The biggest hit album of the year you were born
A list of the best-selling albums dating back to 1956, so you can see, and hear, which album was the soundtrack to your birth year
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Your support makes all the difference.Each year, one album taps into the hearts and ears of the public on its way to topping the Billboard year-end album chart.
Times have changed, though. In the 2010s, pop stars like Adele and Taylor Swift have dominated the charts, while in the 1950s and early 1960s, musical soundtracks and Broadway cast recordings tended to top the list.
Billboard has been tracking the top album of the year since 1956. From 1992 onward, total album sales were recorded by Nielsen SoundScan. Before 1992, the top album chart was “based on a survey of representative retail outlets that determined a ranking” and was “not a tally of actual sales.”
Business Insider compiled all the best-selling albums and their respective notable singles, dating back to 1956, so you can see, and hear, which album was the soundtrack to your birth year (so long as you're between the ages of 1 and 61).
Check out which album made it to the top each year:
2016: Drake — “Views”
Young Money
Copies sold: 4,140,000
Notable singles: “Hotline Bling,” “One Dance”
2015: Adele — “25”
Amazon
Copies sold: 8,008,000
Notable singles: “Hello,” “When We Were Young”
2014: Taylor Swift — “1989”
Big Machine Records
Copies sold: 3,661,000
Notable singles: “Shake It Off,” “Blank Space,” “Bad Blood”
2013: Justin Timberlake — “The 20/20 Experience”
RCA Records
Copies sold: 2,430,000
Notable singles: “Suit & Tie,” “Mirrors”
2012: Adele — “21”
Columbia Records
Copies sold: 4,410,000
Notable singles: “Someone Like You,” “Set Fire to the Rain,” “Rumour Has It”
2011: Adele — “21”
Columbia Records
Copies sold: 5,824,000
Notable singles: “Rolling In The Deep”
2010: Eminem — “Recovery”
Aftermath Entertainment
Copies sold: 3,415,000
Notable singles: “Not Afraid,” “Love The Way You Lie”
2009: Taylor Swift — “Fearless”
Big Machine Records
Copies sold: 3,217,000
Notable singles: “Love Story,” “You Belong With Me”
2008: Lil Wayne — “Tha Carter III”
Cash Money/Universal Motown
Copies sold: 2,874,000
Notable singles: “Lollipop,” “A Milli”
2007: Josh Groban — “Noël”
Reprise Records
Copies sold: 3,699,000
Notable single: “The First Noel (feat. Faith Hill)”
2006: “High School Musical” (Soundtrack)
Walt Disney Records
Copies sold: 3,719,000
Notable single: “Breaking Free”
2005: Mariah Carey — “The Emancipation of Mimi”
Island Def Jam
Copies sold: 4,969,000
Notable singles: “We Belong Together,” “Shake It Off”
2004: Usher — “Confessions”
Arista Records
Copies sold: 7,979,000
Notable singles: “Burn,” “Confessions Pt. II,” “Yeah!”
2003: 50 Cent — “Get Rich or Die Tryin'”
Shady Records/Aftermath Entertainment
Copies sold: 6,536,000
Notable singles: “In da Club,” “21 Questions”
2002: Eminem — “The Eminem Show”
Aftermath Entertainment
Copies sold: 7,608,000
Notable singles: “Without Me,” “Sing For The Moment”
2001: Linkin Park — “Hybrid Theory”
Warner Bros. Records
Copies sold: 4,813,000
Notable single: “In The End”
2000: NSYNC — “No Strings Attached”
Jive Records
Copies sold: 9,936,000
Notable singles: “Bye Bye Bye,” “It's Gonna Be Me”
1999: Backstreet Boys — “Millennium”
Jive
Copies sold: 9,446,000
Notable singles: “I Want It That Way,” “Larger Than Life”
1998: James Horner and Celine Dion — “Titanic: Music from the Motion Picture”
Sony Classical
Copies sold: 9,338,000
Notable single: “My Heart Will Go On”
1997: Spice Girls — “Spice”
Virgin Records
Copies sold: 5,302,000
Notable singles: “Wannabe,” “Say You'll Be There”
1996: Alanis Morissette — “Jagged Little Pill”
Maverick
Copies sold: 7,380,000
Notable singles: “You Oughta Know,” “Hand In My Pocket”
1995: Hootie and the Blowfish — “Cracked Rear View”
Atlantic Records
Copies sold: 7,020,000
Notable singles: “Hold My Hand,” “Only Wanna Be With You”
1994: Elton John/Hans Zimmer — “The Lion King: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack”
Walt Disney Records
Copies sold: 4,934,000
Notable singles: “Can You Feel The Love Tonight,” “Circle of Life”
1993: Whitney Houston/Various Artists — “The Bodyguard: Original Soundtrack Album”
Arista
Copies sold: 5,460,000
Notable single: “I Will Always Love You”
1992: Billy Ray Cyrus — “Some Gave All”
Mercury Records
Copies sold: 4,832,000
Notable singles: “Achy Breaky Heart”
1991: Mariah Carey — “Mariah Carey”
Columbia Records
Notable singles: “Vision of Love,” “Love Takes Time”
1990: Janet Jackson — “Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814”
A&M Records
Notable singles: “Miss You Much,” “Rhythm Nation”
1989: Bobby Brown — “Don't Be Cruel”
MCA Records
Notable single: “My Prerogative”
1988: George Michael — “Faith”
Columbia
Notable singles: “One More Try,” “Father Figure”
1987: Bon Jovi — “Slippery When Wet”
Mercury
Notable singles: “You Give Love A Bad Name,” “Livin' On A Prayer”
1986: Whitney Houston — “Whitney Houston”
Arista
Notable singles: “How Will I Know,” “Greatest Love Of All”
1985: Bruce Springsteen — “Born in the U.S.A.”
