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Best-selling Music Artists, by Certified Sales Quiz

How well do you know the best-selling music artists, by certified sales? Floored turns the ranking into a building: floor 1 is the top of the list. We name a floor, you guess what's on it, and the lift rides to whatever you picked so you know to go higher or lower.

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Free, no sign-up · 5 lists, a few minutes

How it works

You get a few guesses per floor. Land it on your first guess for 10 points; a near miss still scores. After the certified sales round, four more lists from the same topic keep the ride going.

Show the full ranking (47)
  1. Drake 556.8M certified units
    He founded the record label OVO Sound and the fragrance house Better World.
  2. Rihanna 411.2M certified units
    She was the first person to headline a Super Bowl halftime show while pregnant.
  3. Taylor Swift 348.4M certified units
    Her family moved to Tennessee when she was 14 so she could break into country music.
  4. Eminem 345.8M certified units
    He played a dramatized version of himself in the 2002 film 8 Mile.
  5. Beyoncé 315.3M certified units
    In the 2006 film Dreamgirls she played a pop singer modeled on Diana Ross.
  6. Justin Bieber 313.4M certified units
    As a kid he busked outside the Avon Theatre in his hometown of Stratford, Ontario.
  7. Michael Jackson 308.2M certified units
    He debuted the moonwalk on the 1983 TV special Motown 25, three years after Jeffrey Daniel taught it to him.
  8. Chris Brown 304.6M certified units
    His debut single, Run It!, went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
  9. The Weeknd 300M certified units
    The son of Ethiopian immigrants, he was raised in Toronto's Scarborough by his mother and grandmother.
  10. Ariana Grande 297.4M certified units
    At age eight she sang the national anthem at a Florida Panthers hockey game.
  11. The Beatles 295.9M certified units
    They replaced drummer Pete Best with Ringo Starr in August 1962.
  12. Kanye West 295.3M certified units
    He legally changed his name to simply Ye in 2021, with no middle or last name.
  13. Ed Sheeran 288M certified units
    Rupert Grint appears in his Lego House video as a nod to their similar looks.
  14. Post Malone 268.9M certified units
    Post is his real surname; he got Malone from an online rap name generator.
  15. Mariah Carey 243.2M certified units
    Columbia Records spent over $1 million promoting her debut album.
  16. Katy Perry 241.62M certified units
    At 16 she released a gospel album called Katy Hudson, which flopped.
  17. Bruno Mars 236.7M certified units
    His dad nicknamed him Bruno at age two after the wrestler Bruno Sammartino.
  18. Elvis Presley 235.4M certified units
    He was drafted into the US Army in 1958 and gave his Army pay to charity.
  19. Elton John 216.8M certified units
    His stage name honours two Bluesology bandmates, saxophonist Elton Dean and singer Long John Baldry.
  20. Lil Wayne 205.1M certified units
    He signed with Cash Money Records at age 11.
  21. Queen 201.1M certified units
    Their set at the 1985 Live Aid concert is often ranked among the greatest performances in rock history.
  22. Madonna 193.4M certified units
    She left college and moved to New York City in 1978 to pursue a career in dance.
  23. AC/DC 188.8M certified units
    Brothers Malcolm and Angus Young formed the band in Sydney in 1973.
  24. Whitney Houston 186.9M certified units
    She was a cousin of singer Dionne Warwick and of opera star Leontyne Price.
  25. Imagine Dragons 186.4M certified units
    The band's name is an anagram of a phrase known only to its members.
  26. Coldplay 180.2M certified units
    Before settling on Coldplay, the band went by the names Big Fat Noises and Starfish.
  27. Nicki Minaj 179.5M certified units
    Before rap fame she worked as a waitress at a Red Lobster in the Bronx.
  28. Jay-Z 178.7M certified units
    With no record deal, he sold CDs out of his car before co-founding Roc-A-Fella Records.
  29. Garth Brooks 170.3M certified units
    In 1999 he took on the persona of Chris Gaines, a fictional rock star meant for a film.
  30. Lady Gaga 168M certified units
    Her stage name comes from the Queen song Radio Ga Ga.
  31. Usher 166.8M certified units
    His Super Bowl LVIII halftime show in 2024 drew 123 million viewers in the US.
  32. Britney Spears 159.6M certified units
    She auditioned for The Mickey Mouse Club at age 8 and later joined the show's cast.
  33. Metallica 155.6M certified units
    A 2013 show in Antarctica made them the first band to play on all seven continents.
  34. Eagles 153.7M certified units
    The founders first played together in Linda Ronstadt's band before going out on their own.
  35. Celine Dion 152M certified units
    She won the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest singing for Switzerland.
  36. Maroon 5 147.8M certified units
    The band started out in 1994 as Kara's Flowers, while its members were in high school.
  37. Adele 145.9M certified units
    She won the Oscar for Best Original Song for the James Bond theme Skyfall.
  38. Led Zeppelin 143.1M certified units
    The band played its first shows in 1968 under the name the New Yardbirds.
  39. Linkin Park 140.2M certified units
    Their name is a play on Santa Monica's Lincoln Park; they were first called Xero, then Hybrid Theory.
  40. Billy Joel 136M certified units
    As a teenager he boxed on the amateur Golden Gloves circuit as a welterweight.
  41. Bruce Springsteen 128.7M certified units
    He won a Special Tony Award for his show Springsteen on Broadway.
  42. Shakira 125.35M certified units
    At age four she first heard the doumbek, an Arabic drum, at a Middle Eastern restaurant.
  43. Pink Floyd 124.8M certified units
    The band's name joins the first names of two bluesmen, Pink Anderson and Floyd Council.
  44. U2 123.2M certified units
    The band began with a note drummer Larry Mullen Jr. posted on his Dublin school's notice board in 1976.
  45. Red Hot Chili Peppers 122.1M certified units
    They formed in Los Angeles in 1982 as Tony Flow and the Miraculously Majestic Masters of Mayhem.
  46. The Black Eyed Peas 119M certified units
    Fergie joined as lead singer in 2002, ahead of their album Elephunk.
  47. Bon Jovi 113.2M certified units
    As a teen, Jon Bon Jovi played clubs in a band called John Bongiovi and the Wild Ones.

Source: Wikipedia: List of best-selling music artists (total certified units) · as of 2026-11

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