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Top Selling Female Singles by year in the US (1992-2021)


Green

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1992-2004 (Physical Sales)

2005-2015 (Digital Sales)

2016-2019 (Digital Song Consumption: Song sales + On-Demand Audio SES units)

2020 (Digital Song Consumption: Song sales + On-Demand Audio & Video SES units)

 

 

 

I Will Always Love You by Whitney Houston US CD single.jpg

 

1992:

Whitney Houston, "I Will Always Love You," 3,086,000

TLC, “Baby Baby Baby,”

TLC, “Ain’t 2 Proud 2 Beg,”

 

 

I Will Always Love You by Whitney Houston US CD single.jpg
 

1993:

Whitney Houston, "I Will Always Love You," 1,400,000

Janet Jackson, “That's The Way Love Goes” 1,100,000

Janet Jackson, “Again” 1,000,000

 

 

 

The Power of Love (Celine Dion version).jpg

 

1994:

Celine Dion, “The Power Of Love” 900,000

Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories, “Stay (I Missed You)” 900,000

Da Brat, “Funkdafied” 800,000

 

 

 

Fantasy Mariah Carey.png

 

1995:

Mariah Carey, "Fantasy" 1,500,000

Mariah Carey, “One Sweet Day” 1,300,000

TLC, “Waterfalls” 1,200,000

 

 

 

You're Makin' Me High The Remix Let It Flow US CD maxi-single.JPG


1996:

Toni Braxton, "You're Makin' Me High/Let It Flow" 1,500,000

Celine Dion, “Because You Loved Me” 1,300,000

Toni Braxton, “Un-Break My Heart” 1,300,000

 

 

 

HowDoILive.jpg
 

1997:

LeAnn Rimes, "How Do I Live" 2,300,000

Spice Girls, “Wannabe” 1,800,000

Jewel, “You Were Meant For Me” 1,300,000

 

 

 

The Boy Is Mine (Brandy single) coverart.jpg
 

1998:

Brandy & Monica, "The Boy Is Mine" 2,591,000

Shania Twain, “You're Still The One” 1,900,000

Monica, “The First Night” 1,500,000


 

 

Cher-believe-cover.JPG

 

1999:

Cher, "Believe" 1,707,000

Christina Aguilera, "Genie In A Bottle" 1,400,000

Whitney Houston feat. Faith Evans & Kelly Price, "Heartbreak Hotel" 1,300,000

 

 

 

Close-up from left of Madonna laying down on a bale of hay, with her face partially covered by a pink cowboy hat. The song and artist name is written in a small box to the bottom-right, on either side of an icon of a riding cowboy.

 

2000:

Madonna, "Music" 1,000,000

Faith Hill, "Breathe" 800,000

Britney Spears, "From The Bottom Of My Broken Heart" 800,000

 

 

 

Loverboy (single) Mariah Carey.png

 

2001:

Mariah Carey, "Loverboy" 571,000

Eden's Crush, "Get Over Yourself" 539,000

Janet Jackson, "All For You" 458,000

 

 

 

Kelly Clarkson - A Moment Like This Before Your Love.jpg

 

2002:

Kelly Clarkson, "A Moment Like This" 600,000

 

 

 

A blonde woman smiling. She is wearing an orange top. To the right of the woman, the words "So Yesterday" and "Hilary Duff" are written from bottom to top.


2003: :rip:

Hilary Duff, "So Yesterday" 141,360   

Mariah Carey, "Through the Rain" 116,785

Aaliyah, "Miss You" 98,358

 

 

 

Fantasia I Believe.jpg


2004:

Fantasia, "I Believe" 401,000

 

 

 

A collage of shots from the single's music video, portraying Stefani.
 

