Which lead singer has sold the most albums?
When Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney reconnected their musical forces and penned the 1983 track ‘Say Say Say’, it would give way to one of the most brutal musical betrayals of all time.
During the recording session of the track, McCartney offered some advice for his fellow artist, knowing full well that only he and Jackson truly knew what it was like to experience such dizzying levels of fame. Assuring him his money was safer in publishing, he advised Jackson to obtain the rights to music, more specifically his own, in order to protect his assets.
But, MJ took Macca’s advice and ran with it, sinking $47million into the company ATV and subsequently acquiring the majority of the Beatles back catalogue. The advice came after McCartney had been stung, having not received the royalties for any Beatles music since 1969. It was something Macca sought to rectify before Jackson pipped him to the post and sealed himself the rights.
It goes without saying that the free-loving McCartney was outraged by this slick move of bureaucratic betrayal and gave a relatively damning take, saying, “I think it’s dodgy to do something like that,” adding, “To be someone’s friend, and then buy the rug they’re standing on.”
In Jackson’s 1989 autobiography Moonwalk, he gave a sort of cutting admission suitable of a Hollywood business villain, stating “Paul and I both learned the hard way about business”, and the “Importance of publishing and royalties and the dignity of songwriting.”
It was quite the Shakespearean backstab that sparked a feud between the pair, who had been left to their own artistic devices, had more than enough wealth to share around. Because together, they were the leading men in album sales in both their group and solo careers. They eclipse the sales figures of the entire music industry alone, and together stood at the top of the album-selling tree. If Jackson was so desperate to lock horns with McCartney, wasn’t the charts enough?
Which lead singer has sold the most albums?
So this brings me on to the point in question. Which lead singer has sold the most albums? Well, both Jackson and McCartney led some of the most prolific bands of all time in Jackson 5 and The Beatles. Unethical as it was, a teenage Michael Jackson led the line for his family band, who have accrued an estimated album sales figure of 60.63m units.
The Beatles have massively eclipsed that, racking up 521.99m estimated album sales. So far, in the first leg of this bruising encounter, McCartney has taken a stomping lead.
But when their respective groups disbanded, Jackson started to catch up and to this day remains the highest selling solo artist of all time. In his solo career, he accrued 346.84m estimated album sales, bringing his total figure to 407.47m estimated album sales.
While this is a hefty number indeed, it still doesn’t even catch him up with The Beatles, meaning his 114m estimated solo album sales, as well as the extra with Wings, has seen him race way ahead of his musical betrayer.
