Artists With the Most Hit Albums

Source: Kevin Winter / Getty Images

40. Simon & Garfunkel
> Certified units: 39 million
> Most popular album: Simon & Garfunkel’s Greatest Hits (1972)

Although they met in elementary school in Queens, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel never became best friends — but when singing, they could harmonize with the best of them. The folk rock duo captured the mood of the 1960s with such songs as “The Sound of Silence,” “The Boxer,” “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” “America,” “Cecilia,” and “Mrs. Robinson” — all of them among the 14 tracks on their 1972 “Greatest Hits” album. The duo broke up in 1970, but have had multiple brief reunions over the decades. They were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.

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39. Chicago
> Certified units: 39 million
> Most popular album: Chicago 17 (1984)

The rock band Chicago doesn’t waste any time thinking up names for its albums. Most of them are just “Chicago” followed by a number. “Chicago 17” included “Hard Habit to Break” and “You’re the Inspiration.” “Chicago 5” has “Saturday in the Park.” And even just plain “Chicago” (no number) has “25 or 6 to 4.” The band is touring this year even though founding member Walter Parazaider has announced that he has Alzheimer’s disease. In 2016, they were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

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38. Eric Clapton
> Certified units: 40 million
> Most popular album: Unplugged (1992)

One of the top guitarists in the world, the English rock and blues musician is the only person who has been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame three times. He was inducted in 1992 with The Yardbirds, in 1993 with Cream, and in 2000 as a solo act. His “Unplugged” album includes his most heartbreaking song, “Tears in Heaven,” which he wrote after the accidental death of his son, Conor, at the age of 4.

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37. Reba McEntire
> Certified units: 41 million
> Most popular album: Greatest Hits, Volume II (1993)

A triple threat as a singer, songwriter, and actress, Reba McEntire has become a performer who can go by her first name only. She built her success on such hits as “Fancy,” “Does He Love You,” “I’m a Survivor” and “Whoever’s in New England” — the first two of which appear on her “Greatest Hits Volume II,” which went quintuple-Platinum. She has also shown resilience, coming back after eight members of her band were killed in a plane crash while she was touring in 1980.

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35. Queen
> Certified units: 43 million
> Most popular album: Greatest Hits (1981)

Anyone who has watched a major sporting event is undoubtedly familiar with three of Queen’s hits, “We Will Rock You,” “We Are the Champions,” and “Another One Bites the Dust.” The rock band with operatic harmonies delivered other hits, like “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Don’t Stop Me Now,” “Killer Queen,” “Somebody to Love” and “You’re My Best Friend” — all included on the band’s 1981 “Greatest Hits” — before Freddie Mercury’s death in 1991. Queen was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.

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