List of best-selling singles in the United States

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates This list compiles the best-selling singles in the United States, based on reported sales figures. Some of the singles have been certified by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). In music, a single is a song considered commercially viable enough by the artist and record company to be released separately from an album, usually featured on an album as well. For more information, see single.

• The RIAA certifies a record only if that record company pays for its official certification; some companies do not consider this an important distinction and will not request certifications unless pressed by its active, still saleable artists. A full and complete list of RIAA-certified recordings would be a very incomplete list of popular American music.
• The RIAA only certifies a particular recording of a song. Remixes, live and other versions count as separate.
• Prior to 1989, physical singles were awarded with a Gold certification for shipments of 1,000,000 units and a Platinum certification for shipments of 2,000,000 units. For certification dates since January 1, 1989, a Gold award represented shipments of 500,000 units and a Platinum award represented shipments of 1,000,000 units.
• Since May 9, 2013, RIAA certifications for singles in the "digital" category include on-demand audio and/or video song streams in addition to downloads.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The current formula since February 1, 2016 is 150 on-demand streams = 1 song download.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Physical sales figures backed by RIAA certifications may be inaccurate as physical singles can be "overcertified" (sell less copies than were shipped to stores) or "undercertified" (sell beyond their current certification level and not receive a new certification).

Physical singles

Elton John's "Candle in the Wind 1997" is the best-selling physical single in the United States since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking music sales in 1991.

All of these physical singles have sold over four million copies according to either reliable third-party claims or RIAA multi-platinum certifications.

Song	Artist(s)	Release year	Claimed sales (million)Template:Efn-ua	No. of times Platinum<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
"White Christmas"	Bing Crosby	1941	12<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	Template:N/a
"Candle in the Wind 1997"	Elton John	1997	8.84<ref name="EltonAndPeas">Template:Cite web</ref>	11×
"We Are the World"	USA for Africa	1985	8<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	4×
"Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer"	Gene Autry	1949	7<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	Template:N/a
"Paper Doll"	The Mills Brothers	1943	6<ref name="Whitburn Pop memories">Template:Cite book</ref>	Template:N/a
"The Tennessee Waltz"	Patti Page	1948	6<ref name="Whitburn Pop memories" />	Template:N/a
"Hound Dog" / "Don't Be Cruel"	Elvis Presley	1956	5<ref name="rock movers">Template:Cite book</ref>	4×
"It's Now or Never"	Elvis Presley	1960	5<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>	1×
"I Want to Hold Your Hand"	The Beatles	1963	5<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	Gold
"That Silver Haired Daddy of Mine"	Gene Autry	1935	5<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>	Template:N/a
"The Ballad of the Green Berets"	Barry Sadler	1966	5<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>	Template:N/a
"Dardanella"	Ben Selvin	1919	5<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>	Template:N/a
"My Blue Heaven"	Gene Austin	1928	5<ref>CD liner notes: Chart-Toppers of the Twenties, 1998 ASV Ltd.</ref>	Template:N/a
"I Will Always Love You"	Whitney Houston	1992	4.59<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	4×
"(Everything I Do) I Do It for You"	Bryan Adams	1991	4.1<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	3×
"Macarena"	Los del Río	1996	4<ref name=Billboard1996>Sales in the United States for Macarena: (3.7 million until 1996) Template:Cite magazine (4 million since 1997) Template:Cite news</ref>	4×
"Le Freak"	Chic	1978	4<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	1×
"I Heard It Through the Grapevine"	Marvin Gaye	1968	4<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>	Template:N/a
"I'm a Believer"	The Monkees	1966	4<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>	Template:N/a
"You Light Up My Life"	Debby Boone	1977	4<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>	1×
"Hey Jude"	The Beatles	1968	4	4×
"Whoomp! (There It Is)"	Tag Team	1993	4	4×

Digital singles

The below singles have sold at least 6 million digital copies as reported by Luminate (or previously Nielsen SoundScan). Sales figures are not fully represented by RIAA certifications, which have included on-demand streaming-equivalent units since May 2013.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Thus the actual sales figures will be different from the amounts specified by the RIAA.

"I Gotta Feeling" by the Black Eyed Peas is the best-selling digital single in the U.S., with over 8.7 million downloads sold.

