Top-selling musical artists of the 1980s might shock you

No. 2 of the 1980s - Madonna (131,613,000)

Madonna, like Phil Collins, also released four albums in the 1980s. But unlike Collins who was well-known before he went solo after spending a number of years with the band Genesis, Madonna basically came out of nowhere. She had an extremely unique style that seemed to evolve with every successive album. She could go from pure pop to dance house diva.

Upon initial release, Madonna's self-titled debut sold modestly well. But her record company, Warner Bros., let the record stew for a bit. While I have issues with Warner Bros. based on how they treated artists such as Prince and George Michael, the way they treated Madonna's debut record was extremely wise. The album put out five singles but over a longish amount of time - "Everybody" was released on October 6th, 1982 and the fifth single, "Borderline" wasn't released until February 15th, 1984.

Later in 1984, Madonna released her second album, Like a Virgin, which because of the slow boil of the first album caused Like a Virgin to explode. The album sold 10 million copies in the U.S. alone. Iconic tracks "Like a Virgin" and "Material Girl" were on the record so Madonna proved she wasn't just style; She had substance as well.

Madonna finished the decade by releasing True Blue in 1986 and Like a Prayer in 1989. Both are the albums sold at least 5 million copies in the U.S., while True Blue sold at least a million copies in France, Canada, Italy and the UK.