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Before Spotify and YouTube took over the world of music, you had to invest money and buy it to hear a good song.
These are the five best-selling singles in history:
- “White Christmas” — about 52 million copies
To this day, Crosby’s version of “Christmas White” is the best-selling song in the world ever. Bing Crosby’s record premiered in 1941 on Christmas Day on his NBC radio show The Kraft Music Hall. The song was used to create the Christmas special of the radio show. Crosby performed the song in front of a live audience and received much praise. A few months later, he decided to turn the song into a single, and the rest is history.
Crosby died in 1977, and the song has sold about 52 million copies to date. The song was written by Russian-born American composer Irving Berlin. Although Berlin was Jewish, he wrote the song in 1940 to homage to the snowy Christmas he knew while growing up in New York. Berlin at the time spent Christmas in warm California, reminiscing about the white Christmases he was used to in New York.
2. “Candle in the Wind” — about 33 million copies
The song “Candle in the Wind” was originally written in 1973 by Elton John. It was originally a homage to American actress Marilyn Monroe. The original song was popular back then. However, in 1997 John, along with Bernie Taupin, wrote and re-recorded the song, and John sang the new version of the song at the funeral of Princess Diana, who died in a tragic car accident. The new homage to the beloved princess has become a worldwide phenomenon and has sold about 33 million copies worldwide. In some countries, the single also included “Something About the Way You Look Tonight” as a double A-side.
3. “Silent Night” — about 30 million copies
Also in third place is Bing Crosby. The original name of the famous Christmas carol is “Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht,” and it was composed in 1818 by Franz Kasber Gruber for the lyrics of the song written by Joseph Mohr. It was first introduced on Christmas Eve in 1818 at St…
