Print-friendly Version
Aerosmith's 'Greatest Hits' reaches RIAA's 10-million mark
Aerosmith picked up the first diamond award of their 30-plus year career from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in February. Meanwhile, the Beatles, Santana, Backstreet Boys, Phil Collins and Destiny’s Child were among the acts to add additional multi-platinum awards to their collections.
“Aerosmith’s Greatest Hits” (Columbia), released in 1980, was RIAA-certified at the 10 million sales mark, making it eligible for the diamond award. Three of the bands’ other Columbia Records titles also received upgrades from the RIAA: “Rocks” hit quadruple-platinum status, representing 4 million albums sold since its 1976 release; 1974’s “Get Your Wings” reached the 3 million mark; and “Classics Live” was certified platinum.
Aerosmith is now credited with selling 59.5 million albums in the U.S., making them the tenth highest certified artist in history, according to the RIAA.
The top-selling band of all time, the Beatles, picked up new platinum certifications for the hits set “1” (7 million), the self-titled double LP known as the "White Album" (19 million), “The Beatles 1967-1970" (16 million), “The Beatles 1962-1966” (15 million) and "Abbey Road" (12 million). All told, the RIAA has certified the Beatles--whose U.S. label is Capitol Records--for sales of 163.5 million units.
Also receiving multi-platinum honors from the RIAA in February were Santana’s 1999 Arista Records release “Supernatural” (14 million), Backstreet Boys’ “Millennium” (13 million, Jive), Phil Collins’ “No Jacket Required" (12 million, Atlantic) and Destiny’s Child’s “The Writing’s on the Wall” (7 million, Columbia).
Other multi-platinum awards went to Blink-182 for “Enema of the State” (5 million, MCA), “… And Then There Was X” by DMX (5 million, Def Jam), Cat Stevens’ “Greatest Hits” and “Teaser & the Firecat” (each at 3 million, A&M), Jay-Z’s “Vol. 3…Life and Times of S. Carter” (3 million, Roc-a-Fella) and OutKast’s “Stankonia” (3 million, LaFace).
Reaching double-platinum status were Eric Clapton and B.B. King's “Riding with the King” (Reprise), the various-artists compilation “Now That’s What I Call Music Vol. 4” (UTV/EMI-Virgin/Sony/Jive), Ja Rule’s “Rule 3:16” (Murder, Inc.), Moby’s “Play” (V2), Jagged Edge’s “J.E. Heartbreak” (Columbia) and Phil Collins’ “…Hits” (Atlantic).
The RIAA also awarded 20 platinum and 21 gold albums in February. A complete list of certifications is available at the RIAA’s official website.
