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The Year in Music 2025: Morgan Wallen, Luke Combs & Carrie Underwood make history

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Who’s the bestselling country artist of all time? It’s an answer that evolved over the last few months of 2025, as The Recording Industry Association of America tallied the latest numbers.

In early October, the RIAA declared Luke Combs not only the bestselling male, but the country artist with the most certifications in history, racking up 168 million units during his career.

You might recall it’s a record previously held by Garth Brooks

“I mean, it’s all very unexpected, I think,” Luke said just prior to November’s CMA Awards. “You can’t plan to get to this point, you know. And obviously when I moved here, I just wanted to be able to make a living doing music, whatever that looked like.”

Luke was ever humble and quick to give the credit to his supporters: “It’s all been a blessing, and I’m very fortunate and I’m just thankful, man, for the fans. I mean, it’s all them.”  

Near the end of October, the RIAA revealed Carrie Underwood shares similar honors, having sold 95 million units, including 22.5 million albums and 72.5 million singles.

“Accomplishments like this are more than I would have ever dared to dream of when I was starting out,” she said in a statement. “I owe everything to the fans, who have literally voted for me from the beginning of my career and have showed up and given me so much love for over 20 years. I feel truly blessed.”

When the final tallies were announced in December, it was Morgan Wallen who would come out on top. 

He’s sold 239.5 million singles and 26 million albums, for a total of 265.5 million units, according to the RIAA. That makes him not only the bestselling artist in country music, but also the third-most-certified artist in any genre, behind Drake and Taylor Swift.

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