Diamond Certification Series - 30-39 Million Copies

The RIAA establishes Diamond Certification for an album achieving 10+ million copies sold.

In this second post of a three-part series, I am featuring artists achieving not only Diamond Certification but also an impressive 30 to 39 million albums in sales.

Note - This post is long, so bear with me!

Led Zeppelin leads the 30 to 39 million albums in sales list with 37 million copies of Led Zeppelin IV sold.

Led Zeppelin IV Background -

- Fourth studio album

- Released in 1971

- "Stairway to Heaven" is the most notable song from the album

- "...overwhelming praise from critics..."

Led Zeppelin IV Success -

- Grammy Hall of Fame Award (1999)

- No. 1 "100 Greatest Rock Albums Ever" 

(Classic Rock, UK 2001)

- No. 69 "500 Greatest Albums Ever" 

(Rolling Stone, 2012)

- No. 1 "100 Greatest British Rock Albums Ever" 

(Classic Rock, UK, 2006)

- Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 

"The Definitive 200: Top 200 Albums of All-Time" (2007)

(Source - Wikipedia)

Michael Jackson is next in line with 35 million copies of Bad sold.  Michael Jackson's Dangerous is also on the 30 to 39 million albums in sales list with 32 million copies sold.  Point of intrigue - Dangerous is ranked 8x Platinum in the United States but was certified in 21 countries (1 Gold, 1 2x Platinum-Gold, 13 Multi-Platinum, and 1 Diamond).

Bad Success -

- 7th studio album...Released in 1987

- Grammy Award 1988

Best Engineered Recording - Non-Classical (Bad)

- Grammy Award 1990

Best Music Video - Short Form ("Leave Me Alone")

- No. 202 on 500 Greatest Albums of All Time

(Rolling Stone 2003)

- Bad received certification from 17 countries 

1 Gold ... 1 Platinum-Gold ... 8 Multi-Platinum ... 2 Diamond 

(Source - Wikipedia)

The Beatles are featured three times on the 30 to 39 million albums in sales list.

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

Released in 1967

32 million copies sold

Compilation album
Released in 2000
31 million copies sold


Abbey Road
Released in 1969
30 million copies sold

Nine artists are listed with exactly 30 million copies sold.  James Horner's film score for Titanic is also listed with exactly 30 million in sales.

ABBA (Gold: Greatest Hits)

Madonna (The Immaculate Collection)

Bruce Springsteen (Born in the U.S.A.)

Dire Straits (Brothers in Arms)

Nirvana (Nevermind)

Pink Floyd (The Wall)

Santana (Supernatural)

Guns N' Roses (Appetite for Destruction)

(The full 30 to 39 million copies list can be found on Wikipedia.)

My take away -

The list of 30 to 39 million copies is long, detailed, and impressive.  Where I was able to narrow down my focus on the 40 million copies or more list to just one artist (Shania Twain), the same is not possible in this 30 to 39 million range as this post would go on far too long.  In the end, "detailed" and "impressive" best conclude this post.