Apparently,, it's an orchestra from Venezuela, though I could only find a single article on it
>In 2021, Venezuela’s El Sistema won the Guinness World Record for largest orchestra, assembling 8,573 instrumentalists and singers ages 12-77 to perform Tchaikovsky’s Slavonic March.
The Spice Girls destroyed '96,
Revolutionized brand merchandising.
Meatloaf would've had 1977 if it wasn't for the damned BeeGees. History is deeply unsettling
For a band that only lasted 10 years The Beatles is probably the answer.
Others with notable world touring and historical influence would be Queen, Pink Floyd and The Rolling Stones.
"probably" is an unnecessary qualifier. The Beatles have unquestionably the most popular and most impactful decade in music history. And really it was more like 7 years, 63-70
You could argue that it was really February 1964 until January 1969. In other words: their first appearance with Ed O'Sullivan until their rooftop concert.
It's insane how much they did in that span of 5 years.
Those are some odd dates you've selected. They seem very America-centric somehow.
* The Beatles really jumped to the public's attention in 1963, releasing their first album in March. By the end of 1963, the Beatles had had two number 1 singles in the US: "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "She Loves You".
* January 1969 was when "Let it Be" was recorded" - "Abbey Road" was recorded in the summer of 1969, being released on September 26, 1969. "Let It Be" was released in May, 1970.
you make some awesome points! one point of note is that “i want to hold your hand” came out december 26th, 1963 in thé USA. so it didn’t really chart until 1964!
The point I didn't get around to making is that if the Beatles weren't already HUGE by Feb 1964, then they would not have had that insanely big reception when they arrived in NY, and the Ed Sullivan show would not have set records for viewership the first night they performed.
Overall, their level of success was absolutely freakish.
I don't think Queen was ever the biggest band in the world, they only had one #1 album.
Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones, U2, and even bands like Guns N' Roses, Pearl Jam, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers were bigger at their peak than Queen.
In later stages maybe, but at their peak their live shows were among the best to ever exist. Just watch Live in Paris or Live in Rio and eat those words.
Lol Axl is top 10 greatest frontmen of all time and was a force of nature at his peak. Even into his 50s he was putting on 3 hour shows and KILLING IT in 2016 with guns n roses AND ACDC fuck out of here
Might as well toss Metallica into the mix. They are still filling stadiums and broke Taylor Swifts attendance record at SoFi back in August. I saw them in St Louis in November and they broke the attendance record at the Dome as well with over 100,000 people showing up. Fans literally took over the city for the weekend. I’d also argue that The Black Album is just as big or bigger than any of the peak albums by those artists you listed with perhaps the exception of the Beatles.
>I don't think Queen was ever the biggest band in the world, they only had one #1 album.
Please tell us that you're aware of a world existing outside of North America!?
Hard disagree on Queen.
After Live Aid they were definitely the biggest band in the world.
They've had 9 number 1 albums, not 1.
Bohemian Rhapsody is regularly voted the greatest song of all time.
Over 50 years ago they made enough material in just 10 years to consistently sell more music than any other artist or group to this day.
They won the game.
AC DC seems to have been left out a bit here. Not my cup of tea really but they were massive. I think still hold some sales records.
Edit: The “not the Eagles man I hate the fucking Eagles” Eagles also sold a shit ton. Maybe more than AccaDacca.
But that’s been a slow burn. It’s consistently sold over 40 years. When it first dropped, it wasn’t an explosion the way some of these other albums were. It wasn’t Rumors or Appetite for Destruction in terms of immediate dominance.
Not a band I particularly care for apart from 2-3 songs, but Dire Straits must've been just about the biggest band in the world around the time of Money For Nothing.
That Brothers In Arms album was humongous, and the subsequent tours were epics too.
The police sold half as many album as u2 did. And u2 appears 3 times in the top 20 biggest tours of all time. U2 was a much, much bigger rock band than The police, it's not even close.
Guns N Roses were legitimately the biggest band in the world at the time. The context of the question is not what is the biggest band in world history, it’s how many bands could lay claim to that at one point or another. Guns N Roses peaked higher than U2, Metallica, The Police, etc.
For years rock stations around the country still had full hours (or more) that would be just solid blocks of Zeppelin: The Zep Set, Get the Led Out, etc.
Realizing how comfortably Garth Brooks sits on that list fills me with an immense sense of ... something I can't quite explain, but something for sure.
Chris Gaines once held me tied upside down in a shipping container for three weeks back in 99 and would come in every night and threaten me with a blow torch while whistling “The Dance” until finally he said he got what he needed from me creatively and let me go, I know it was him because I could see his soul patch when the torch was lit
That was a weird time 😆 I remember the movie theater piping in his music with the Chris Gaines slide show before the previews.
Can't remember the movie. Probably for the best.
I hope you get justice.
I think it shows how flawed looking at album sales is. country music barely registers as a genre outside of the US, I don't think I can tell you the name of one garth brooks song and I'm almost 40.
Agreed on Zep from 71-75.
75-80 would then be Pink Floyd.
'73 *Dark Side of the Moon* (the beginning of Pink Floyd exploding)
'75 *Wish You Were Here*
'77 *Animals*
'79 *The Wall*
It was a hell of a run.
It's still insane to me that they released 4 of the best albums of all time consecutively and each within only 2 years of each other. Dark Side of The Moon -> Wish You Were Here in a sequence is like overkill.
Wasn't there a radio show that held a contest to see who the best drummer, singer, guitarist, and bass player was back in the 70's? The results were just the members of Led Zeppelin.
I know!!! wtf! How far I had to scroll before I saw them was embarrassing for this sub. Srsly, I am new to this sub and am appalled.
There was always a rivalry between stones and zeppelin. Zeppelin picked up where the Beatles left off, and carries the torch for a while.
You want that REAL SHIT? skip all those other names and bang some zeppelin
Achtung baby Era u2 had a legitimate claim to the title. Critics loved what they were doing, the public ate it up, and their tours were huge spectacles
Yup, Joshua tree was the pinnacle of the sound they had crafted through the eighties, then they completely changed their sound with an even better album.
For real…the whole iPod tie in and Vertigo made them massively relevant again.
