The film industry has created some of the world’s top selling movie soundtracks. Indeed, if a movie didn’t feature music, they wouldn’t be able to create thrilling atmospheres, such as those experienced in Gladiator and Titanic.
Creating movie soundtracks is a big business and there is little doubt that these contribute to a film’s success, too. From 2010 to 2018, every soundtrack within the US Billboard Top 10 has been featured in movies grossing more than $100 million. You only need to look at 2018’s The Greatest Showman original soundtrack for confirmation on this.
Here, we’re going to look at the top 10 best selling movie soundtracks, display how many copies were sold, when the movie was released, and more.
The Best-Selling Movie Soundtracks
10. The Sound of Music (1965)
Copies Sold: 20 million
Written by Rodgers and Hammerstein, the soundtrack to The Sound of Music was released in 1965. So successful is the record that it has been issued in German, Italian, Spanish and French, as well as English.
The movie itself remains as one of the highest grossing of all time, taking in $286,214,076 worldwide. Adjusted for inflation in 2014, that figure equated to $2.366 billion, making it one of the top ten highest-grossing movies in history.
As for the soundtrack, it spent two weeks at number one on the Billboard 200 in 1965 and remained in the top 10 for 109 weeks.
9. Aashiqui (1990)
Copies Sold: 20 million
People tend to forget the huge draw that Bollywood has. Aashiqui is a 1990 Indian Hindi musical romantic drama film, and it serves as the first instalment of the Aashiqui series. The film became known more for its music than plotline, composed by the duo Nadeem-Shravan.
Rated fourth by Planet Bollywood on their “100 Greatest Bollywood Soundtracks”, the soundtrack album sold 20 million units. This makes it the best-selling Bollywood soundtrack of all time, as well as one of the best-selling albums of any genre in India.
One of the tracks, entitled “Dheere Dheere Se” was released as “Dheere Dheere” in 2015 by Indi-pop artist Yo Yo Honey Singh. It has more than 700 million YouTube views.
8. Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995)
Copies Sold: 20 million
The second of two Bollywood soundtracks in this list of best selling movie soundtracks, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge is another musical romance film. Translated, it means “The Brave-Hearted Will Take the Bride”, and it was released in 1995.
The soundtrack set its own records in sales, serving as that year’s best selling Hindi film soundtrack. It also won two Filmfare awards from its five nominations. In 1995 alone, it sold 12 million units, with 1 million of those sales coming prior to the release of the movie. Film director Aditya Chopra earned an advance of ₹10 million for the music rights.
7. Purple Rain (1984)
Copies Sold: 20 million
Purple Rain is perhaps the track that most people know Prince for performing. Did you know that it was released by the American singer as the soundtrack album to the 1984 film of the same name, though?
In the USA, the Purple Rain soundtrack debuted at number 11 on the Billboard 200. After four weeks on the chart, it soared to the number one spot. It also spent 24 consecutive weeks in that position and put Prince into the same category as Elvis Presley and the Beatles for having a number one album, single and film in the US at the same time.
Worldwide, Purple Rain went on to sell over 20 million copies.
6. Flashdance (1983)
Copies Sold: 20 Million
While the Flashdance movie earned itself scorn from critics, audiences loved it and pushed it up the charts to become the third-biggest box office hit of ’83. Many believe it did so well because of the reliance on its music, with the storyline being intercut with musical scenes. Flashdance had a strong focus on the MTV crowd of the time.
The plan succeeded and within two weeks of the film being released, the soundtrack was selling between 50,000 and 100,000 copies a day! Part of that was due to it featuring two hit singles in “Maniac” and “Flashdance…What a Feeling”. The latter went on to win an Academy Award for Best Song and the soundtrack ultimately sold 20 million copies.
The plan succeeded and within two weeks of the film being released, the soundtrack was selling between 50,000 and 100,000 copies a day, earning it’s place among the best movie soundtracks of all time. Part of that was due to it featuring two hit singles in “Maniac” and “Flashdance…What a Feeling”. The latter went on to win an Academy Award for Best Song and the soundtrack ultimately sold 20 million copies.
5. Grease (1978)
Copies Sold: 30 million
Grease is a musical romantic comedy film released in 1978, starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. The movie was both a commercial and critical success, earning itself the record of the highest-grossing musical film of all time.
Its soundtrack was released in the same year and has since gone on to sell over 30 million copies. Track number 4 entitled “You’re the One That I Want” hit number 1 in the United States and the United Kingdom, performed by the movie’s two main stars.
The soundtrack would also hit the number one spot in both those countries, as well as in Australia, Canada, France, Germany and Japan, amongst others.
4. Titanic (1997)
Copies Sold: 30 Million
Anyone who was alive in 1997 will remember the huge wave of success that James Cameron’s Titanic movie experienced. Riding that wave was the soundtrack, spearheaded by Celine Dion’s powerful delivery of “My Heart Will Go On”. This propelled the record to the top of the charts in almost 24 locations, selling over 27 million copies by 2015.
The soundtrack has gone through a few re-releases since then, including in 2022 for the film’s 25th anniversary. It has now sold more than 30 million copies, cementing its place as one of the best.
Composer James Horner labelled the soundtracks’ success as one of the “defining moments” in his life.
3. Dirty Dancing (1987)
Copies Sold: 32 million
Perhaps everyone is familiar with the Dirty Dancing track, “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life”, performed by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes. As part of one of the best selling movie soundtracks, it helped drive the success of the film with the same name.
Released in August of 1987, it went on to sell 32 million copies worldwide and spent 18 weeks at number one on the Billboard 200 in the United States. It is also the best-selling album of all-time in Germany, with at least 3.25 million copies shipped.
The Dirty Dancing soundtrack also includes smash hit tracks like “She’s Like the Wind” by Patrick Swayze, “Hungry Eyes” by Eric Carmen, and “Be My Baby” by The Ronettes.
2. Saturday Night Fever (1977)
Copies Sold: 40 million
John Travolta once again features in this list, although this time not as a soundtrack artist. He was the star of the Saturday Night Fever movie from 1977, which features a soundtrack with sales figures of over 40 million copies.
Prior to the release of Michael Jackson’s Thriller in 1982, Saturday Night Fever stood as the best-selling album in music history.
The Bee Gees contributed three huge singles to the album in “How Deep Is Your Love”, “Stayin’ Alive” and “Night Fever”. They all reached number 1 in the United States, helping to propel the soundtrack’s vast popularity while epitomizing the disco phenomenon.
Fun fact: It held the record for biggest preorders (150,000) in the Netherlands at the time of its release.
1. The Bodyguard (1992)
Copies Sold: 50 million
Did anybody expect anything different here? The Bodyguard remains as the biggest-selling movie soundtrack of all time.
The movie grossed $411 million, and the soundtrack has sold more than 50 million copies worldwide. The driving force behind that success was undoubtedly the star power provided by the late Whitney Houston.
Hitting number 1 in eighteen countries, it gave Houston the record of having the most weeks at number one by a female artist in the US. She held onto that record for 19 years.
It also provided her with several hit singles, including her noteworthy version of Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You”, which received huge airplay. Other popular tracks include “I’m Every Woman”, “I Have Nothing” and “Queen of the Night”.
