Top Sellers of the Decade

This is the latest music data as we are rapidly coming closer to the end of the decade (yeah, I know, it's only the end of May). What I find interesting is that the Beatles come in at #2. Not bad for a group that has been around for fifty years. This exemplifies the impact that the group has had upon our music world throughout the decades and the fact that they can obtain a new audience as each decade passes- Amazing! Another interesting point is that country music's contributation to the list is a bit overwhelming and shows the power that this genre of music has. Another surprise for me is the number of people who buy (and keep buying) Johnny Cash music, another legend that spans the generations.

Here's a list of the 20 musical acts that have sold the most albums since the first week of January 2000. The number immediately after the artist's or band's name is the total number of albums that the artist has sold in this decade. Also identified is when the artist first cracked The Billboard 200, and the title of their best-selling album since January 2000.

1. Eminem - 31,127,000. First charted: 1999. Eminem, 36, is the top male artist and the top rap artist so far in this decade. His 2000 album "The Marshall Mathers" LP is his best-seller. It has sold 10,178,000 copies.

2. The Beatles - 27,591,000. First charted: 1964. The Beatles have sold more albums in the 2000s than any other group, rock act or foreign act. Their 2000 compilation "1" is their best-seller. It has sold 11,402,000 copies. The Beatles were the #5 album-selling act of the 1990s.

3. Tim McGraw - 24,295,000. First charted: 1994. McGraw, 42, is the #1 country artist so far in the 2000s, just nosing out Toby Keith. McGraw was the #38 album-selling act of the ‘90s. His 2000 compilation "Greatest Hits" is his best-selling album of the decade. It has sold 5,995,000 copies.

4. Toby Keith - 24,189,000. First charted: 1993. Keith, 47, is the #2 country artist of this decade. His 2003 album "Shock'n Y'All" is his best-seller. It has sold 4,420,000 copies.

5. Britney Spears - 22,937,000. First charted: 1999. Spears, 27, is the youngest artist on this list, edging out Josh Groban by one year. She is also #1 female artist in this decade. Her 2000 album, "Oops!...I Did It Again," is her best-seller of the decade. It has sold 9,183,000 copies. Spears was the #108 album-selling act of the ‘90s.

6. Kenny Chesney - 21,396,000. First charted: 1996. Chesney, 41, is the #3 country artist of this decade. His best-selling album is 2004's "When The Sun Goes Down," which has sold 4,111,000 copies.

7. Nelly - 21,206,000. First charted: 2000. Nelly, 34, is the #1 new artist to emerge in this decade, edging out Linkin Park. He's also the #1 African American artist, edging out Jay-Z, and the #2 rap artist. Nelly's 2000 debut, "Country Grammar," is his best-selling album. It has sold 8,454,000 copies.

8. Linkin Park - 21,125,000. First charted: 2000. Linkin Park is the #2 rock group of the decade, behind the Beatles. It's also the #2 new artist. The band's 2000 debut album, "Hybrid Theory", is its best-seller. It has sold 9,600,000 copies.

9. Creed - 20,398,000. First charted: 1997. Creed is the #3 rock group of the decade. 1999's "Human Clay" is the band's best-selling album. It has sold 9,480,000 copies since January 2000. Creed was the #167 album-selling act of the ‘90s.

10. Jay-Z - 19,379,000. First charted: 1996. Jay-Z, 39, is the #3 rap artist of the decade. 2003's "The Black Album" is his best-selling album of this decade. It has sold 3,338,000 copies. Jay-Z was the #152 album-selling act of the ‘90s.

11. Nickelback - 19,158,000. First charted: 2000. The Canadian group is the #2 foreign act of this decade (after the Beatles). Nickelback is also the #3 new artist and the #4 rock group. 2005's "All The Right Reasons" is its best-seller, with sales of 7,159,000 copies.

12. Josh Groban - 19,115,000. First charted: 2001. Groban, 28, is the #1 pop male artist of this decade. He's the #4 new artist. The pop/classical star's 2003 album "Closer" is his best-seller, with sales of 5,746,000 copies.

13. Rascal Flatts - 18,831,000. First charted: 2000. The trio is the #1 country group of this decade, nosing out Dixie Chicks. It's also the #5 new act. 2004's "Feels Like Today" is the act's best-selling album. It has sold 5,134,000copies.

14. Metallica - 18,490,000. First charted: 1984. Metallica is the #1 hard rock act of the decade (unless you count the genre-bending Linkin Park). The band's 1991 blockbuster "Metallica" is the band's best-selling album of this decade. It has sold 3,691,000 copies since January 2000. Metallica was the #3 album-selling act of the ‘90s.

15. Alan Jackson - 18,479,000. First charted: 1990. Jackson, 50, is the oldest solo artist on this list, edging out Toby Keith. 2002's "Drive" is his best-selling album of this decade. It has sold 3,508,000 copies. Jackson was the #17 album-selling act of the ‘90s.

16. *NSYNC - 18,402,000. First charted: 1998. The boy band is the #1 pop group of this decade (assuming you classify the Beatles as rock). *NSYNC's 2000 album "No Strings Attached" is its best-seller, with sales of 11,111,000 copies. The quintet was the #80 album-selling act of the ‘90s.

17. Dixie Chicks - 18,293,000. First charted: 1998. The female trio is the #2 country group so far in this decade. 2002's "Home" is the act's best-selling album of this decade. It has sold 5,997,000 copies. Dixie Chicks was the #105 album-selling act of the ‘90s.

18. Johnny Cash - 17,860,000. First charted: 1958. The country legend, who died in 2003 at age 71, is the most surprising name on the list. He made it on the strength of an enormous catalog and a renewed focus on him after his death. His 1999 compliation "16 Greatest Hits" is his best-seller of the decade. It has sold 2,846,000 copies since January 2000.

19. Kid Rock - 17,606,000. First charted: 1999. Kid Rock, 38, is the #1 male rock artist of this decade. Kid's 2001 album "Cocky" is his best-seller of the decade. It has sold 5,045,000 copies.

20. Celine Dion - 17,579,000. First charted: 1991. The Canadian diva, 41, is the #2 pop female artist of this decade, behind Britney Spears. Dion's 1999 greatest hits album, "All The Way...A Decade Of Song," is her best-seller in the decade. It has sold 4,971,000 copies since January 2000. Dion was the #4 album-selling act of the ‘90s.