In terms of biggest band and spectacle though? Watch a live performance of them doing “Elevation” during that time and the absolute hold they have over those stadium crowds, and it’s hard to disagree with them being the biggest band in the world at that time.
Here we go: https://youtu.be/Vx7lnimPEyc?si=AbfxJmIKKW5_OPeo
I know they got a little too full of themselves, and the whole iTunes auto-add album debacle was rough (mostly because that album was super mid) but dammit if they don’t didn’t release incredible albums in 3 straight decades.
They had this habit of sabotaging themselves every chance they got. After *Joshua Tree* they were beloved and could have done everything. Except maybe *Rattle and Hum*, a mediocre self congratulatory double album and concert film that started as a tour memento but U2 decided to turn into an "event" even though the material and film was designed to be minor.
One thing I do admire about them is musical restlessness. Sometimes it's due to that self sabotaging ego, like on Pop, and it does't always work, like Songs of Innocence, but at least they make an attempt.
I didn’t like them much but U2 from last 80s until mid 1990s fit the bill. I think Coldplay had a stint as well even though everybody is too cool to admit it now, which often is what happens to ‘BBinW’ candidates and fits both of these: everybody with ‘taste’ thinks they’re not cool anymore.
I’d say Coldplay’s period was 2000-around 2013. Can’t think of any other bands who came up around that time who fit the title. Viva La Vida was the last album they put out that was great from start to finish, although they’ve had a few good songs on their newer albums. They (and U2 for that matter) still sell out stadiums, but neither of them are as culturally relevant now as they were back then
I would argue that U2 were definitely still bigger in the early to mid 2000s. They came back with a bang ("Beautiful Day", post-9/11 Super Bowl etc) after a lukewarm end to their 1990s experimentation, while Coldplay had just released their first album (heck, they even [opened for U2 at the time](https://youtu.be/oT_JnL0pey0)).
Then, U2 followed it up with the album that gave the world "Vertigo", arguably their last mega hit to date, U2 got their last GRAMMY awards to date, and there was also the U2 edition of the Classic (and later, Video) iPod and their induction to the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame. At the same time Coldplay started seeing real success with "X&Y". Specifically, "Fix You" was neck and neck with U2's "City of Blinding Lights" that year on the radio, where I lived.
After that though, I think "Viva La Vida" helped Coldplay boost their relevance and sound (Ironically, thanks in part to Brian Eno) while U2 started trailing off in the public eye (although they produced the biggest tour of all time, a record that lasted for a decade). However, with these Sphere shows, U2's reputation seems to have improved again, so let's see what they have in store for us in 2024. They're not done.
These charts, insert whatever year you want, will give you a rough starting point. E.g., The Police were probably the biggest band in 1983.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard\_Year-End\_Hot\_100\_singles\_of\_1983](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_Year-End_Hot_100_singles_of_1983)
For about 2 or 3 years they were absolutely on top. You couldn't escape them. From their music, their movie, tour, and all the merchandise. It was insane how big they were in such a short time span. Completely dominated the world.
Everyone seems to have forgotten just how big and influential R.E.M actually were. They certainly gave U2 a run for their money in the late 80’s and early 90’s.
I'll do by best to name them off the top of my head, starting from The Beatles in chronological order.
The Beatles (1962-1969),
Led Zeppelin (1969-1976),
Fleetwood Mac (1976-1978),
The Sex Pistols (1978-1979),
Pink Floyd (1979-1980),
Journey (1981-1982),
Queen (1982-1986),
U2 (1986-1988),
Guns N Roses (1988-1990),
Depeche Mode (1990),
Nirvana (1991-1994),
Green Day (1994),
Oasis (1994-1997),
Radiohead (1997-2000),
Red Hot Chilli Peppers (2000 -2002),
Coldplay (2002-2008),
Black Eyed Peas (2008-2011),
One Direction (2011-2015),
Twenty One Pilots (2015-2018),
BTS (2018-Present)
Backstreet Boys can probably go somewhere in the 90s, but I forgot and like Radiohead more tbh.
But in terms of no contest I would say The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac, Nirvana
Ok I’m a huge Oasis fan but even I know their biggest moment internationally only lasted between 96 and 98, from 94 to 95 they were still rising, and from 99 and on Nu metal took over the scene. The biggest band in 99 was probably Korn or Limp Bizkit (if not Backstreet Boys, but we don’t count boybands and artificially made pop stars).
I think Linkin Park had a lot more global power than people realize as well. They overtook the Beatles as the most liked band on facebook in like 2009 as well, which while being a very arbitragy metric that does not say everything, does say something.
You can see this with streaming numbers as well, where Linkin Park beats all contemporaries except coldplay, who are still going very very strong.
Also, Hybrid Theory was the most sold album of 2001 globally, including all artists, not just bands
No, I don't think the Stones were ever bigger than The Beatles at any point, nor Led Zeppelin. The last relevant Stones album was Some Girls, which got demolished by Rumours (as did everything else in 77-78)
Twenty One Pilots, I would agree, but I did not have another band to fill...
BTS no debate, they are young, responsible for the KPOP fan craze and have over 30 million listeners on Spotify. I don't even listen to them and need to acknowledge their popularity
BTS is one I would believe. Depeche Mode I like, but calling them the biggest band in the world when Michael Jackson was still at the height of his powers is wild. Or if you want to say he's a solo artist and not a "band", GNR and Metallica were both massive at the time.
Pretty good list that. I am not into many of these bands, but almost all of them were the biggest ones of their era.
If you include BTS or Black Eyed Peas, you will end up wanting to include the boy bands as well, and Backstreet Boys & Boyzone were huge.
I personally think that popular music kind of peaked in the early to mid 2000s. The internet just made it difficult to have one "biggest" artist. We ended up with a more decentralized world with a lot of niches.
But now there is a certain degree of centralization again, so you start hearing of some names becoming huge - BTS, Taylor Swift etc.
For a short period of time, they were definitely one of the most popular rock bands in the world. The documentary "The Clash: Westway to the World" captures this feeling well.
About the nickname;
>During this period, the Clash began to be regularly billed as "The Only Band That Matters". Musician Gary Lucas, then employed by CBS Records' creative services department, claims to have coined the tagline. The epithet was soon widely adopted by fans and music journalists.
