More than 17 million copies of Shania Twain [ tickets ]'s "Come On Over" (Mercury) have been sold in the U.S. since the album's November 1997 release, making it the best-selling album ever by a solo female artist, the Recording Industry Association of America announced.

"Come On Over" claimed the top spot from "Jagged Little Pill," Alanis Morissette [ tickets ]'s 16-million-selling 1995 debut, the RIAA revealed yesterday (3/16).

According to the RIAA, "Come On Over" is now in a dead heat with the soundtrack to "The Bodyguard" as the fourth-best-selling album in the U.S. of all time. Those albums trail only ''Led Zeppelin IV'' (22 million), Michael Jackson's "Thriller" (25 million), and "Eagles: Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975" (26 million) in the sales race.

More than 26 million copies of "Come On Over" have been sold worldwide, according to Mercury Records. After 122 weeks of release, "Come On Over" remains in the Top 30 of the Billboard 200 album chart. The album also remains in the top 30 in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Holland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa, Switzerland, and the U.K.