Best-selling rock and metal albums of 21st century revealed

To celebrate National Album Day (18 October), Official Charts revealed the biggest-selling rock and metal albums released in the 21st century.

Green Day's 2004 album American Idiot - which featured 'American Idiot' and 'Wake Me Up When September Ends' - topped the list, selling over 2.6 million UK chart units, based on combined UK sales and streams.

Linkin Park's 2000 debut Hybrid Theory came second with over 2 million chart units sold, while The Darkness's 2023 Permission To Land took third with over 1.45 million units shifted. 

Evanescence took fourth place with the 2003 album Fallen (1.35m), followed by Muse's 2006 effort Black Holes & Revelations (1.22m) at fifth place. 

See 20 of the best-selling rock and metal albums of the 21st century below: 

1. American Idiot - Green Day 

2. Hybrid Theory - Linkin Park 

3. Permission To Land - The Darkness 

4. Fallen - Evanescence 

5. Black Holes & Revelations - Muse 

6. The Black Parade - My Chemical Romance 

7. Silver Side Up - Nickelback

8. Meteora - Linkin Park 

9. All The Right Reasons - Nickelback

10. Chocolate Starfish and The Hot Dog - Limp Bizkit

11. Absolution - Muse

12. One By One - Foo Fighters 

13. Stadium Arcadium - Red Hot Chili Peppers 

14. In Your Honour - Foo Fighters 

15. The Resistance - Muse

16. Origin Of Symmetry - Muse

17. Minutes To Midnight - Linkin Park 

18. Echoes Silence Patience & Grace - Foo Fighters 

19. Toxicity - System Of A Down 

20. Songs For The Deaf - Queens of the Stone Age

Elsewhere on the list of 40 albums are Sum 41's All Killer No Filler, Audioslave’s self-titled album, Slipknot's Iowa, and Bring Me The Horizon's That's The Spirit.

Foo Fighters and Muse have four albums each in the Top 40 list, while Nickelback, Green Day, and Linkin Park claim three spaces each. Blink-182, Paramore, and My Chemical Romance have two albums each on the list. 

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Header image credit: Green Day / Facebook.com