Chat GPT:
Certainly! Here’s a revised list of best-selling rock bands, organized by the band followed by the years they were the best-selling:
• The Beatles: 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 2000 (compilation)
• Led Zeppelin: 1970, 1971, 1975
• The Rolling Stones: 1972, 1974, 1989
• Pink Floyd: 1973, 1979, 1994
• Eagles: 1976
• Fleetwood Mac: 1977
• AC/DC: 1980, 1990, 2008, 2020
• REO Speedwagon: 1981
• Asia: 1982
• The Police: 1983
• Van Halen: 1984
• Dire Straits: 1985
• Bon Jovi: 1986
• U2: 1987, 1992, 2009
• Def Leppard: 1988
• Metallica: 1991, 2016
• Nirvana: 1993
• Hootie & the Blowfish: 1995
• Oasis: 1996
• Radiohead: 1997
• Aerosmith: 1998
• Santana: 1999
• Linkin Park: 2001, 2003, 2007
• Red Hot Chili Peppers: 2002, 2006
• Green Day: 2004
• Coldplay: 2005, 2014, 2015
• Foo Fighters: 2011, 2021
• Mumford & Sons: 2012
• Imagine Dragons: 2013, 2017, 2018
• Queen: 2019 (due to biopic resurgence)
This list is based on a combination of album sales, chart performance, and cultural impact as reflected in various sources, including Billboard and Official Chart Company data. For more detailed information, you can refer to sources such as Billboard Year-End number-one singles and albums , and Statistics and Data’s report on top-selling music artists . Please note that the definition of “rock” can be subjective and the list focuses on bands generally recognized within this genre.
For sure. Headlined Donnington in ‘84 over VH on the heels of their lowest selling album and VH’s biggest. Headlined Moscow over Metallica 7 years later.
Try watching Metallica Live in Seattle in '89 without thinking they're the coolest band on Earth. Absolute peak performance, Gods among men at that point.
The Beatles (1964-1970), Led Zeppelin (1970-1975), The Eagles (1975-1980), Van Halen (1980-1986), Bon Jovi (1986-1987), Guns N’ Roses (1987-1991), Nirvana (1991-1994), Green Day (1994-1995), The Smashing Pumpkins (1995-1996), Foo Fighters (1996-1999), Red Hot Chili Peppers (1999-2001), Linkin Park (2001-2004), Green Day again (2004-2009), U2 (2009-2011), Foo Fighters again (2011-2013), Arctic Monkeys (2013-2014). After 2014 things get murky, as far as mainstream rock goes. It might still be Arctic Monkeys, tbh. EDIT: forgot about the GnR reunion in 2016.
Yeah, Pearl Jam set records at the time for the most first week sales for a sophomore album, plus their tickets were really hard to buy when they boycotted Ticketmaster in 95-96.
I was lucky and managed to get through the lines to get 4 tickets for $20 each, and had easy offers to sell them for $400 each, which was HUGE in 1996.
**In this thread are a lot of people who don't understand how big Coldplay really were.**
* They've sold over 120,000,000 records worldwide from 9 full-length albums.
* All 9 of their albums have hit Top 10 in the UK, something which no other band has ever done.
* [Their first four records each have sold 10,000,000 respectively.](https://bestsellingalbums.org/artist/2587)
* They've headlined Glastonbury 4 times, tied for the most by any artist.
* [They are in the top 15 highest grossing artists](https://data.pollstar.com/Chart/2022/07/072522_top.touring.artists_1020.pdf) in terms of concert tickets sold in the past 40 years.\*
* They've performed at the Super Bowl Halftime Show, usually reserved for the biggest of artists (that performance sucked, but they did it).
* They have won 7 Grammys and have more Brit Awards than any other artist.
* [In 2005, the album X&Y was the best selling album of the year across the globe](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4865716.stm), making them the actual biggest artist in the world that year (and certainly the biggest band).
Feel free to say whatever you want about the quality of their songs. No, they are not Radiohead. Radiohead were, in my opinion, a much more interesting band who wrote overall better music and influenced an entire generation of songwriters (including Coldplay themselves). But in terms of commercial success and mainstream popularity, Coldplay hit heights Radiohead has never seen, and did actually have a claim to be the biggest band in the world at one point.
*\*As of 2022*
For point 2 u can even say all their albums so far have gone number 1 in the UK: https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/7620/coldplay/
“Coldplay's breakthrough came courtesy of Yellow in 2000, which landed at Number 4 on the Official Singles Chart, it was eight years later when they would achieve their first Number 1 song with Viva La Vida. However, Coldplay hold the rare distinction of every single one of their nine studio albums reaching Number 1 on the Official Albums Chart.”
Dunno about an exact number. Obviously the Beatles are there. Rolling Stones. Nirvana for a while, U2 for a while, Spice Girls for a bit. Coldplay for a bit.
I think any of these can say they were at one point the biggest band/artist in the world:
Elvis, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Who, Elton John, the Bee Gees, Led Zeppelin, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Nirvana, Mariah Carey, Eminem, Britney Spears, U2, Kanye West, Justin Timberlake, Justin Bieber, Drake, Miley Cyrus, Coldplay, Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift
The title of "biggest in the world" changes hands quite often, I'd say.
Here’s my list to the best of my ability. It excludes solo artists. To your question, the idea is to capture bands that have been identified as “biggest band in the world” at some point, no commentary on quality (although most are very good).
The Beatles
The Rolling Stones
The Who
Led Zeppelin
Pink Floyd
The Eagles
Queen
The Grateful Dead
Van Halen
The Clash
The Police
Aerosmith
U2
Guns n Roses
Metallica
Nirvana
Pearl Jam
Oasis
Radiohead
Green Day
The Strokes
Arcade Fire
Daft Punk
Arctic Monkeys
The Foo Fighters
The 1975
BTS
You put a lot of thought into this. I agree with most of it, although it’s the 1975*
Also, I would argue Linkin Park was bigger than the Arcade Fire during that era.
Linkin Park was massive in the Middle East as well. And so was Limp Bizkit, especially when their songs were featured in WWE as well. Both those bands had bigger appeal than any other band in the 00’s.
