What are some albums that exploded out of nowhere to massive comercial success
 

So I was watching a documentary and in it there was the tale of Peter Frampton. He had four albums released, each one doing worse than the one before (in his own words) and then all of a sudden he releases a live album entitled 'Frampton Comes Alive' and he breaks records for the biggest selling album of all time (or so I gather). This had me wondering, what are some other albums or singles from relatively unknown artists or bands that sold millions of copies from nowhere? What was their tales? Any input would be much appreciated ^^

The massive audience response during the songs on that album were dubbed in after the fact.

Around the mid 70s is when payola was huge. Record companies would pay off radio stations to plug their fave artist of the moment with money and drugs (piles of cocaine).

You couldn't turn on the radio around that time without hearing 2 or 3 songs per hour from the band du jour. These are the most notable albums that benefited from the payola era.

Frampton Comes Alive - Frampton
Rumors - Fleetwood Mac
Hotel California - The Eagles
Fly Like an Eagle - Steve Miller