2005:

Gwen Stefani, “Hollaback Girl” 1,171,672
Kelly Clarkson, "Since U Been Gone" 960,341

Pussycat Dolls, "Don't Cha" 789,571

 

 

 

Promiscuous.png

 

2006:

Nelly Furtado, "Promiscuous" 1,709,274

Shakira, "Hips Don’t Lie" 1,410,237

Natasha Bedingfield, "Unwritten" 1,355,792

 

 

 

Fergie - Big Girls Don't Cry.png

 

2007:

Fergie, "Big Girls Don’t Cry" 2,525,000   

Avril Lavigne, "Girlfriend" 2,415,000

Rihanna, "Umbrella" 2,359,000

 

 

 

Leona Lewis - Bleeding Love.jpg
 

2008:

Leona Lewis, "Bleeding Love" 3,420,000

Katy Perry, "I Kissed A Girl" 2,977,000

Rihanna, "Disturbia" 2,766,000

 

 

 

Poker_Face_by_Lady_Gaga_alternative_cove

 

2009:

Lady Gaga, "Poker Face" 4,381,000

Lady Gaga feat. Colby O’Donis, "Just Dance" 3,200,000   

Miley Cyrus, "Party In The U.S.A." 3,165,000

 

 

 

California Gurls cover.png
 

2010:

Katy Perry, "California Gurls" 4,398,000

Kesha, "Tik Tok" 3,040,000

Katy Perry, "Teenage Dream" 3,011,000

 

 

 

Adele_-_Rolling_in_the_Deep.png

 

2011:

Adele, "Rolling In the Deep" 5,813,000    

Katy Perry feat. Kanye West, "E.T." 4,829,000 

Adele, "Someone Like You" 3,750,000

 

 

 

Carly Rae Jepsen - Call Me Maybe.png

 

2012:

Carly Rae Jepsen, "Call Me Maybe" 6,472,000

Nicki Minaj, "Starships" 3,979,000 

Kelly Clarkson, "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)" 3,823,000

 

 

 

A close-up shot of a shirtless male with his silver chain necklace in focus and water pouring over his face. The artist's name and song title appear in small white capital letters at the bottom of the artwork.

 

2013:

Lorde, "Royals" 4,415,000

Katy Perry, "Roar" 4,410,000

P!nk feat. Nate Ruess, "Just Give Me A Reason" 4,321,000

 

 

 

DarkHorseCover.png
 

2014:

Katy Perry, "Dark Horse" 4,430,000

Meghan Trainor, "All About That Bass" 4,357,000

Iggy Azalea feat. Charli XCX, "Fancy" 3,974,000

 

 

 

A dark black-and-white image of Adele holding a telephone to her ear

 

2015:

Adele, "Hello" 3,712,000

Taylor Swift, "Bad Blood" 2,580,000

Ellie Goulding, "Love Me Like You Do" 2,540,000

 

 

 

Rihanna covering her face with her hands
 

2016:

Rihanna, "Work" 4.08 million

Sia, "Cheap Thrills" 3.34 million

Rihanna, “Needed Me” 3.17 million

 

 

 

Cardi B - Bodak Yellow.png
 

2017:

Cardi B, "Bodak Yellow" 2,836,000

Julia Michaels, "Issues" 2,774,000

Zayn / Taylor Swift, "I Don't Wanna Live Forever" 2,675,000

 

 

 

Cardi B, Bad Bunny and J Balvin - I Like It (Single Cover).png

 

2018:

Cardi B, "I Like It" 4.3 million

Bebe Rexha, "Meant to Be" (feat. Florida Georgia Line)

Zedd & Maren Morris & Grey, "The Middle"

 

 

 

A photograph of a black-haired Eilish wearing a red top in front of a dark backdrop.
 

2019:

Billie Eilish, "bad guy" 4,847,000

Ariana Grande, "7 Rings" 4,681,000

Lizzo, "Truth Hurts" 4,504,000

 

 

 

Cardi B - WAP (feat. Megan Thee Stallion).png
 

2020:

Cardi B feat. Megan Thee Stallion, "WAP" 4.642 million

Megan Thee Stallion feat. Beyoncé, "Savage" 4.298 million

Tones and I "Dance Monkey" 3.932 million

 

 

Dua_Lipa_Levitating_(DaBaby_Remix).png

 

2021:

Dua Lipa, "Levitating" 5.745 million

Olivia Rodrigo, "drivers license" 5.050 million

Olivia Rodrigo, "good 4 u" 4.813 million

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The way Cardi came through with those stats :WAP:

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30 minutes ago, Green said:

A blonde woman smiling. She is wearing an orange top. To the right of the woman, the words "So Yesterday" and "Hilary Duff" are written from bottom to top.


