Taylor Swift crowned best selling female artist of the 21st century

Last year was a hugely profitable one for Taylor Swift with her 12th studio album The Life Of A Showgirl breaking sevreal industry records. It set a new record as the most-streamed album in a single day on Amazon Music, Spotify and Apple Music, sold over six million physical copies globally, and went 5x platinum in the United States.

Unsurprisingly, Swift finished the year as the world’s top‑selling global artist of 2025 by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) and as the best selling female artist of the 21st century, according to Billboard.

Taylor tops the list based on her performance in the Billboard 200 albums chart and the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart during the period from January 1, 2000, through December 28, 2024.

Swift logged the entire top 14 titles on the Hot 100 last May - the same week that her album The Tortured Poets Department topped the Billboard 200.

Adele knocks Whitney off top spot

Behind Swift in second place is Rihanna, whose last studio album, Anti, was released over a decade ago. In third place is Beyonce, followed by Adele, the only British artist in Billboard’s top 10. Adele’s 2011 album, 21 recently a staggering 56.375 million sales, to topple Whitney Houston’s The Bodyguard soundtrack as the best-selling female album of all time.

Katy Perry appears in fifth place ahead of Lady Gaga, Pink, Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus and Alicia Keys.

Get closer to the game! Whether you like your soccer of the European variety or that on this side of the pond, our AS USA app has it all. Dive into live coverage, expert insights, breaking news, exclusive videos, and more. Plus, stay updated on NFL, NBA and all other big sports stories as well as the latest in current affairs and entertainment. Download now for all-access coverage, right at your fingertips – anytime, anywhere.

And there’s more: check out our TikTok and Instagram reels for bite-sized visual takes on all the biggest soccer news and insights.