Lady Gaga is the first artist to have two 7-million-selling digital singles.<ref name="ussales2015gaga"/>

Katy Perry is the first artist to have three 6-million-selling digital singles.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Song	Artist(s)	Release year	Reported sales (million)	No. of times Platinum<ref name="platinum">Template:Cite web</ref>
"I Gotta Feeling"	The Black Eyed Peas	2009	8.7<ref name="ussales2015gaga"/>	15×
"Rolling in the Deep"	Adele	2010	8.4<ref name="ussales2015gaga"/>	8×
"Radioactive"	Imagine Dragons	2012	8.2<ref name=":2">Template:Cite news</ref>	16×
"Uptown Funk"	Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars	2014	8.1<ref name="2010DecadeSongs">Template:Cite journal</ref>	11×
"Party Rock Anthem"	LMFAO featuring Lauren Bennett and GoonRock	2011	8.1<ref name="ussales2015gaga"/>	10×
"Somebody That I Used to Know"	Gotye featuring Kimbra	2011	7.9<ref name="ussales2015gaga"/>	14×
"Cruise"	Florida Georgia Line	2012	7.6<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	14×
"Call Me Maybe"	Carly Rae Jepsen	2011	7.6<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	10×
"Poker Face"	Lady Gaga	2008	7.5<ref name="gagacareer19">Template:Cite magazine</ref>	10×
"Lose Yourself"	Eminem	2002	7.4<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	13×
"Firework"	Katy Perry	2010	7.2<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	12×
"Just Dance"	Lady Gaga featuring Colby O'Donis	2008	7.2<ref name="gagacareer19" />	11×
"[[Don't Stop Believin'|Don't Stop BelievinTemplate:'-]]"	Journey	1981	7.0<ref name="SoundScan20170513"/>	18×
"Just the Way You Are"	Bruno Mars	2010	7.0<ref name="SoundScan20170513"/>	13×
"Low"	Flo Rida featuring T-Pain	2007	7.0<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	10×
"Happy"	Pharrell Williams	2013	6.9<ref name="USSales">Template:Cite magazine</ref>	11×
"Boom Boom Pow"	The Black Eyed Peas	2008	6.9<ref name="ussales2015gaga" />	10×
"I'm Yours"	Jason Mraz	2008	6.8<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	13×
"We Are Young"	fun. featuring Janelle Monáe	2011	6.8<ref name="yahoo_2013">Template:Cite news</ref>	10×
"Tik Tok"	Kesha	2009	6.8<ref name="Trust, Gary">Template:Cite magazine</ref>	12×
"Need You Now"	Lady Antebellum	2009	6.7<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	12×
"Moves like Jagger"	Maroon 5 featuring Christina Aguilera	2011	6.7<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	10×
"Love the Way You Lie"	Eminem featuring Rihanna	2010	6.5<ref name="ussales2015gaga">Template:Cite magazine</ref>	13×
"Blurred Lines"	Robin Thicke featuring T.I. and Pharrell Williams	2013	6.5<ref name="2013yearsales">Template:Cite magazine</ref>	10×
"Hey, Soul Sister"	Train	2009	6.4<ref name="yahoo_2013"/>	11×
"Roar"	Katy Perry	2013	6.4<ref name="KatyPerrySales"/>	15×
"Sexy and I Know It"	LMFAO	2011	6.4<ref name="ussales2015gaga"/>	8×
"Party in the U.S.A."	Miley Cyrus	2009	6.3<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	15×
"Dark Horse"	Katy Perry featuring Juicy J	2013	6.3<ref name="KatyPerrySales">Template:Cite news</ref>	11×
"Thrift Shop"	Macklemore & Ryan Lewis featuring Wanz	2013	6.2<ref name="2013yearsales"/>	10×
"Love Story"	Taylor Swift	2008	6.2<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	8×
"Sail"	Awolnation	2010	6.1<ref name="SoundScan20170513">Template:Cite news</ref>	10×
"Grenade"	Bruno Mars	2010	6.1<ref name="ussales2015gaga"/>	10×
"Viva la Vida"	Coldplay	2008	6.1<ref name="yahoo_2013"/>	5×
"Thinking Out Loud"	Ed Sheeran	2014	6.0<ref name="2010DecadeSongs"/>	18×
"All of Me"	John Legend	2013	6.0<ref name="2010DecadeSongs"/>	14×
"Fuck You / Forget You"	CeeLo Green	2010	6.0<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	7×
"Someone like You"	Adele	2011	6.0<ref name="ussales2015gaga" />	5×
"Apologize"	Timbaland featuring OneRepublic	2007	6.0<ref name="auto">Template:Cite web</ref>	4×

See also

• RIAA certification
• List of highest-certified music artists in the United States
• List of highest-certified digital singles in the United States
• List of best-selling singles
• List of best-selling singles of 2014 in the United States
• List of best-selling albums in the United States
• List of Spotify streaming records

External links

• RIAA Website
• Detailed List of Artists with Most Singles Certification Units
• Billboard Magazine - a magazine that publishes weekly music rankings