Diamond Certification Series - 40 Million Copies or More

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

When a musician reaches Diamond status, I cannot imagine looking back - Multi-Platinum, Platinum, or Gold.

In this first post of a three-part series, I am featuring artists achieving not only Diamond Certification but also an impressive 40 million or more albums in sales.

Michael Jackson leads the list in 40 million or more with 66 million copies of Thriller sold.  Point of intrigue - No other artist has yet to surpass him.  

At the low end of the list in 40 million or more is Shania Twain with exactly 40 million copies of Come On Over sold.

Thriller is a recurring discussion on Set List, so let's talk about Come On Over.

Come On Over background -

- 3rd studio album

- Released in 1997

Genres considered - Country, Pop, Rock

Come On Over Success -

- Best selling country music album

- Best selling studio album by a female artist in any genre

- Best selling album by a Canadian (Shania Twain is Canadian...who knew!)

Come On Over Honors-

- 8th best selling album in the United States

- 16th best selling album in the UK

- Debuted at No. 1 on Billboard Top Country Albums 

- Debuted at No. 2 on Billboard 200

- Surpassed previous Diamond certified album, The Woman in Me

Come On Over Sales -

Worldwide

1997 - 3.4 million

1998 - 8.9 million

1999 - 15.2 million

2000 - 6.4 million

Come On Over Certifications -

- 15x Platinum in Australia

- Gold, Platinum, and 2x Platinum by the RIAA in 1997

- Diamond by the RIAA in 1999

Come On Over has multiple versions - the original (1997), international (1998), and revised international (1999).  

The first track on the original version is perhaps one of the most well known not only on the album, but also by Shania Twain overall - "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!".  This song is a personal favorite.

(Source - Wikipedia)

My take away -

I have never been one for country music, but Shania Twain's success thus far is profoundly impressive and leaves me to reconsider personal interest.

(Note - I would be remiss not to mention the Bee Gees album, Saturday Night Fever, and Fleetwood Mac album, Rumours, also landing 40 million copies in sales.)