Rihanna Named Top-Selling Digital Artist, Beats Out Lady Gaga, Eminem

Robbie Daw | January 6, 2012 8:25 am

Adele may have ruled 2011 with the top album and single and Kanye West may be watching the throne, but it’s Rihanna who’s actually sitting on the throne, as far as digital tracks are concerned. The “You Da One” pop minx has captured the title of best-selling digital artist of all time by Nielsen SoundScan, thanks to a whopping 47.5 million paid downloads of hits like “Umbrella”, “Rude Boy” and “We Found Love”. Other artists have been in the game longer — such as Black Eyed Peas (#2 on the ranking, with 42.4 million), Eminem (#3, 42.2 million) and Beyonce (#8, 30.4 million) — but RiRi has truly carved out her niche as a singles artist.

Of course, dropping releases at the rapid pace of one album per year doesn’t hurt. Check the Top 10 best-selling digital artists below, and let us know your thoughts on where your favorites landed.

THE 10 BEST-SELLING DIGITAL ARTISTS TO DATE

1. Rihanna (47,571,000) 2. Black Eyed Peas (42,405,000) 3. Eminem (42,290,000) 4. Lady Gaga (42,078,000) 5. Taylor Swift (41,821,000) 6. Katy Perry (37,620,00) 7. Lil Wayne (36,788,000) 8. Beyonce (30,439,000) 9. Kanye West (30,242,000) 10. Britney Spears (28,665,000)

Rihanna’s Talk That Talk is out now on Def Jam. Purchase it at eMusic.