#1 - Elvis Presley (over 1,000,000,000 album sales)
Leading the way in the chart of highest album sales is the original King of Rock 'n Roll. Between 1954 and 1977, Elvis Persley recorded a total of 77 albums, with all but nine of them reaching the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart. After his death, countless boxsets and reissues have been released, helping to push sales records even higher.#2 - The Beatles (over 750,000,000)
In their eight years recording together, The Fab Four from Liverpool recorded a total of 12 original albums, finding immense success all over the world. Since the Beatles split, there have been numerous remasterings of their work, and just this year there has been a digitally remastered release of the entire Beatles discography, soon to be offered on iTunes for the first time - sure to push them into contention as the highest selling music artists of all time.#3 - Michael Jackson (over 750,000,000)
Before going a little bit mad, "King of Pop" Michael Jackson was at one time probably the biggest star in the world. Starting out at the tender age of 7 in The Jackson Five with his brothers, Michael Jackson went on to form one of the most successful solo careers ever, releasing 11 albums and countless record-breaking singles.#4 - Frank Sinatra (over 500,000,000)
Frank Sinatra has probably the longest music career out of our best selling music artists, beginning his career in the 1930's and still performing just a few years before his death in 1998. With international hits ranging from Come Fly With Me to New York, New York, the renowned singer and Oscar-winning actor is one of only four artists with a claim to selling over 500,000,000 albums.#5 - Abba (370,000,000)
Another 4-piece to make it into the list of highest selling musicians, Abba had a plethora of international hits in the 70s. Reaching fame with their breakthrough track Waterloo at the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest, Abba enjoyed over 10 years recording and touring together.#6 - Led Zeppelin (over 300,000,000)
Formed in 1968, Led Zeppelin are considered one of the first heavy metal bands. Interestingly the band never released any of their songs as singles in Britain (a few singles were released in the US against their wishes), instead working under the concept of album-oriented rock. Ranked at number one in VH1's list of the 100 greatest artists of hard rock, Led Zeppelin have sold over 300 million albums and make it to number 6 on our list of the best selling musicians of all time.#7 - Nana Mouskouri (300,000,000)
Starting her music career in 1958 and still recording now, Greek-born Nana Mouskari is known for her trademark squarish black-rimmed eyeglasses and straight black hair parted in the middle, and longing, melancholy love songs to which her unique voice is so suited. She has recorded countless albums in an array of languages, leading her to sell around 300 million records worldwide.#8 - Queen (300,000,000)
Formed in 1970 by Brian May, Freddie Mercury and Roger Taylor (John Deacon joined them a year later), the English rock band have notched up an impressive 300 million sales between their 15 studio albums, 5 live albums and numerous compilation albums. Generally regarded as one of the greatest live bands of all time, Queen had great international success at their peak, gaining critical acclaim from all over the world.#9 - Tino Rossi (300,000,000)
An active and succesful singer and actor from 1929 to 1982, Tino Rossi operatic voice and "Latin Lover" persona helped him become one of the highest selling music artists of all time. Through his career he produced hundreds of records and appeared in over 25 films.#10 - Julio Iglesias (250,000,000)
While there are many music artists to claim they have sold 250 million records (Alla Pugacheva, Cliff Richard, Elton John, Madonna, Pink Floyd), we have decided to go with Julio Iglesias to finish off our list of the biggest selling music artists. A promising career as a goalkeeper for Real Madrid FC cut short by a car accident, Julio Iglesias developed a highly successful music career, selling 77 albums and performing approximately 5,000 concerts and counting.
The monumental Rungrado May Day Stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea was built in 1989 and seats a staggering 150,000 people. Resembling a blossom flower, it has 16 arches arranged in a ring. In 1995, an incredible 190,000 people crammed in for a professional wrestling event. It is not the only large stadium in Pyongyang - the Kim-Il Sung Stadium, with a capacity of 70,000, also resides there.
Salt Lake Stadium (officially known as Yuva Bharati Krirangan, Stadium of the Indian Youth) is located in Salt Lake City, a district of Kolkata in India. Built in 1984, the stadium boasts a capacity of 120,000 over a 3-tier construction and is mainly used for football and athletics events.
The Azteca Stadium, located in Mexico City, comes in third on our list of the biggest stadiums in the world with an official capacity of 114,465 people. Used mostly for football matches, it is the home of the Mexico national team and Mexican club team America. It is the only stadium ever to host two World Cup final matches, in 1970 and 1986.
Nicknamed "The Big House", this is the American Football stadium of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Built in 1927, it had an original capacity of 72,000 which has gradually increased over the years through various expansions, maintaining its position as the largest American Football stadium. A very popular stadium, it has incredibly not had a sub-100,000 attendance since 1975.
Smaller than Michigan Stadium by just 219 seats, Beaver Stadium is the home of the Penn State Nittany Lions and is located at the Pennsylvania State University. Assembled in its current location in 1960 with a capacity of just 46,284, Beaver Stadium went through numerous expansions until its most recent expansion in 2001 which brought it to its current capacity of 107,282.
More commonly known as the "Estadio do Maracana", the Jornalista Mario Filho stadium is a soccer stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is difficult to pinpoint the stadium's exact capacity (it seats about 90,000 but also had an official attendance of 199,500 for the 1950 World Cup Final) but recent figures suggest they work to a safe capacity of 103,045. Owned by the State Government, it is mostly used by the biggest football clubs in Rio de Janeiro including Flamengo, Botafogo and Fluminense.
With numerous nicknames (The House Harley Built, The Horseshoe, or simply The 'Shoe), Ohio Stadium is the home of the Buckeyes American Football team at the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. Originally built in 1922 (having undergone numerous renovations over the years since then) the stadium officially holds 102,329, regularly achieving attendances of over 100,000 at Buckeye games. It also often hosts music concerts, when the stadium can seat up to 110,000.
Another American football stadium, the Neyland Stadium serves primarily as the home of the Tennessee Volunteers football team in Knoxville, Tennessee. While its current capacity stands at just over 102,000, the stadium did in fact hold 104,079 until a 2006 renovation when executive seating was installed. Over the years Neyland Stadium has been used to host large conventions and numerous NFL exhibition games.
The Bukit Jalil National Stadium lies 20km south of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in the National Sports Complex. Built for the 1998 Commonwealth Games, construction work began in 1992 and was completed 3 months ahead of schedule. The stadium is now the home of the Malaysian football team and hosts a variety of sporting and non-sporting events, most notably the AFC Asian Cup 2007.
There are numerous sports stadiums around the world that hold 100,000 (Bung Karno Stadium, Indonesia; Azadi Stadium, Iran; Jawaharlal Stadium, India) but we have decided to highlight Melbourne Cricket Ground, due to its great history. The oldest of the stadiums on our list, it was built in 1853 with the first game of cricket played on 30 September 1854. Until the 1970s, up to 130,000 people could be crammed into the stadium - however renovations and safety regulations have since restricted the capacity to its current 100,000.