Singer celebrated seven diamond awards with special concert in 2016
Garth Brooks has earned an unprecedented ninth diamond award after his 1993 album In Pieces was certified by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on August 14th for selling ten million copies. Brooks retains the crown as the No. 1 selling solo artist in U.S. history with a total of 157 million overall, according to the RIAA.
The album follows Garth Brooks, No Fences, Ropin’ The Wind, The Chase, The Hits, Double Live, Sevens and The Ultimate Hits in being certified diamond with sales of ten million or more of each. Brooks marked the unrivaled achievement of becoming the first recording artist in the history of music to earn Seven Diamond Album Certifications with a concert in October 2016 in Nashville featuring guests Jason Aldean, Kelly Clarkson, Reba McEntire, Chris Young, Steve Wariner and wife Trisha Yearwood.
This marks his second diamond award in 2020 following The Chase being certified for the feat in February 2020. Earlier this year, Triple Live was certified at four million, No Fences at 18 million, and Fresh Horses at eight million. Each of the newly certified albums, including In Pieces, are part of Brooks’ new Legacy vinyl collection that was released in November 2019. The project sold 420,000 in 18 hours during the first pre-sale window in February 2019, and has moved over one million units of the 14 disc box set containing seven vinyl records and seven CDs.
Brooks has a total of 31 gold and platinum albums and 17 multi-platinum albums.
The Beatles have six diamond-certified albums, but retain the top seller overall with 183 million units, according to the RIAA. Elvis Presley follows Brooks in second place as a solo artist with overall sales of 139 million.
Brooks made headlines late last month when he stepped down from earning another CMA Entertainer of the Year trophy after asking the CMA to officially withdraw his name from the running. On July 29th, Brooks announced his withdrawal from ever being nominated again for the Country Music Association’s highest honor after winning seven times throughout his career, most recently in 2019, when controversy drew following fan backlash during a female-oriented show. The CMA says his name will continue to appear on ballots he earns enough votes from his members, despite his wishes. The CMA doesn’t allow for artists to omit themselves from ballots.
