morgan Wallen, Luke Combs, Zach Bryan and more.
As we all know, numbers aren’t everything when it comes to music. There are hundreds upon thousands of moving songs, artists and albums that will never see a #1 hit, #1 album or a gold or platinum certification from the RIAA. With that being said, however, it’s always interesting to see just how massive the biggest hits have gotten over the years.
If you’ve been paying any attention to sales over the past year or so, you’re well aware that there has been quite a lot of shake-up when it comes to all-time sales lists. Notably, back in October, Combs passed Garth Brooks’ long-standing record of being the highest-selling country artist of all time. That, however, didn’t last long as Wallen passed both en route to not only becoming the highest-selling country artist ever but also becoming the fourth-highest-selling artist in U.S. history.
While we’ve already looked at the Top 30 highest-selling artists and Top 25 highest-selling songs in the genre’s history, with Wallen and Chris Stapleton’s “Tennessee Whiskey” taking the top spots on each list, today, we will be looking at the Top 25 highest-selling records in country music history.
Unsurprisingly, Garth Brooks doesn’t just dominate this list; he nearly owns it. Given his nearly untouchable peak, especially from a pre-streaming, physical media era, the “Friends In Low Places” owns a staggering 11 of the Top 25 highest-selling country albums in history. This includes the #1 album from a sales perspective, Double Live, which has sold an incredible 25 million units (fifth in U.S. history), as well as No Fences (18 million), Triple Live (13 million), Sevens (10 million) and more.
Rivaling Brooks, as far as the Top 10 is concerned, is an interesting female duo of Shania Twain and The Chicks (formerly Dixie Chicks). For Twain, she owns the second-highest-selling record of all time with Come On Over (20 million), is tied for the fifth-highest with The Woman In Me (12 million) and is also tied for the sixth-highest with Up! (11 million). As for The Chicks, the trio is tied for the fourth-highest with Wide Open Spaces (13 million) and is also tied for the sixth-highest with Fly (11 million).
Unlike the highest-selling country songs list, which is INCREDIBLY recency-biased thanks to the popularity of streaming and the fact that the RIAA allows for 150 on-demand streams to count as one unit sold, the highest-selling albums list trends incredibly older in comparison. Of course, this is thanks to the popularity of actually purchasing albums (either physically or digitally) in their entirety before streaming became the main way we consume music.
Diving into the numbers, 14 of the Top 25 records were released during the peak of the CD era in the 1990s. Following the ’90s, the equally CD-dominated era in the 2000s comes in second with five, and the streaming era of the 2010s and 2020s then shows some influence with four entries combined. Finally, Patsy Cline and John Denver’s entries from the ’70s remain the outliers with two.
With all of that being said, here are the 25 highest-selling country albums of all time, according to the RIAA as of October 2026.
1. Double Live – Garth Brooks
- Release date: November 17, 1998
- Certified U.S. sales: 25 million
- Peak Billboard 200 position: #1 (5 weeks)
2. Come On Over – Shania Twain
- Release date: November 4, 1997
- Certified U.S. sales: 20 million
- Peak Billboard 200 position: #2 (2 weeks)
3. No Fences – Garth Brooks
- Release date: August 27, 1990
- Certified U.S. sales: 18 million
- Peak Billboard 200 position: #3 (2 weeks)
4. Triple Live – Garth Brooks
- Release date: August 26, 2018
- Certified U.S. sales: 13 million
- Peak Billboard 200 position: N/A
5. Wide Open Spaces – Dixie Chicks
- Release date: January 23, 1998
- Certified U.S. sales: 13 million
- Peak Billboard 200 position: #4 (1 week)
6. The Woman In Me – Shania Twain
- Release date: February 7, 1995
- Certified U.S. sales: 12 million
- Peak Billboard 200 position: #5 (1 week)
7. Kenny Rogers’ Greatest Hits – Kenny Rogers
- Release date: October 18, 1990
- Certified U.S. sales: 12 million
- Peak Billboard 200 position: #1 (2 weeks)
8. Up! – Shania Twain
- Release date: November 19, 2002
- Certified U.S. sales: 11 million
- Peak Billboard 200 position: #1 (5 weeks)
9. Fearless – Taylor Swift
- Release date: November 11, 2008
- Certified U.S. sales: 11 million
- Peak Billboard 200 position: #1 (11 weeks)
10. Fly – Dixie Chicks
- Release date: August 31, 1999
- Certified U.S. sales: 11 million
- Peak Billboard 200 position: #1 (2 weeks)
11. The Ultimate Hits – Garth Brooks
- Release date: November 6, 2007
- Certified U.S. sales: 10 million
- Peak Billboard 200 position: #3 (1 week)
12. In Pieces – Garth Brooks
- Release date: August 31, 1993
- Certified U.S. sales: 10 million
- Peak Billboard 200 position: #1 (5 weeks)
13. The Chase – Garth Brooks
- Release date: September 14, 1992
- Certified U.S. sales: 10 million
- Peak Billboard 200 position: #1 (7 weeks)
14. Garth Brooks – Garth Brooks
- Release date: April 12, 1995
- Certified U.S. sales: 10 million
- Peak Billboard 200 position: #13 (1 week)
15. The Hits – Garth Brooks
- Release date: December 1, 1994
- Certified U.S. sales: 10 million
- Peak Billboard 200 position: #1 (8 weeks)
16. The Ultimate Hits – Garth Brooks
- Release date: November 6, 2007
- Certified U.S. sales: 10 million
- Peak Billboard 200 position: #3 (1 week)
17. Sevens – Garth Brooks
- Release date: November 1, 1997
- Certified U.S. sales: 10 million
- Peak Billboard 200 position: #1 (5 weeks)
18. Patsy Cline’s Greatest Hits – Patsy Cline
- Release date: February 14, 1973
- Certified U.S. sales: 10 million
- Peak Billboard 200 position: N/A
19. Some Hearts – Carrie Underwood
- Release date: November 15, 2005
- Certified U.S. sales: 9 million
- Peak Billboard 200 position: #2 (2 weeks)
20. One Thing at a Time – Morgan Wallen
- Release date: March 3, 2023
- Certified U.S. sales: 9 million
- Peak Billboard 200 position: #1 (19 weeks)
21. Dangerous: The Double Album – Morgan Wallen
- Release date: January 8, 2021
- Certified U.S. sales: 9 million
- Peak Billboard 200 position: #1 (10 weeks)
22. Some Gave All – Billy Ray Cyrus
- Release date: May 19, 1992
- Certified U.S. sales: 9 million
- Peak Billboard 200 position: #1 (17 weeks)
23. John Denver’s Greatest Hits – John Denver
- Release date: November 15, 1973
- Certified U.S. sales: 9 million
- Peak Billboard 200 position: #1 (3 weeks)
24. Fresh Horses – Garth Brooks
- Release date: November 21, 1995
- Certified U.S. sales: 8 million
- Peak Billboard 200 position: #2 (2 weeks)
25. This One’s For You – Luke Combs
- Release date: June 2, 2017
- Certified U.S. sales: 8 million
- Peak Billboard 200 position: #2 (2 weeks)
Other Notable Albums
- Breathe – Faith Hill (8 million)
- Strait out of the Box – George Strait (8 million)
- Taylor Swift – Taylor Swift (8 million)
- Brand New Man – Brooks & Dunn (7 million)
- Traveller – Chris Stapleton (7 million)
