The full ranking
Decades before streaming, a single meant a record you bought. Ranked by claimed worldwide sales, these are the biggest-selling singles ever pressed, from Bing Crosby's evergreen carol to the download-era record holder.
Spotlight (Xiao Zhan)
Released in 2020, this single became a digital phenomenon, selling a Guinness-certified 54.3 million downloads to rank as the best-selling digital single of all time. Its sales were powered almost entirely by the Chinese actor and singer's devoted fanbase.
White Christmas (Bing Crosby)
Irving Berlin's 1942 ballad, sung by Bing Crosby, is recognized by Guinness as the best-selling single of all time, with estimated sales topping 50 million copies. It is the definitive Christmas record, cut before any sales-certification system existed.
Candle in the Wind 1997 (Elton John)
Elton John's rewritten tribute to Princess Diana, released days after her 1997 funeral, sold a reported 33 million copies. Guinness calls it the biggest-selling single since the UK and US charts began in the 1950s.
Silent Night (Bing Crosby)
Another Bing Crosby standard, his recording of the carol ranks among the best-selling singles in history with claimed sales near 30 million. It remains one of the most recorded songs ever made.
Petit Papa Noël (Tino Rossi)
The Corsican tenor's 1946 Christmas song is the best-selling single in French history, with claimed sales close to 30 million. Generations of French children have grown up singing it on Christmas Eve.
Rock Around the Clock (Bill Haley & His Comets)
The 1954 record widely credited with carrying rock and roll to a mass audience has sold an estimated 25 million copies. Its use in the film Blackboard Jungle helped ignite a global craze.
I Will Always Love You (Whitney Houston)
Whitney Houston's towering 1992 cover of Dolly Parton's ballad, the centerpiece of The Bodyguard, sold an estimated 24 million copies. In 2025 Guinness named it the best-selling single by a female artist.
Rolling in the Deep (Adele)
The lead single from 21 and Adele's American breakthrough, this 2010 soul-pop powerhouse sold roughly 20.6 million copies worldwide. It was Billboard's top song of 2011.
It's Now or Never (Elvis Presley)
Elvis Presley's 1960 adaptation of the Neapolitan standard O Sole Mio is among his biggest sellers, with claimed sales around 20 million. It topped charts on both sides of the Atlantic.
We Are the World (USA for Africa)
The 1985 charity single written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie and sung by a galaxy of stars sold an estimated 20 million copies for African famine relief. It remains one of the best-selling singles ever.
Related lists
Browse every Top 10 List, see the experts and aggregators behind them, or play the day’s puzzles.