Columbia
Notable singles: “Dancing In The Dark,” “Born In The U.S.A.”
1984: Michael Jackson — “Thriller”
Epic
Notable singles: “Billie Jean,” “Beat It”
1983: Michael Jackson — “Thriller”
Epic
Notable singles: “Thriller,” “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)”
1982: Asia — “Asia”
Geffen Records
Notable single: “Heat of the Moment”
1981: REO Speedwagon — “Hi Infidelity”
Epic Records
Notable singles: “Keep on Loving You,” “Take It on the Run”
1980: Pink Floyd — “The Wall”
Columbia
Notable singles: “Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2)”
1979: Billy Joel — “52nd Street”
CBS Records
Notable single: “My Life”
1978: “Saturday Night Fever: The Original Movie Sound Track”
RSO Records
Notable singles: “How Deep Is Your Love,” “Stayin' Alive”
1977: Fleetwood Mac — “Rumours”
Warner Bros.
Notable singles: “Go Your Own Way,” “Don't Stop”
1976: Peter Frampton — “Frampton Comes Alive!”
A&M Records
Notable single: “Show Me The Way”
1975: Elton John — “Elton John's Greatest Hits”
Island
Notable singles: “Your Song,” “Daniel”
1974: Elton John — “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”
MCA Records
Notable single: “Bennie and the Jets”
1973: War — “The World Is a Ghetto”
United Artists
Notable single: “The Cisco Kid”
1972: Neil Young — “Harvest”
Reprise Records
Notable single: “Heart of Gold”
1971: “Jesus Christ Superstar”
MCA Records
Notable single: “Superstar”
1970: Simon and Garfunkel — “Bridge over Troubled Water”
Columbia
Notable singles: “Bridge over Troubled Water,” “The Boxer”
1969: Iron Butterfly — “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida”
Atco
Notable single: “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida”
1968: The Jimi Hendrix Experience — “Are You Experienced”
Track Records
Notable singles: “Purple Haze,” “Foxy Lady”
1967: The Monkees — “More of The Monkees”
Colgems Records
Notable single: “I'm A Believer”
1966: Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass — “Whipped Cream & Other Delights”
A&M Records
Notable single: “A Taste of Honey”
1965: “Mary Poppins (Original Soundtrack)”
Walt Disney Records
Notable singles: “A Spoonful of Sugar,” “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”
1964: “Hello, Dolly! (Original Broadway Cast)”
RCA Victor Records
Notable single: “Hello, Dolly!”
1963: “West Side Story (Soundtrack)”
United Artists Records
Notable single: “I Feel Pretty”
1962: “West Side Story (Soundtrack)”
United Artists Records
Notable single: “Maria”
1961: “Camelot (Original Broadway Cast)”
Columbia Records
Notable single: “If Ever I Would Leave You”
1960: “The Sound of Music (Original Broadway Cast)”
Columbia Records
Notable single: “Do-Re-Mi,” “The Sound of Music”
1959: Henry Mancini — “Music from Peter Gunn”
RCA Victor Records
Notable single: “Peter Gunn”
1958: “My Fair Lady (Original Broadway Cast)”
Columbia Records
Notable single: “With A Little Bit of Luck”
1957: “My Fair Lady (Original Broadway Cast)”
Columbia Records
Notable single: “The Rain in Spain”
1956: Harry Belafonte — “Calypso”
RCA Victor Records
Notable singles: “Day-O (The Banana Boat Song),” “Jamaica Farewell”
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