Green Day celebrated a major career milestone on Sept. 16, when their 1994 album Dookie was certified Double Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It was just the 13th album to reach that plateau, which signifies shipments of 20 million albums (or streaming equivalent units) in the U.S.
Double Diamond albums were unthinkable when the RIAA launched its gold awards program in 1958. Only one album was certified gold that year (signifying $1 million in manufacturer’s dollar volume; the criteria later changed) – the soundtrack to the film adaptation of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s stage musical Oklahoma!, starring Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones.
Album sales grew through the 1960s and 1970s, thanks to such blockbusters as The Beatles’ Abbey Road and Carole King’s Tapestry, but there was nothing higher than gold albums until 1976, when the RIAA finally introduced platinum albums (signifying sales of 1 million units). The first platinum album was Eagles’ Their Greatest Hits 1971-75 in February 1976.
Sales continued to grow in the late ’70s and ’80s, leading the RIAA to add multiplatinum awards in October 1984. Michael Jackson’s Thriller was certified that month for sales of 20 million, Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours came in at 12 million and the Bee Gees-led Saturday Night Fever soundtrack was certified at 11 million. Though the RIAA wouldn’t coin the terms until later, these three blockbusters were the first Diamond albums – with Thriller being the first Double Diamond album.
There are now 13 Double Diamond albums. As you will see, Eagles are the only act with two Double Diamond albums. Robert John “Mutt” Lange is the only producer with two Diamond Albums, and they couldn’t be much more varied – Shania Twain’s Come on Over and AC/DC’s Back in Black.
Here is every Double Diamond-certified album. We show the release date, record label, producer(s), Billboard 200 peak, RIAA certification history, top 10 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 and more. They are listed in ascending order.
