The 4 Best-Selling Artists In Country Rock History

Among the acts that sold the most albums, singles, and digital files across the history of rock 'n' roll, a select few came from the world of county rock. When country rock emerged in the late 1960s and coalesced in the '70s, it sounded familiar and fresh all at once, combining the twang, close harmonies, and earnest singing style of classic country by way of folk rock, with the rhythm, propulsion, instrumentation, and edge of straight-forward rock 'n' roll. When acoustic mixed with electric, and the older with the newer, country rock came together. Those major musicians who nailed it found favor with the public and ultimately became the top-grossing, most listened-to artists in country rock history.

As the '60s gave way to the '70s, some of the most popular musicians around, both singers and bands, happened to be country rock artists, and the style continued to evolve and attract new adherents into the '90s. And just like in old times, the masses picked up what they were selling. That's how the Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, Hootie and the Blowfish, and Buffalo Springfield became the best-selling artists in country rock history.

Of all the country rock bands that defined the '70s, none is more definitive than the Eagles. The sprawling collective of harmonizing and smooth rockers who tapped into soft rock as well as new and old sounds in country took five songs to No. 1 that decade. All of these hits are all now classic rock radio standards, including "Hotel California," "Best of My Love," "One of These Nights," and "New Kid in Town."

Throughout its 1971 to 1980 original era, and its post-1994 reunion period, the Eagles have never released a studio or live album that didn't sell at least a million copies. Most of those LPs sold way more than that — "Desperado" moved 2 million, "The Long Run" and "Long Road Out of Eden" moved 7 million each, and "Hell Freezes Over" sold 9 million. But the Eagles really captured a moment, and loads of attention, with 1976's "Hotel California" — it's sold a cool 28 million times. That makes it the third-best-selling album ever in the U.S. The LP that sits at No. 1 is "Their Greatest Hits 1971–1975" by the Eagles. With singles, albums, and digital forms added up, the Eagles have sold 181.6 million records.

Linda Ronstadt wielded one of the most beautiful female voices of the '70s, and she used it to enchant and entertain listeners across many genres for many years. Over the course of a recording career that started in the '60s with the Stone Poneys — they made it to the Top 20 with "Different Drum" — and wound down in the 2020s, Ronstadt attempted and succeeded at country, soft rock, traditional Latin American forms, and pop, but her work usually bore at least a strong element of country rock. After helping the Eagles come together, Ronstadt routinely hit the charts with memorable singles including "You're No Good" and "When Will I Be Loved."

Ronstadt has accumulated 20 gold and platinum discs for her albums and singles, with her '70s country rock fare demonstrating enduring popularity and profitability. "Prisoner in Disguise" sold a million units, while "Heart Like a Wheel" sold double that; Ronstadt's "Greatest Hits" found its way into seven million homes. Taking those figures into account, as well as those associated with singles, downloads, and streaming, Ronstadt has sold the equivalent of 69 million records.

Likely because '70s-style country rock seemed so passé by the '90s, Hootie and the Blowfish were marketed as a Southern pop-rock band adjacent to the college rock world. Led by singer Darius Rucker, equal parts country crooner and arena rock frontman, Hootie and the Blowfish were clearly a country band to those who knew better. In the mid-1990s, the group churned out breezy, agreeable, radio-saturating tunes like "Only Wanna Be With You," "Let Her Cry," and "Hold My Hand."

Only Hootie and the Blowfish's first two albums, 1994's "Cracked Rear View" and 1996's "Fairweather Johnson," generated massive sales figures, but they were significant enough to make the group one of the biggest bands of the '90s and in the country rock timeline. While the latter sold 3 million copies, "Cracked Rear View" was a cultural sensation, boasting sales of 21 million. That album, and its singles, is the primary reason that Hootie and the Blowfish have sold 29.4 million records in all formats.

From 1966 to 1968, when Buffalo Springfield recorded three albums, it seemed like the band could be categorized as a folk rock act, associated with the hippie counterculture for protest anthems like "For What It's Worth," a song you've heard but probably couldn't name. But in retrospect, it's obvious that Buffalo Springfield was figuring out the country rock sound before most anybody else. Member Richie Furay went on to form the '70s country rock favorites Poco, while bandmate Stephen Stills created the twang-rocking Manassas.

Buffalo Springfield was together for a short period of time, but the group didn't need more than two years to help establish a genre and generate a wealth of material that would consistently sell for decades. While they only had one Top 40 hit, "For What It's Worth," Buffalo Springfield fans preferred to buy the group's albums. In both physical media and digital formats, Buffalo Springfield's sales total in excess of 12 million units.