The Beatles’ ‘Abbey Road’ Named Best-Selling Vinyl LP Of The 2010s

Nielsen Music released their decade-capping report of music sales in the US across the 2010s, with The Beatles’ Abbey Road landing at No.1 as the best-selling vinyl album of the decade

This past decade was a boon for vinyl sales especially for older iconic titles, as the majority of the top 10 titles weren’t even released in this decade and include the likes Pink Floyd, Miles Davis and Fleetwood Mac.

Only two albums on the lists were released in the past decade, Lana Del Rey’s Born to Die and The Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack, which consists of songs released in the 60s and 70s like Glen Campell’s ‘Wichita Lineman’ and ‘Surrender’ by Cheap Trick.

Other top performing LPs of the 2010s included Bob Marley & The Wailers’ Legend; Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black and Michael Jackson’s Thriller.

The Beatles’ original 1969 album celebrated its 50th anniversary this past year with a lavish box set reissue, which went on to top the vinyl sales for 2019 in the US alone. The second-biggest vinyl seller of 2019 is only the only titled related that year to appear in the top 10 list of biggest sellers: Billie Eilish’s When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?.

Fuelled on by the smash success of the biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen also secured two entries in the top 10 biggest vinyl titles of 2019: Greatest Hits 1 and Bohemian Rhapsody (Original Soundtrack).

Nielsen’s decade-spanning recap also highlights Drake as the biggest artist in overall streaming, while Adele’s 21 notched the biggest decade in album sales, and Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars’ throwback single ‘Uptown Funk!’ topped the 2010s’ single sales chart.

The report also noted streaming’s dominance of 2019, marking the first time on-demand streams surpassed 1 trillion during a 12-month period in the US and fuelled by hitmakers like Post Malone, Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande as well as breakthrough artists like Billie Eilish, Lizzo and Lil Nas X.

View the full report here.

Top 10 LP Vinyl Albums of the 2010s:
1. Beatles: Abbey Road (558,000)
2. Pink Floyd: Dark Side Of The Moon (376,000)
3. Various Artists: Guardians of the Galaxy OST (367,000)
4. Bob Marley & the Wailers: Legend (364,000)
5. Amy Winehouse: Back to Black (351,000)
6. Michael Jackson: Thriller (334,000)
7. Beatles: Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (313,000)
8. Fleetwood Mac: Rumours (304,000)
9. Miles Davis: Kind of Blue (286,000)
10. Lana Del Rey: Born to Die (283,000)

Top 10 Selling Vinyl Records of 2019
1. The Beatles – Abbey Road (246,000)
2. Billie Eilish – When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (176,000)
3. Queen – Greatest Hits 1 (139,000)
4. Guardians of the Galaxy Awesome Mix Vol 1 (123,000)
5. Queen – Bohemian Rhapsody (Original Soundtrack) (108,000)
6. The Beach Boys – Sounds of Summer: Very Best Of (107,000)
7. Pink Floyd – Dark Side of the Moon (92,000)
8. Michael Jackson – Thriller (88,000)
9. Bob Marley & The Wailers – Legend (84,000)
10. Fleetwood Mac – Rumors (78,000)

Format: UK English