The most popular album (音乐专辑)

Thriller by Michael Jackson

At the time Jackson started writing his best-selling album Thriller, he hoped that his album would sell 50 million copies. He was wrong— it sold over ten million more than that. Even today around 130, 000 copies are sold in the USA every year,

The most popular classical music

Beethoven's Fifth Symphony

When Beethoven was alive, his Fifth Symphony wasn't his most popular piece of music. But now most people know the da da da dah introduction. In the 20th century, the first four notes (音符) were used by other musicians to make different types of music like hiphop and rock and roll.

The most popular novel

A Tale of Two Cities

Many people think the best-selling book of all time is one of the Harry Potter books. It's true that all the Harry Potter books together have sold about 450 million copies. But the most popular single novel is much older. A Tale of Two Cities was written by Charles Dickens in 859 and has sold 250 million copies.

The most popular ________________

The Shawshank Redemption

The Shawshank Redemption, directed by Frank Darabont in 1994, didn't make much money at the cinema. It only became popular later on video, DVD and TV. It was based on a book by Stephen King. The writer sold the story for only a dollar.