The Purple One made it an asterisk year, statistically speaking, by giving all 1.4 million people who bought a ticket to his hits-laced concert tour a copy of his new “Musicology” album. He also placed two albums among the year’s top 40 sellers - a second volume of hits and the “Shock’n Y’all” studio collection - while his 2002 “Unleashed” album also contributed to $51.5 million in sales of records for the year.Ĥ. Oklahoma’s boisterous pride and joy gave Chesney a run for his money on the country concert trail, logging $43.7 million worth of tickets. Combined with continuing sales of his 2002 album “No Shoes No Shirt No Problem,” he rang up $46 million at record stores, and posted the year’s biggest country tour, pulling in $50.8 million.ģ. His “When the Sun Goes Down” album was the year’s fourth-biggest seller, topping 3 million. The country singer-songwriter from Luttrell, Tenn., doesn’t get as much ink as the more outspoken Toby Keith, but he continues to be one of the genre’s most dependable acts. The sultry “Confessions” is also nominated for album of the year in the Grammys.Ģ. The 25-year-old singer didn’t just impress at the box office. Even though Eminem’s “Encore” was the third-best-selling album of 2004, the rapper didn’t make the final cut because he didn’t tour during the last 12 months.ġ. In 2002, Eminem headed the list with $158.3 million.

Reflecting the disparity between top album sellers and the highest-grossing concert attractions, only Chesney finished in the top 10 of the Nielsen SoundScan list of the year’s bestselling albums and in the top 10 of Pollstar magazine’s tally of the biggest-grossing concerts.ĭion, Keith and Jones are the only returnees from the 2003 Ultimate Top 10, which was topped by Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band with $132.8 million. The rest of the Ultimate Top 10 skews strongly country, with four performers - Kenny Chesney, Toby Keith, Tim McGraw and Shania Twain - joining Prince, Celine Dion, Norah Jones, Madonna and Rod Stewart on the list. No one else topped $100 million during 2004. That translates to $102.2 million at the cash register, using an average $13 retail sale price. Usher’s “Confessions” album, released in March, sold nearly 7.9 million copies through Dec. pop fans spent the most money on during the year. The list combines concert grosses and album sales to show which acts U.S. R&B heartthrob Usher’s competition-squashing performance at record stores in 2004 so dominated the pop music world that he would have topped Calendar’s eighth annual Ultimate Top 10 even if he hadn’t generated any tour income.

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