2003: Hilary Duff, "So Yesterday" 141,360  :rip: 

:deadbanana4:
 

This year would’ve looked completely different had Clay Aiken been included (or if he were Female).

 

”This Is The Night” sold 550K pure units in its first two weeks at #1 alone. 

Edited by GoodGuyGoneGhetto
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28 minutes ago, Green said:


 

 

Kelly Clarkson - A Moment Like This Before Your Love.jpg

 

2002: Kelly Clarkson, "A Moment Like This" 600,000

 

 

 

 

Fantasia I Believe.jpg


2004: Fantasia, "I Believe" 401,000

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHILE...that label tied to American Idol is the devil.

 

That is all.

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34 minutes ago, Green said:

1992-2004 (Physical Sales)

2005-2015 (Digital Sales)

2016-2019 (Digital Song Consumption: Song sales + On-Demand Audio SES units)

2020 (Digital Song Consumption: Song sales + On-Demand Audio & Video SES units)

 

 

 

 

 

Cardi B - Bodak Yellow.png
 

2017: Cardi B, "Bodak Yellow" 2.836 million
 

 

Cardi B, Bad Bunny and J Balvin - I Like It (Single Cover).png

 

2018: Cardi B, "I Like It" 4.3 million

 

 

Cardi B - WAP (feat. Megan Thee Stallion).png
 

2020: Cardi B feat. Megan Thee Stallion, "WAP" 4.642 million

It's the growth for me...2021 if she can sneak some weeks in before Hurricane Adele she might be able to snag something in 2021 if she gets a song that's more universally appealing than WAP.

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43 minutes ago, GoodGuyGoneGhetto said:

:deadbanana4:
 

This year would’ve looked completely different had Clay Aiken been included (or if he were Female).

 

”This Is The Night” sold 550K pure units in its first two weeks at #1 alone. 

 

Yeah I found the top 5 selling singles of 2003 on UKmix and Hilary was the only female in the top 5

 

BEST-SELLING SINGLES OF 2003

948,155 Clay Aiken - This Is the Night/Bridge Over Troubled Water
728,243 Ruben Studdard - Flying Without Wings/Superstar
392,489 Kid Rock - Picture
309,655 Idol Finalists - God Bless the USA
141,360 Hilary Duff - So Yesterday

 

 

2001-2004 was a really tragic time for singles sales (except for American Idol)

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5 hours ago, Green said:

 

Cardi B - Bodak Yellow.png
 

2017: Cardi B, "Bodak Yellow" 2.836 million
 

 

Cardi B, Bad Bunny and J Balvin - I Like It (Single Cover).png

 

2018: Cardi B, "I Like It" 4.3 million

 

 

Cardi B - WAP (feat. Megan Thee Stallion).png
 

2020: Cardi B feat. Megan Thee Stallion, "WAP" 4.642 million

Cardi coming for another Back to Back! 

GQCOr5J.gif

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Hilary :rip:

 

Gwen being an early digital sales pioneer tho :jonny5: I wonder how What You Waiting For (released in 2004) would have charted if digital sales counted on Billboard.

 

I'd love to know the top selling female singles digitally for the early 2000s tho, especially 2003 and 2004

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5 hours ago, slw84 said:

CHILE...that label tied to American Idol is the devil.

 

That is all.

Omg, they really are.

 

Do you know how MAD they were that Angie Miller's debut single "You Set Me Free" outperformed the winner's debut single even though she got third place? Angie's song had FAR more reviews on iTunes, but they didn't allow it to chart on iTunes and thus Billboard.

