RIAA names top-selling acts of 1999

Backstreet Boys were the best-selling recording act of 1999, according to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). This month, their album "Millennium" achieved diamond status (for sales of 10 million copies), while its 1997 eponymous debut advanced to the 12 million sales mark.

The Boys' are only given a run by label mate Britney Spears, who also is awarded diamond status this month for her debut set, "...Baby One More Time." The achievement makes the 18-year-old the youngest artist to hit the 10 million sales mark; she also is the top-selling female act of 1999.

Shania Twain has the best-selling country album of the year. Her Mercury Nashville effort "Come On Over" sold 9 million copies in 1999, bringing its total to 16 million. The title is now tied with Garth Brooks' "No Fences" as the best-selling country sets of all time.

TLC's "Fanmail" (LaFace/Arista) and Lauryn Hill's "The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill" (RuffHouse/Columbia) were the year's top hip-hop discs. TLC sold 5 million copies of its album, which produced the hit singles "No Scrubs" and "Unpretty," while Hill sold 4 million more copies of her Grammy-winning debut this year, bringing that disc's overall total to 7 million.

Ricky Martin's eponymous C2/Columbia set achieved sales of 6 million copies, making it the year's top-selling album by a solo male artist. Another Latin act, Santana, made the year's most dramatic comeback, with its "Supernatural" set (Arista) moving 5 million copies -- the group's best-selling effort yet.

The year's top rock successes included Kid Rock's "Devil Without A Cause" (Lava/Atlantic) and Limp Bizkit's "Significant Other" (Flip/Interscope), both of which are certified for sales of 5 million copies.

Billboard