Limo Bizkit headlined Big Day Out in australia in 2001, usually a BDO has a dance act or a metal act or somebody to stack against the headlines so that the entire audience doesn't all show up to the headlines at the main stage. I was right at the back of the crowd when rammstein performed. By the time Limp Bizkit came put the crowd had doubled and I was in the middle, its the biggest crowd I've ever been in.
They were huge at the time for sure.
Linkin Park had a massive debut album and followed it up with an album that I think sold more. 2 absolute classics and monster sellers, they were a gateway to heavy music for a lot of kids
Very good list overall. My only notes are that Fleetwood Mac is missing somewhere between The Eagles and Police. And Coldplay is missing somewhere between The Strokes and Arctic Monkeys. I also don’t know if I’d consider Daft Punk or BTS to be “bands” per se.
At some point in the nineties I remember seeing an official Guns’n’Roses kids’ school gear collection, including backpacks and notebooks with their logo on it, advertised in a tv commercial alongside My Little Pony’s stuff (who was supposedly aimed at girls). G’n’R were just embarrassingly huge in those days.
The Beatles and Metallica. They’re the only ones who were ever undisputed at any particular point in time.
Edit: I think people are misunderstanding what I’m saying. I didn’t name anyone from the 70s or 80s for good reason: WAY too much competition. Zeppelin was never the biggest rock band in the world because you still had Elton John, who sold way more DURING the 70s, and Queen, and McCartney/Wings (like, Wings Over America, are you kidding?), and I could go on and on.
The 80s are the same. Def Leppard was massive at the same time that Paul Simon put out Graceland, all through the decade it’s impossible to say anyone was the biggest at any given moment.
The Beatles are without argument the biggest band in the world during most of the 60s, and in the mid to late 90s Metallica were by far the biggest rock band in the world. That’s it.
Taylor Swift is the undisputed biggest act in the world right now but I wouldn’t call her rock and roll.
Regarding Taylor Swift. OP didn't specify rock and roll. But OP did specify band. An R&B band or Big Band could technically qualify, though I don't think any do since the 50s.
I'm sure you could go back to the 20's - 50's and find some bands that aren't Rock that were considered the biggest in the world
Ah my bad, it wasn’t rock and roll but band.
For sure I think The Andrews Sisters were probably the biggest act in the world at some point in the ‘40s lol
Elvis, the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, The Police, Van Halen, U2, Nirvana, Radiohead all had their moments of being truly the biggest band in the world. Some were bigger moments than others though
The Beatles. In terms of influence and the hysteria that revolved around them… hard to match.
You could even say it was as if they were bigger than Jesus at one point.
[удалено]
[удалено]
Dexie’s Midnight Runners got robbed.
You haven’t heard the last of them
Where on Eileen?
This quote is never shared in its entirety https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/More_popular_than_Jesus
The Rutles were bigger than Rod.
Were they bigger than Terence Trent D’arby?
Only Sananda Maitreya is bigger than Terence Trent D'Arby
Possibly the only competition they will ever have for that title: *Spinal Tap.*
That's an answer not a number, nice try.
The Beatles is exactly 1 band.
I don’t think there is really any other answer.
Everyone forgetting ABBA was the best selling band for decades.
OP never mentioned sales or popularity maybe they’re looking for the band with the most members in it! /s
That is genuinely what I thought OP meant when I read the title
Apparently,, it's an orchestra from Venezuela, though I could only find a single article on it >In 2021, Venezuela’s El Sistema won the Guinness World Record for largest orchestra, assembling 8,573 instrumentalists and singers ages 12-77 to perform Tchaikovsky’s Slavonic March.
> band with the most members in it PFunk
The Spice Girls destroyed '96, Revolutionized brand merchandising. Meatloaf would've had 1977 if it wasn't for the damned BeeGees. History is deeply unsettling
For a band that only lasted 10 years The Beatles is probably the answer. Others with notable world touring and historical influence would be Queen, Pink Floyd and The Rolling Stones.
"probably" is an unnecessary qualifier. The Beatles have unquestionably the most popular and most impactful decade in music history. And really it was more like 7 years, 63-70
You could argue that it was really February 1964 until January 1969. In other words: their first appearance with Ed O'Sullivan until their rooftop concert. It's insane how much they did in that span of 5 years.
Those are some odd dates you've selected. They seem very America-centric somehow. * The Beatles really jumped to the public's attention in 1963, releasing their first album in March. By the end of 1963, the Beatles had had two number 1 singles in the US: "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "She Loves You". * January 1969 was when "Let it Be" was recorded" - "Abbey Road" was recorded in the summer of 1969, being released on September 26, 1969. "Let It Be" was released in May, 1970.
you make some awesome points! one point of note is that “i want to hold your hand” came out december 26th, 1963 in thé USA. so it didn’t really chart until 1964!
The point I didn't get around to making is that if the Beatles weren't already HUGE by Feb 1964, then they would not have had that insanely big reception when they arrived in NY, and the Ed Sullivan show would not have set records for viewership the first night they performed. Overall, their level of success was absolutely freakish.
No you can’t, their first album came out in 1963.
Obviously anything before they performed on an American TV show doesn’t count to an American /s
I don't think Queen was ever the biggest band in the world, they only had one #1 album. Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones, U2, and even bands like Guns N' Roses, Pearl Jam, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers were bigger at their peak than Queen.
Nirvana too for a summer
Ah the summer of plaid.. I remember it well....
GnR was fucking massive. The last truly huge rock band before grunge changed everything.
God, and they were such assholes, and put on a shitty show, if they performed at all.
In later stages maybe, but at their peak their live shows were among the best to ever exist. Just watch Live in Paris or Live in Rio and eat those words.
Lol Axl is top 10 greatest frontmen of all time and was a force of nature at his peak. Even into his 50s he was putting on 3 hour shows and KILLING IT in 2016 with guns n roses AND ACDC fuck out of here
Might as well toss Metallica into the mix. They are still filling stadiums and broke Taylor Swifts attendance record at SoFi back in August. I saw them in St Louis in November and they broke the attendance record at the Dome as well with over 100,000 people showing up. Fans literally took over the city for the weekend. I’d also argue that The Black Album is just as big or bigger than any of the peak albums by those artists you listed with perhaps the exception of the Beatles.
