You are so full of crap it's unbelievable.

Some of those artists most recent studio albums sold just barely over 500K, and not all of them did. Van Halen's didn't. Lionel Richie's and Rod Stewart's latest are about as much a studio album as This Left Feels Right.

You're talking as if these artists sold the living hell out of Bon Jovi. They haven't. Maybe WAN will go gold, maybe it won't. I love how you completely ignore the fact that Bon Jovi sells more tickets than any of those artists.

ALL artists if they're around long enough have ups and downs. Nobody is immune to it. You could just as easily look at Lost Highway selling 2 million copies in the US and say it outsold any recent studios releases by any of the artists you mentioned. Stop taking the worse case scenario and using that as your example. If you want to be fair, use an average.

Springsteen's 2012 Wrecking Ball didn't go gold in the US, neither did Van Halen or Linkin Park's 2012 releases.

The 2012 releases from Dave Matthews Band and Kid Rock both went Gold in the US but didn't certify anywhere else. And although Lionel went Platinum in the US and Canada, he too didn't certify outside North America. Oh and not to mention his latest album was a rehash of his previous hits just re-recorded.

As for Rod Stewart, with the exception of his 2012 Christmas Album (yes... a christmas album), his last album to certify gold in the US was in 2006.

Then there is Madonna who is in the exact boat as Bon Jovi. She will sell albums just from her fan base alone. Her 2012 album went gold in most places, including the US, Australia and around Europe (not even she gets platinum anymore in the US)... nothing spectacular.

Jack White shouldn't even been on that list. He did well in The White Stripes but as a solo artist, he isn't doing any better than Bon Jovi right now. Gold in both US and UK.

And I'm sorry, Kenny who? He barely charts outside North America. His 2012 album went Gold in the US and Canada. That is it.

MOST of the acts you have listed do not sell close to the amount of albums and tickets that Bon Jovi do worldwide.
FEW of them are on par with Bon Jovi.
NONE of them are doing better than Bon Jovi.

Some may be better in sales in certain territories, and some may be better in music quality... but overall, just like everyone else has stated - you are wrong.

He is probably drunk :p

What depresses me somewhat about the bon jovi ''fanbase'', and i use the term 'fan' loosely, is that if every fan going to say just one show, like Hyde Park for example, actually went out and bought/downloaded the new album of the artist they are going to support, the figures would be vastly more impressive. Standing in a stadium, looking round and realising that most of the people there don't know the new stuff, or even anything not from the 80s, sucks.

I know that one of the first things I do when I buy tickets to a show for any artist is check out the new record and make sure I know some of the tunes. Makes sense if its a tour supporting new material you would think. Even taking into account illegal downloading, legal streaming or the fact that some just don't like the new stuff, if even a fraction of the casual bon jovi fanbase bothered to buy the new material the sales figures would be a lot more impressive. This summer, they must be playing to over 250,000 in the UK alone, if even half of them bought the new album that's a Gold album already.

Andi

I was talking mostly about the american market. All these artists' last studio albums sold over 450,000 copies, according to Soundscan.

Rdkopper said all the old acts are doing worse than in their previous releases. Is Jack White's Blunderbuss doing worse than his last White Stripes album? No.

I never claimed all these acts are bigger than Bon Jovi worldwide in album and ticket sales, I think you're confused with someone else.

Totally perfect.

He just changes his story to fit whatever bologna he's trying to feed.

Exactly this. I can't fathom why people are willing to shell out over £100 for a concert ticket and not even bother to buy the new record- which was available for just a few quid in places. Yeah they may be going for the hits, but surely if you are investing that much into going to see them you would spend the extra few pounds to hear the new stuff they'll be playing. It doesn't seem to be on Spotifys top albums either

I also wonder if the ticket pre-sales counted towards the chart totals- I would guess they would, and thought it was a good idea to include it in the bundle.

Pretty sure that anything tied into a promotion is instantly excluded from the count.
That's why Bowie's single didn't get #1, because of the way it was sold/distributed.
Chart position is based on actual transactions.

The fans must be given an option to add the album to the ticket purchase.

Prince, Tom Petty and Madonna did it in 2004, 2010 and 2012 respectively.

Maybe I'm wrong, but didn't Bon Jovi do it with Lost Highway?