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'Don't Tell Me' nets Madonna her 24th gold single
Madonna picked up the 24th gold single of her career in March for “Don’t Tell Me,” the second single from her album “Music.” With the honor, Madonna pulls into a tie with the Beatles for second place among artists with the most gold singles in history, according to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Elvis Presley's 51 gold singles--each certifying shipments of more than 500,000 units--tops all other U.S. artists, according to the RIAA.
As previously reported, the Eagles were certified in March for sales of an additional 17 million album units by the RIAA, making the group the fifth-highest certified artist in U.S. history.
Among the other multi-platinum album certifications in March were Simon & Garfunkel’s “Greatest Hits” (13 million), “Bridge Over Troubled Water” (8 million) and “Sounds of Silence” (3 million), all of which were released on Columbia Records. (The RIAA certifies albums as platinum after 1 million copies have been shipped.)
Britney Spears’ “Oops!…I Did It Again” (Jive) and the “Footloose” soundtrack (Columbia) were both certified nine-times platinum in March, as were George Harrison’s “All Things Must Pass” (Capitol), Faith Hill’s “Breathe” (Warner Bros.), and Nelly’s “Country Grammar” (Universal).
Two of Earth Wind & Fire’s Columbia Records releases received multi-platinum certifications in March: “The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire--Vol. 1” (5 million) and the 2-LP, mostly live set “Gratitude” (3 million).
Shaggy’s “Hotshot” (MCA), which currently sits at No. 2 on the U.S. album charts, was certified at the 5-million level. Dido’s “No Angel” (Arista) and R. Kelly’s “TP-2.com” (Jive) hit triple-platinum.
Ted Nugent received multi-platinum certifications for his Epic releases “Cat Scratch Fever” (3 million) and “Great Gonzos!: the Best of Ted Nugent” (2 million).
Awarded double-platinum status in March were Mystikal’s “Let’s Get Ready” (Jive), Ludacris’ “Back for the First Time" (Def Jam South), Lil Bow Wow’s “Beware of Dog” (So So Def/Columbia), Lil’ Kim’s “Hard Core” (Atlantic) and Big Brother and the Holding Company’s “Cheap Thrills” (Columbia).
The RIAA awarded a total of 28 multi-platinum, 15 platinum and 20 gold albums in March. A complete list of all certifications is available at the RIAA’s website.