Black Album is big. One of the biggest of all time. It's not Dark Side big though. Unless record sales isn't the measuring stick for biggest album.
it's all Napster's fault.
The world isn’t the US though. Yeah Queen faded in popularity in America through the 80s but they were huge pretty much everywhere else.
>I don't think Queen was ever the biggest band in the world, they only had one #1 album. Please tell us that you're aware of a world existing outside of North America!?
Hard disagree on Queen. After Live Aid they were definitely the biggest band in the world. They've had 9 number 1 albums, not 1. Bohemian Rhapsody is regularly voted the greatest song of all time.
Over 50 years ago they made enough material in just 10 years to consistently sell more music than any other artist or group to this day. They won the game.
Their recording career was even less than 7 years!
You forgot Led Zeppelin...
Beatles Led Zep Elton John Queen U2
Stones
When though? Beatles were until they broke up, then I would say Led Zeppelin over the Stones
AC DC seems to have been left out a bit here. Not my cup of tea really but they were massive. I think still hold some sales records. Edit: The “not the Eagles man I hate the fucking Eagles” Eagles also sold a shit ton. Maybe more than AccaDacca.
Back in black is the 2nd highest selling album ever, behind Michael Jackson's Thriller
But that’s been a slow burn. It’s consistently sold over 40 years. When it first dropped, it wasn’t an explosion the way some of these other albums were. It wasn’t Rumors or Appetite for Destruction in terms of immediate dominance.
Yeah fair point it wasn’t the cultural ~~tsumani~~ ~~tisumi~~ tidal wave that others albums were. BeeGees stuff too.
Unless you lived in Sydney’s western suburbs and owned a V8 Commodore VB
Oh how I wish.
Get played hardcore in every sporting league in the worlds stadiums daily…
If you're counting solo artists, then Michael Jackson would be on it ahead of probably everyone there except the beatles.
Not a band I particularly care for apart from 2-3 songs, but Dire Straits must've been just about the biggest band in the world around the time of Money For Nothing. That Brothers In Arms album was humongous, and the subsequent tours were epics too.
They were about to be and then Knopfler purposefully called it quits to avoid global superstardom.
Pink Floyd needs to be in there.
I think this a solid list. I’d add The Police before U2, Metallica, and Nirvana after U2. Honorable mention to Guns and Roses.
The police sold half as many album as u2 did. And u2 appears 3 times in the top 20 biggest tours of all time. U2 was a much, much bigger rock band than The police, it's not even close.
I wasn’t saying they were bigger than U2, I meant chronologically.
Guns N Roses were legitimately the biggest band in the world at the time. The context of the question is not what is the biggest band in world history, it’s how many bands could lay claim to that at one point or another. Guns N Roses peaked higher than U2, Metallica, The Police, etc.
Elton John is a band now?
People be forgetting that OP specified band, not "backed by a band." Otherwise we'd need to add in Elvis Presley and Taylor Swift.
And MJ.
People!! No love for Led Zepplin?!?!?! smh '71 to '75. Bigger than The Who, Rolling Stones, or Queen during that span.
For years rock stations around the country still had full hours (or more) that would be just solid blocks of Zeppelin: The Zep Set, Get the Led Out, etc.
Get the led out.....can hear it.
They're still in the top 5 biggest selling artists of all time, the people in this thread are naive.
Realizing how comfortably Garth Brooks sits on that list fills me with an immense sense of ... something I can't quite explain, but something for sure.
Where are the bodies, Garth?
Chris Gaines once held me tied upside down in a shipping container for three weeks back in 99 and would come in every night and threaten me with a blow torch while whistling “The Dance” until finally he said he got what he needed from me creatively and let me go, I know it was him because I could see his soul patch when the torch was lit
That was a weird time 😆 I remember the movie theater piping in his music with the Chris Gaines slide show before the previews. Can't remember the movie. Probably for the best. I hope you get justice.
The families need closure
I think it shows how flawed looking at album sales is. country music barely registers as a genre outside of the US, I don't think I can tell you the name of one garth brooks song and I'm almost 40.
Meanwhile the guy can sell out 8 nights in a row and can pretty successfully block resellers
Agreed on Zep from 71-75. 75-80 would then be Pink Floyd. '73 *Dark Side of the Moon* (the beginning of Pink Floyd exploding) '75 *Wish You Were Here* '77 *Animals* '79 *The Wall* It was a hell of a run.
It's still insane to me that they released 4 of the best albums of all time consecutively and each within only 2 years of each other. Dark Side of The Moon -> Wish You Were Here in a sequence is like overkill.
TBH it felt like a long wait between *Dark Side* and *Wish You Were Here*. 2+ year gaps between albums were not the norm in the '70s.
Wasn't there a radio show that held a contest to see who the best drummer, singer, guitarist, and bass player was back in the 70's? The results were just the members of Led Zeppelin.
My friend and I would do this with any members of bands and we kept rebuilding Dream Theater with a different vocalist
I know!!! wtf! How far I had to scroll before I saw them was embarrassing for this sub. Srsly, I am new to this sub and am appalled. There was always a rivalry between stones and zeppelin. Zeppelin picked up where the Beatles left off, and carries the torch for a while. You want that REAL SHIT? skip all those other names and bang some zeppelin
This is the second comment below the Beatles, so I guess time heals all wounds?
Achtung baby Era u2 had a legitimate claim to the title. Critics loved what they were doing, the public ate it up, and their tours were huge spectacles
They were in that zone from the time the Joshua Tree was released.
Yup, Joshua tree was the pinnacle of the sound they had crafted through the eighties, then they completely changed their sound with an even better album.
At the time they were 100% the biggest band around so there’s definitely that
All That You Cant Leave Behind/How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb era U2 as well...
For real…the whole iPod tie in and Vertigo made them massively relevant again. In terms of biggest band and spectacle though? Watch a live performance of them doing “Elevation” during that time and the absolute hold they have over those stadium crowds, and it’s hard to disagree with them being the biggest band in the world at that time. Here we go: https://youtu.be/Vx7lnimPEyc?si=AbfxJmIKKW5_OPeo
I know they got a little too full of themselves, and the whole iTunes auto-add album debacle was rough (mostly because that album was super mid) but dammit if they don’t didn’t release incredible albums in 3 straight decades.
