second best selling female musician

The second best-selling female musician of all time (behind Taylor Swift) is widely given as Madonna in current trivia and crossword-style references.

Quick Scoop: Who’s Number Two?

If you’re looking at the way this is framed in recent pop-culture puzzles and quizzes (like the February 2026 NYT Mini and similar clue sites), the expected answer to “second best selling female musician of all time, behind Taylor Swift” is Madonna.

• Taylor Swift is treated as the top-selling contemporary female musician in these clues.
• Madonna is positioned right behind her as the second best-selling female musician of all time.

• This lines up with long-standing industry and media lists that have consistently ranked Madonna among the all‑time top sellers globally.

A tiny bit of context

• Madonna has decades of hits and massive cumulative record sales, which keeps her near the top of historical rankings.

• Taylor Swift’s huge streaming numbers, album-equivalent units, and record-breaking tours (such as the Eras Tour) are what place her at the very top in many 2020s discussions.

So, if you’re answering a quiz, crossword, or forum debate on the “second best selling female musician” behind Taylor Swift, the name they’re looking for is Madonna.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.