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Johnny Cash's entry in the Essential series

The Essential is the name of a series of compilation albums released by the Sony BMG recording conglomerate. The Essential series began with the release of The Essential Bob Dylan on October 31, 2000 (then under Sony Music Entertainment). Most of the Essential compilations have been two-disc sets, although Sony began releasing one-disc versions for selected artists at a reduced price in 2003. The Essential Bruce Springsteen is available in both two- and three-disc form.

Titles in The Essential series

This is an incomplete list, which may never be able to satisfy certain standards for completeness.

Albums that have been certified Platinum by the RIAA are marked with ▲. Albums certified Gold are marked with ●. The best-selling title in The Essential series is The Essential Billy Joel, the only with a Double Platinum certification (2,000,000 units). The Essential series has been certified a total of 12,000,000 units to date.

Two Discs

• The Essential Alabama
• The Essential Alice in Chains
• The Essential Louis Armstrong
• The Essential Gene Autry
• The Essential Harry Belafonte
• The Essential George Benson
• The Essential Tony Bennett
• The Essential Toni Braxton
• The Essential Dave Brubeck
• The Essential Byrds
• The Essential Johnny Cash ▲
• The Essential Mario Lanza
• The Essential Cheap Trick
• The Essential Chieftains
• The Essential Clash
• The Essential Leonard Cohen
• The Essential Ray Conniff
• The Essential Miles Davis
• The Essential John Denver
• The Essential Neil Diamond ▲
• The Essential Placido Domingo
• The Essential George Duke
• The Essential Bob Dylan ▲
• The Essential Earth, Wind & Fire ●
• The Essential Duke Ellington
• The Essential Gloria Estefan
• The Essential Rory Gallagher
• The Essential George Gershwin
• The Essential Benny Goodman
• The Essential Daryl Hall & John Oates
• The Essential Herbie Hancock
• The Essential Heart ●
• The Essential Hollywood
• The Essential Iron Maiden
• The Essential Isley Brothers
• The Essential Mahalia Jackson
• The Essential Michael Jackson
• The Essential Jars of Clay
• The Essential Jefferson Airplane
• The Essential Billy Joel ▲2
• The Essential George Jones
• The Essential Janis Joplin
• The Essential Journey ▲
• The Essential Judas Priest
• The Essential Kenny G
• The Essential Kingston Trio
• The Essential Kris Kristofferson
• The Essential Kenny Loggins
• The Essential Yo-Yo Ma
• The Essential Taj Mahal
• The Essential Barry Manilow
• The Essential Bob Marley
• The Essential Wynton Marsalis
• The Essential Johnny Mathis
• The Essential Glenn Miller
• The Essential Motorhead
• The Essential Willie Nelson ●
• The Essential Roy Orbison
• The Essential Ozzy Osbourne ●
• The Essential Dolly Parton
• The Essential Elvis Presley (January 2, 2007)
• The Essential Charley Pride
• The Essential Tito Puente
• The Essential Jim Reeves
• The Essential REO Speedwagon
• The Essential Marty Robbins
• The Essential Santana ●
• The Essential Earl Scruggs
• The Essential Ravi Shankar
• The Essential Artie Shaw
• The Essential Simon and Garfunkel ▲
• The Essential Sly & The Family Stone
• The Essential Barbra Streisand ▲
• The Essential Streetheart
• The Essential Luther Vandross ●
• The Essential Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble ●

One Disc

• The Essential Roy Acuff
• The Essential Adam Ant
• The Essential Allman Brothers Band: The Epic Years
• The Essential Fred Astaire
• The Essential Chet Atkins: The Columbia Years
• The Essential Babyface
• The Essential Bangles
• The Essential Blue Öyster Cult
• The Essential Mary Chapin Carpenter
• The Essential Rosemary Clooney
• The Essential David Allan Coe
• The Essential Bing Crosby: The Columbia Years
• The Essential Rodney Crowell
• The Essential Charlie Daniels Band
• The Essential Joe Diffie
• The Essential Dion
• The Essential Donovan
• The Essential Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show
• The Essential Electric Light Orchestra
• The Essential 54-40
• The Essential Fishbone
• The Essential Dan Fogelberg
• The Essential Merle Haggard: The Epic Years
• The Essential Jacksons
• The Essential Cyndi Lauper
• The Essential Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes
• The Essential Men at Work
• The Essential Molly Hatchet
• The Essential Eddie Money
• The Essential Thelonious Monk
• The Essential Shawn Mullins
• The Essential O'Jays
• The Essential Pet Shop Boys
• The Essential Poco
• The Essential Redbone
• The Essential Pete Seeger
• The Essential Frank Sinatra: The Columbia Years
• The Essential Stabbing Westward
• The Essential Peter Tosh: The Columbia Years
• The Essential Jimmie Vaughan
• The Essential Anna Vissi
• The Essential Tammy Wynette
• The Essential Toto

Two and Three Disc Versions

• The Essential Alan Parsons Project
• The Essential Bruce Springsteen ▲

See also

• Gold (album series)
• 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection
• 16 Biggest Hits
• Super Hits
• RCA Country Legends

External links

• Sony BMG's Essential Music Series website