The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) announced that Michael Jackson’s album Thriller is the first album to be certified platinum 33 times in America.
The Recording Industry of America is known for keeping track of how many albums are sold within the U.S.. Jackson’s album was released in 1982 and has sold around 33 million copies in the country. This is a new record for the music industry.
Trailing behind Jackson is The Eagles, whose Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975 has sold 29 million albums. However, The Eagle’s Their Greatest Hits hasn’t been certified since 2006. The Eagles’ Greatest Hits album was actually ahead of Jackson for many years, but Jackson’s sales boomed after his death in 2009. Since the blooming of online streaming, RIAA has revised its certifying procedure to include both streams and singles.
Following Jackson and The Eagles is Billy Joel’s Greatest Hits Volume I & II, Led Zeppelin’s Led Zeppelin IV and Pink Floyd’s The Wall. RIAA’s full listing of top selling albums leads with many classic rock artists, but also contains more modern artists such as Adele, who comes in at 14 million for her album 21.