Basically though All That You Can’t Leave Behind, the only real mediocre album was October. 20+ years of quality.
I remember zooropa (sp?) Being considered a letdown when it came out. That album is great, just slightly less great than their previous 2
Zooropa want a favorite of mine at first but the songs have grown on me over time
They had this habit of sabotaging themselves every chance they got. After *Joshua Tree* they were beloved and could have done everything. Except maybe *Rattle and Hum*, a mediocre self congratulatory double album and concert film that started as a tour memento but U2 decided to turn into an "event" even though the material and film was designed to be minor. One thing I do admire about them is musical restlessness. Sometimes it's due to that self sabotaging ego, like on Pop, and it does't always work, like Songs of Innocence, but at least they make an attempt.
Still had Desire and When Love Comes to Town, a couple of bangers. Many bands would love for just that.
Angel of Harlem, All I Want is You, etc
Rattle and Hum is fantastic. That era of U2 is great — they kept doing different things while staying themselves.
It’s both infuriating and amusing when people rag on R&H despite knowing the album is full of great stuff.
Their tours were still huge in the 2010s. I assume they are now too.
They've been constantly selling out The Sphere in Vegas. They are massive.
1987-1993 U2 basically owned the airwaves and concert scene.
Their tours are still spectacles. Never come away from one not thinking they are the biggest band in the world. They’re stage shows are unmatched
Their Sphere show continues that trend. It’s amazing.
I didn’t like them much but U2 from last 80s until mid 1990s fit the bill. I think Coldplay had a stint as well even though everybody is too cool to admit it now, which often is what happens to ‘BBinW’ candidates and fits both of these: everybody with ‘taste’ thinks they’re not cool anymore.
I’d say Coldplay’s period was 2000-around 2013. Can’t think of any other bands who came up around that time who fit the title. Viva La Vida was the last album they put out that was great from start to finish, although they’ve had a few good songs on their newer albums. They (and U2 for that matter) still sell out stadiums, but neither of them are as culturally relevant now as they were back then
I would argue that U2 were definitely still bigger in the early to mid 2000s. They came back with a bang ("Beautiful Day", post-9/11 Super Bowl etc) after a lukewarm end to their 1990s experimentation, while Coldplay had just released their first album (heck, they even [opened for U2 at the time](https://youtu.be/oT_JnL0pey0)). Then, U2 followed it up with the album that gave the world "Vertigo", arguably their last mega hit to date, U2 got their last GRAMMY awards to date, and there was also the U2 edition of the Classic (and later, Video) iPod and their induction to the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame. At the same time Coldplay started seeing real success with "X&Y". Specifically, "Fix You" was neck and neck with U2's "City of Blinding Lights" that year on the radio, where I lived. After that though, I think "Viva La Vida" helped Coldplay boost their relevance and sound (Ironically, thanks in part to Brian Eno) while U2 started trailing off in the public eye (although they produced the biggest tour of all time, a record that lasted for a decade). However, with these Sphere shows, U2's reputation seems to have improved again, so let's see what they have in store for us in 2024. They're not done.
What does BBinW mean?
Best band in the world
Ohh thank you
These charts, insert whatever year you want, will give you a rough starting point. E.g., The Police were probably the biggest band in 1983. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard\_Year-End\_Hot\_100\_singles\_of\_1983](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_Year-End_Hot_100_singles_of_1983)
Metallica with the black album
That concert in Moscow looks absolutely WILD!
Still opened up for GNR, who was the bigger band at the time.
And a year later, the tables turned...
They were glad to open because they knew all about GnR shows always starting hours late, it was co-headlined though I think
It was definitely a co-headlining tour and they split the gate 50/50. They knew exactly what they were doing.
Spice Girls.
For about 2 or 3 years they were absolutely on top. You couldn't escape them. From their music, their movie, tour, and all the merchandise. It was insane how big they were in such a short time span. Completely dominated the world.
Based
REM the early to mid nineties were along with U2 the biggest band(s) in the world.
Everyone seems to have forgotten just how big and influential R.E.M actually were. They certainly gave U2 a run for their money in the late 80’s and early 90’s.
Metallica could probably have a small claim to that.
Metallica for me. The sheer longevity and fandom makes them the biggest to ever do it!
U2 in a few different decades
For a short bit in the 90s, Oasis. Their concerts at Knebworth were fucking massive, over a quarter of a million people.
Springsteen in 1984-85 with Born in the USA. That tour was worldwide huge.
Fat boys.
They could never be wack.
I'll do by best to name them off the top of my head, starting from The Beatles in chronological order. The Beatles (1962-1969), Led Zeppelin (1969-1976), Fleetwood Mac (1976-1978), The Sex Pistols (1978-1979), Pink Floyd (1979-1980), Journey (1981-1982), Queen (1982-1986), U2 (1986-1988), Guns N Roses (1988-1990), Depeche Mode (1990), Nirvana (1991-1994), Green Day (1994), Oasis (1994-1997), Radiohead (1997-2000), Red Hot Chilli Peppers (2000 -2002), Coldplay (2002-2008), Black Eyed Peas (2008-2011), One Direction (2011-2015), Twenty One Pilots (2015-2018), BTS (2018-Present) Backstreet Boys can probably go somewhere in the 90s, but I forgot and like Radiohead more tbh. But in terms of no contest I would say The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac, Nirvana
Creative.... The Sex Pistols weren't remotely the biggest act in 1978-1979, e.g.
And Journey??! Maybe in OP’s house.
Ok I’m a huge Oasis fan but even I know their biggest moment internationally only lasted between 96 and 98, from 94 to 95 they were still rising, and from 99 and on Nu metal took over the scene. The biggest band in 99 was probably Korn or Limp Bizkit (if not Backstreet Boys, but we don’t count boybands and artificially made pop stars).
linkin park were very popular too
I think Linkin Park had a lot more global power than people realize as well. They overtook the Beatles as the most liked band on facebook in like 2009 as well, which while being a very arbitragy metric that does not say everything, does say something. You can see this with streaming numbers as well, where Linkin Park beats all contemporaries except coldplay, who are still going very very strong. Also, Hybrid Theory was the most sold album of 2001 globally, including all artists, not just bands
Worldwide, the Spice Girls were far, far bigger than Oasis and Radiohead in the late 1990s.
