This article is a compendium of the best-selling music singles. The criterion for inclusion on the list is to have sold at least five million copies worldwide. The singles listed here were cited by reliable sources from various media, such as digital journalism, newspapers, magazines, and books.
It is notable that, according to Guinness World Records, Irving Berlin's "White Christmas" (1942) as performed by Bing Crosby is the best-selling single worldwide, with estimated sales of over 50 million copies. The song recognized as "the best-selling single of all time", was released before the pop/rock singles-chart era and "was listed as the world's best-selling single in the first-ever Guinness Book of Records (published in 1955) and—remarkably—still retains the title more than 50 years later". Also, Guinness World Records states that double A-side charity single "Candle in the Wind 1997"/"Something About the Way You Look Tonight" (1997) by Elton John (which was originally written in 1973, in honour of Marilyn Monroe, who had died 11 years earlier). In 1997, John performed a rewritten version of the song as a tribute to the late Diana, Princess of Wales, is "the biggest-selling single since UK and US singles charts began in the 1950s, having accumulated worldwide sales of 33 million copies", making it the second-best-selling physical single of all time.
Best-selling physical singles
15 million physical copies or more
| Artist | Single | Released | Sales (in millions) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bing Crosby | "White Christmas" | 1942 | 50 |
| Elton John | "Candle in the Wind 1997" | 1997 | 33 |
| Mungo Jerry | "In the Summertime" | 1970 | 30 |
| Bing Crosby | "Silent Night" | 1935 | 30 |
| Bill Haley & His Comets | "Rock Around the Clock" | 1954 | 25 |
| Whitney Houston | "I Will Always Love You" | 1992 | 20 |
| Elvis Presley | "It's Now or Never" | 1960 | 20 |
| USA for Africa | "We Are the World" | 1985 | 20 |
| The Ink Spots | "If I Didn't Care" | 1939 | 19 |
| Baccara | "Yes Sir, I Can Boogie" | 1977 | 18 |
| Celine Dion | "My Heart Will Go On" | 1997 | 18 |
| Mariah Carey | "All I Want for Christmas Is You" | 1994 | 16 |
| Bryan Adams | "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" | 1991 | 15 |
| John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John | "You're the One That I Want" | 1978 | 15 |
| Scorpions | "Wind of Change" | 1991 | 15 |