 

Not only that but "Despite her name being spelled wrong and her song being banned from charting it still appears to have outsold the American Idol winner's and runner-up's songs combined" and "the biggest sabotage that this song has faced is that for the first few hours that it was online, her name was spelled “Angie Miler.” Ouch. Some fans had a little bit of trouble finding it." :clown: American Idol and the label tied to them were SEETHING

 

According to one user, "Why not make it a fair fight and let the song chart?" :oh:

 

Angie didn't know they would ban her song from charting :mandown:

 

0TwQTPU.png

 

She was so cute when she found out about the riggery. 

 

ZNl9DXY.png

 

 

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2 hours ago, dangerousbutera said:

Cardi omg:chick2:

 

how many units did 7 rings move in 2019?

 

Around 4.7 million (without video streams)

 

Screen-Shot-2020-01-09-at-11-50-40-AM.png

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41 minutes ago, killer_rose said:

Lovergod won. 

 

jd8ZnMg.gif

Her second best single of the 2000’s after “Shake It Off”.

 

We Been Knew!

 

jd8ZnMg.gif

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1 hour ago, Green said:

 

 

I don't have the digital sales numbers for 2004 but the Top selling female digital track was "Pieces of Me" (Ashlee Simpson) according to the Billboard year end charts of 2004

 

1 HEY YA! (RADIO MIX) -OutKast -LaFace/
Zomba
2 THE REASON -Hoobastank- Island /IDJMG
3 THIS LOVE -Maroon5- Octone /J /RMG
4 LET'S GET IT STARTED -Black Eyed Peas -
A &M /Interscope
5 YEAH! -Usher Featuring Lil Jon & Ludacris-
LaFace /Zomba
6 SHE WILL BE LOVED- Maroon5 -Octone/
J /RMG
7 PIECES OF ME- Ashlee Simpson -Geffen
8 TOXIC -Britney Spears- Jive /Zomba

9 ARE YOU GONNA BE MY GIRL -Jet-
Elektra /Atlantic
10 ROSES -OutKast- LaFace /Zomba

 

However Fantasia still sold more Physical Singles because it wasn't until 2005 that the biggest digital single sold more than the biggest Physical Single.

2004 Top Ten Digital Tracks (01/05/2004-1/02/05)


Title / Artist Units Sold


1. The Reason/ Hoobastank 379,839
2. This Love/ Maroon 5 346,922
3. Let’s Get It Started/Black Eyed Peas 328,239
4. Hey Ya! (Radio Mix)/ Outkast 324,848
5. Yeah/ Usher 314,009
6. She Will Be Loved/ Maroon 5 306,550
7. 1985/ Bowling For Soup 260,962
8. Toxic/ Britney Spears 243,873
9. Drop It Like It’s Hot/ Snoop Dogg 234,046
10. Lose My Breath/ Destiny’s Child 225,204

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54 minutes ago, Hector said:

2004 Top Ten Digital Tracks (01/05/2004-1/02/05)


Title / Artist Units Sold


1. The Reason/ Hoobastank 379,839
2. This Love/ Maroon 5 346,922
3. Let’s Get It Started/Black Eyed Peas 328,239
4. Hey Ya! (Radio Mix)/ Outkast 324,848
5. Yeah/ Usher 314,009
6. She Will Be Loved/ Maroon 5 306,550
7. 1985/ Bowling For Soup 260,962
8. Toxic/ Britney Spears 243,873
9. Drop It Like It’s Hot/ Snoop Dogg 234,046
10. Lose My Breath/ Destiny’s Child 225,204

 

Wow thanks for posting it. :jonny5: 

So the best selling female digital track of 2004 was Britney's Toxic  @rihannabiggestfan

 

 

 

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Cardi oh wow :clap3:

 

Whitney first to do it twice (and with the same song I CAN stand it)

 

Cardi- 3

Whitney, Mariah, Katy and Adele- 2

Edited by GreatestLoveofAll
editing
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Wow Cardi B :clap3:

The way that she has already eclipsed some other girls :eli:

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