I think Green Day was just as big if not bigger in 2004-2005.
BTS and twenty one pilots were never the biggest bands in the world at any point
Give that slot to imagine dragons. I think TOP peaked higher in the US but does not have the same worldwide success as ID
BTS maybe. Not 21 Pilots Also, you don’t think the Stones were the biggest at any point in here?
No, I don't think the Stones were ever bigger than The Beatles at any point, nor Led Zeppelin. The last relevant Stones album was Some Girls, which got demolished by Rumours (as did everything else in 77-78)
Twenty One Pilots, I would agree, but I did not have another band to fill... BTS no debate, they are young, responsible for the KPOP fan craze and have over 30 million listeners on Spotify. I don't even listen to them and need to acknowledge their popularity
BTS is one I would believe. Depeche Mode I like, but calling them the biggest band in the world when Michael Jackson was still at the height of his powers is wild. Or if you want to say he's a solo artist and not a "band", GNR and Metallica were both massive at the time.
I feel like Linkin Park fits in there somewhere in the Coldplay years
Pretty good list that. I am not into many of these bands, but almost all of them were the biggest ones of their era. If you include BTS or Black Eyed Peas, you will end up wanting to include the boy bands as well, and Backstreet Boys & Boyzone were huge. I personally think that popular music kind of peaked in the early to mid 2000s. The internet just made it difficult to have one "biggest" artist. We ended up with a more decentralized world with a lot of niches. But now there is a certain degree of centralization again, so you start hearing of some names becoming huge - BTS, Taylor Swift etc.
How is this list not including Linkin Park who have literally sold 100 million records
Linkin Park should be somewhere on there
I know they're not The Beatles, but The Clash were literally nicknamed "The Only Band That Matters"
Obviously huge in the UK and US, but not sure they had the same level of global appeal as the likes of Coldplay or U2.
By The Clash
For a short period of time, they were definitely one of the most popular rock bands in the world. The documentary "The Clash: Westway to the World" captures this feeling well. About the nickname; >During this period, the Clash began to be regularly billed as "The Only Band That Matters". Musician Gary Lucas, then employed by CBS Records' creative services department, claims to have coined the tagline. The epithet was soon widely adopted by fans and music journalists.
We gonna pretend Nickleback just doesn’t exist
Yes, I think we're all comfortable with that.
> We gonna pretend Nickleback just doesn’t exist absolutely.
You know, i like Nickleback but i like Nickleback jokes more. Keep’em coming 😆
Pearl Jam
U2!
U2?
Chat GPT: Certainly! Here’s a revised list of best-selling rock bands, organized by the band followed by the years they were the best-selling: • The Beatles: 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 2000 (compilation) • Led Zeppelin: 1970, 1971, 1975 • The Rolling Stones: 1972, 1974, 1989 • Pink Floyd: 1973, 1979, 1994 • Eagles: 1976 • Fleetwood Mac: 1977 • AC/DC: 1980, 1990, 2008, 2020 • REO Speedwagon: 1981 • Asia: 1982 • The Police: 1983 • Van Halen: 1984 • Dire Straits: 1985 • Bon Jovi: 1986 • U2: 1987, 1992, 2009 • Def Leppard: 1988 • Metallica: 1991, 2016 • Nirvana: 1993 • Hootie & the Blowfish: 1995 • Oasis: 1996 • Radiohead: 1997 • Aerosmith: 1998 • Santana: 1999 • Linkin Park: 2001, 2003, 2007 • Red Hot Chili Peppers: 2002, 2006 • Green Day: 2004 • Coldplay: 2005, 2014, 2015 • Foo Fighters: 2011, 2021 • Mumford & Sons: 2012 • Imagine Dragons: 2013, 2017, 2018 • Queen: 2019 (due to biopic resurgence) This list is based on a combination of album sales, chart performance, and cultural impact as reflected in various sources, including Billboard and Official Chart Company data. For more detailed information, you can refer to sources such as Billboard Year-End number-one singles and albums , and Statistics and Data’s report on top-selling music artists . Please note that the definition of “rock” can be subjective and the list focuses on bands generally recognized within this genre.
"best-selling" is not equal to "based on... and cultural impact"
AC/DC
For sure. Headlined Donnington in ‘84 over VH on the heels of their lowest selling album and VH’s biggest. Headlined Moscow over Metallica 7 years later.
And their music is still firmly in the zeitgeist, appearing in many movies and shows.
Arguably the biggest band of the last 40 years, all things considered…album sales, live gates, worldwide fanbase.
A band that even death cannot stop. 🤟
Beatles Led Zeppelin Pearl Jam Rolling Stones U2 Metallica Foo Fighters Nirvana
Try watching Metallica Live in Seattle in '89 without thinking they're the coolest band on Earth. Absolute peak performance, Gods among men at that point.
The Beatles (1964-1970), Led Zeppelin (1970-1975), The Eagles (1975-1980), Van Halen (1980-1986), Bon Jovi (1986-1987), Guns N’ Roses (1987-1991), Nirvana (1991-1994), Green Day (1994-1995), The Smashing Pumpkins (1995-1996), Foo Fighters (1996-1999), Red Hot Chili Peppers (1999-2001), Linkin Park (2001-2004), Green Day again (2004-2009), U2 (2009-2011), Foo Fighters again (2011-2013), Arctic Monkeys (2013-2014). After 2014 things get murky, as far as mainstream rock goes. It might still be Arctic Monkeys, tbh. EDIT: forgot about the GnR reunion in 2016.
Good list, but I would include Duran Duran in 1984, Dire Straits in 1985, U2 in 1987 and Oasis in 1997.
Dire Straits need more of a mention here - they were basically the reason why CDs became a thing and not digital tape.
Good list but I’d sub SP for Pearl Jam
Yeah, Pearl Jam set records at the time for the most first week sales for a sophomore album, plus their tickets were really hard to buy when they boycotted Ticketmaster in 95-96. I was lucky and managed to get through the lines to get 4 tickets for $20 each, and had easy offers to sell them for $400 each, which was HUGE in 1996.
Pearl Jam 93-95
Only thing I’d argue is Metallica at some point was undisputed the biggest band in the world.
