Best-selling rock album by a solo artist
- Who
- Meat Loaf
- What
- 44,000,000 unit(s) sold
- Where
- Not Applicable
- When
- 22 January 2022
Bat out of Hell (1977) by Meat Loaf (USA, b. Marvin Lee Aday, 1947–2022) has amassed global sales of 44 million copies, including 14 million in the singer’s homeland and 3.3 million in the UK. Michael Jackson’s pop masterpiece Thriller (1982) is the only album by a solo artist with higher sales than Bat out of Hell, while Back in Black by Australian outfit AC/DC is regarded as the world’s best-selling rock album, having shifted around 50 million copies since its release in 1980.
Bat out of Hell features the singles “You Took the Words Right out of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night)”, “Two out of Three Ain’t Bad” and the high-energy title track, which clocks in at almost 10 minutes long. Despite its sales success, the album only reached No.14 in the USA and No.9 in the UK.