RIAA, CMHoF Commemorate Country Music’s Diamond-Selling Albums

Eleven Country music albums, including projects from Garth Brooks, Patsy Cline, Shania Twain, Kenny Rogers and The Dixie Chicks, have reached the rare feat of selling 10 million albums each. The Recording Industry Association of America presented the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum with a special jewel box case to commemorate these landmark recordings.

The recordings include Shania Twain’s Up! and Come On Over, The Dixie Chicks’ self-titled project, Kenny Rogers’ Greatest Hits, Patsy Cline’s 12 Greatest Hits, and six titles from Garth Brooks–Garth Brooks, No Fences, Ropin’ The Wind, The Hits, Double Live, and Sevens.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) created its Gold & Platinum Awards Program in 1958 to honor artists and create a standard to measure the commercial success of a sound recording. In 1999, the RIAA further expanded the G&P Program by creating a Diamond Award honoring U.S. sales of 10 million or more copies of an album or single. The list of more than 110 Diamond titles, across all genres of music, represent an audio almanac of the last half century.