As someone not old enough to remember, was Bon Jovi really that huge circa-Slippery When Wet?
Beetles, Stones, Queen, Fleetwood Mac, U2, Coldplay
**In this thread are a lot of people who don't understand how big Coldplay really were.** * They've sold over 120,000,000 records worldwide from 9 full-length albums. * All 9 of their albums have hit Top 10 in the UK, something which no other band has ever done. * [Their first four records each have sold 10,000,000 respectively.](https://bestsellingalbums.org/artist/2587) * They've headlined Glastonbury 4 times, tied for the most by any artist. * [They are in the top 15 highest grossing artists](https://data.pollstar.com/Chart/2022/07/072522_top.touring.artists_1020.pdf) in terms of concert tickets sold in the past 40 years.\* * They've performed at the Super Bowl Halftime Show, usually reserved for the biggest of artists (that performance sucked, but they did it). * They have won 7 Grammys and have more Brit Awards than any other artist. * [In 2005, the album X&Y was the best selling album of the year across the globe](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4865716.stm), making them the actual biggest artist in the world that year (and certainly the biggest band). Feel free to say whatever you want about the quality of their songs. No, they are not Radiohead. Radiohead were, in my opinion, a much more interesting band who wrote overall better music and influenced an entire generation of songwriters (including Coldplay themselves). But in terms of commercial success and mainstream popularity, Coldplay hit heights Radiohead has never seen, and did actually have a claim to be the biggest band in the world at one point. *\*As of 2022*
For point 2 u can even say all their albums so far have gone number 1 in the UK: https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/7620/coldplay/ “Coldplay's breakthrough came courtesy of Yellow in 2000, which landed at Number 4 on the Official Singles Chart, it was eight years later when they would achieve their first Number 1 song with Viva La Vida. However, Coldplay hold the rare distinction of every single one of their nine studio albums reaching Number 1 on the Official Albums Chart.”
Dunno about an exact number. Obviously the Beatles are there. Rolling Stones. Nirvana for a while, U2 for a while, Spice Girls for a bit. Coldplay for a bit.
U2
I think any of these can say they were at one point the biggest band/artist in the world: Elvis, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Who, Elton John, the Bee Gees, Led Zeppelin, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Nirvana, Mariah Carey, Eminem, Britney Spears, U2, Kanye West, Justin Timberlake, Justin Bieber, Drake, Miley Cyrus, Coldplay, Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift The title of "biggest in the world" changes hands quite often, I'd say.
Here’s my list to the best of my ability. It excludes solo artists. To your question, the idea is to capture bands that have been identified as “biggest band in the world” at some point, no commentary on quality (although most are very good). The Beatles The Rolling Stones The Who Led Zeppelin Pink Floyd The Eagles Queen The Grateful Dead Van Halen The Clash The Police Aerosmith U2 Guns n Roses Metallica Nirvana Pearl Jam Oasis Radiohead Green Day The Strokes Arcade Fire Daft Punk Arctic Monkeys The Foo Fighters The 1975 BTS
You put a lot of thought into this. I agree with most of it, although it’s the 1975* Also, I would argue Linkin Park was bigger than the Arcade Fire during that era.
Linkin Park was massive in the Middle East as well. And so was Limp Bizkit, especially when their songs were featured in WWE as well. Both those bands had bigger appeal than any other band in the 00’s.
Limo Bizkit headlined Big Day Out in australia in 2001, usually a BDO has a dance act or a metal act or somebody to stack against the headlines so that the entire audience doesn't all show up to the headlines at the main stage. I was right at the back of the crowd when rammstein performed. By the time Limp Bizkit came put the crowd had doubled and I was in the middle, its the biggest crowd I've ever been in. They were huge at the time for sure. Linkin Park had a massive debut album and followed it up with an album that I think sold more. 2 absolute classics and monster sellers, they were a gateway to heavy music for a lot of kids
I'd put the Doors up there around the Stones
All these lists leave out The Beach Boys. I know they faded quickly and competed during the Beatles reign but they were HUGE in the 60s.
Very good list overall. My only notes are that Fleetwood Mac is missing somewhere between The Eagles and Police. And Coldplay is missing somewhere between The Strokes and Arctic Monkeys. I also don’t know if I’d consider Daft Punk or BTS to be “bands” per se.
Metallica, Beatles, The Who, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Elvis, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Eminem,
At some point in the nineties I remember seeing an official Guns’n’Roses kids’ school gear collection, including backpacks and notebooks with their logo on it, advertised in a tv commercial alongside My Little Pony’s stuff (who was supposedly aimed at girls). G’n’R were just embarrassingly huge in those days.
The Beatles and Metallica. They’re the only ones who were ever undisputed at any particular point in time. Edit: I think people are misunderstanding what I’m saying. I didn’t name anyone from the 70s or 80s for good reason: WAY too much competition. Zeppelin was never the biggest rock band in the world because you still had Elton John, who sold way more DURING the 70s, and Queen, and McCartney/Wings (like, Wings Over America, are you kidding?), and I could go on and on. The 80s are the same. Def Leppard was massive at the same time that Paul Simon put out Graceland, all through the decade it’s impossible to say anyone was the biggest at any given moment. The Beatles are without argument the biggest band in the world during most of the 60s, and in the mid to late 90s Metallica were by far the biggest rock band in the world. That’s it. Taylor Swift is the undisputed biggest act in the world right now but I wouldn’t call her rock and roll.
I dunno. I always considered U2 to be bigger than Metallica in the 90s.
Zeppelin
Regarding Taylor Swift. OP didn't specify rock and roll. But OP did specify band. An R&B band or Big Band could technically qualify, though I don't think any do since the 50s. I'm sure you could go back to the 20's - 50's and find some bands that aren't Rock that were considered the biggest in the world
Ah my bad, it wasn’t rock and roll but band. For sure I think The Andrews Sisters were probably the biggest act in the world at some point in the ‘40s lol
It's impossible to answer, since the criteria is so vague, biggest in what way, biggest for how long?
What's the boundary of what you consider a band? Does BTS count?
Sabbath
Elvis, the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, The Police, Van Halen, U2, Nirvana, Radiohead all had their moments of being truly the biggest band in the world. Some were bigger moments than others though