The highest-selling albums and
EPs in the United States are ranked in the
Billboard 200, which is published by Billboard magazine. The data are compiled by
Nielsen Soundscan based on each album's weekly physical and
digital sales.[1] In
2008, 38 albums advanced to the peak position of the chart.
Singer-songwriter
Taylor Swift's Fearless is her first number-one album and had the longest run among the releases that have reached peak position in 2008, spending 11 non-consecutive weeks beginning with the issue dated November 29 and continuing into the 2009 chart year.[2] She is the only singer to have achieved the longest-running album as a country female recording act in the Billboard 200 history.[3] Swift is now ranked fifth on the list of solo female artists with the longest-running number-one album in Billboard history, tied with veterans
Mariah Carey and
Whitney Houston.[4] Other albums with extended chart runs include
Jack Johnson's fifth studio album, Sleep Through the Static, and
Metallica's ninth studio album, Death Magnetic; each spent three straight weeks on the chart. Three
soundtrack albums topped the chart in 2008: Juno, Mamma Mia! and Twilight.
Hip hop artist
Lil Wayne's Tha Carter III is the highest-selling album of 2008 in the
US, selling 2.874 million copies since its release.[5][6] The album attained the most sales in a week, netting over one million units after a week of release, a feat previously accomplished in 2005.[7] The second best-selling album of the year is
alternative rock band
Coldplay's Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends with 2.144 million copies sold, followed by Swift's Fearless with 2.112 million.[6] It is also the best-selling album in digital format, having topped the Billboard Top Digital Albums of 2008.[8] Alternative rock band
Radiohead's In Rainbows had the most
vinyl albums sold in 2008, amounting to 26,000 units.[5]
Pop singer
Madonna scored her seventh number-one album, Hard Candy, making her the female act with the second most number-one albums in the United States. R&B singer
Mariah Carey earned her sixth number-one album in 2008 with E=MC², tying her with R&B singer
Janet Jackson for third place for most number-one albums by a female act. E=MC² opened at number one on the chart for selling 463,000 copies, outselling Carey's previous albums' debut figures.[9]Neil Diamond achieved the first number one album of his career with
Home Before Dark 42 years after his first chart entry.
The highest-selling albums and
EPs in the United States are ranked in the
Billboard 200, which is published by Billboard magazine. The data are compiled by
Nielsen Soundscan based on each album's weekly physical and
digital sales.[1] In
2008, 38 albums advanced to the peak position of the chart.
Singer-songwriter
Taylor Swift's Fearless is her first number-one album and had the longest run among the releases that have reached peak position in 2008, spending 11 non-consecutive weeks beginning with the issue dated November 29 and continuing into the 2009 chart year.[2] She is the only singer to have achieved the longest-running album as a country female recording act in the Billboard 200 history.[3] Swift is now ranked fifth on the list of solo female artists with the longest-running number-one album in Billboard history, tied with veterans
Mariah Carey and
Whitney Houston.[4] Other albums with extended chart runs include
Jack Johnson's fifth studio album, Sleep Through the Static, and
Metallica's ninth studio album, Death Magnetic; each spent three straight weeks on the chart. Three
soundtrack albums topped the chart in 2008: Juno, Mamma Mia! and Twilight.
Hip hop artist
Lil Wayne's Tha Carter III is the highest-selling album of 2008 in the
US, selling 2.874 million copies since its release.[5][6] The album attained the most sales in a week, netting over one million units after a week of release, a feat previously accomplished in 2005.[7] The second best-selling album of the year is
alternative rock band
Coldplay's Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends with 2.144 million copies sold, followed by Swift's Fearless with 2.112 million.[6] It is also the best-selling album in digital format, having topped the Billboard Top Digital Albums of 2008.[8] Alternative rock band
Radiohead's In Rainbows had the most
vinyl albums sold in 2008, amounting to 26,000 units.[5]
Pop singer
Madonna scored her seventh number-one album, Hard Candy, making her the female act with the second most number-one albums in the United States. R&B singer
Mariah Carey earned her sixth number-one album in 2008 with E=MC², tying her with R&B singer
Janet Jackson for third place for most number-one albums by a female act. E=MC² opened at number one on the chart for selling 463,000 copies, outselling Carey's previous albums' debut figures.[9]Neil Diamond achieved the first number one album of his career with
Home Before Dark 42 years after his first chart entry.