According to Billboard and Nielsen Music, 2016 country albums sales were down 11 percent from 2015.
Interestingly enough, the top-selling album of 2016—Chris Stapleton’s Traveller—was released in 2015, and so were two other albums in the Top 10: Thomas Rhett’s Tangled Up and Carrie Underwood’s Storyteller. Sam Hunt’s Montevallo was released in 2014.
With sales of more than 1 million albums, Chris’ Traveller almost doubled the sales of its closest competitor, Blake Shelton’s If I’m Honest, which clocked in with 540,000 albums sold.
Carrie Underwood is the only solo female artist to make the Top 10, while Joey + Rory and Florida Georgia Line are the only duos represented.
Top 10 Best-Selling Country Albums of 2016
- Chris Stapleton – Traveller – 1,085,000
- Blake Shelton – If I’m Honest – 540,000
- Joey + Rory – Hymns – 518,000
- Garth Brooks – The Ultimate Collection – 421,000
- Keith Urban – Ripcord – 412,000
- Florida Georgia Line – Dig Your Roots – 325,000
- Jason Aldean – They Don’t Know – 305,000
- Sam Hunt – Montevallo – 284,000
- Thomas Rhett – Tangled Up – 266,000
- Carrie Underwood –Storyteller – 256,000
photos courtesy of: Jason Aldean by James Minchin/The Greenroom PR; Thomas Rhett by John Shearer/The Greenroom PR; Sam Hunt by Steven Worster/UMG Nashville; Blake Shelton by David LaChapelle/NBC; Keith Urban courtesy PFA Media; Carrie Underwood by Koury Angelo/Schmidt Relations; Chris Stapleton courtesy UMG Nashville
