Breaking a record.
Luke Combs has been on a hot streak of securing new certifications from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) over the past few months, with 34 certifications, if you’re interested in the exact number. And with its rapid collection of securing these certifications, Luke Combs was on the heels of the most decorated RIAA artist in country music.
Garth Brooks held the record for the most units sold, with a total of 162.5 million units sold. However, he has now fallen one spot, as Luke Combs is now the highest RIAA-certified country artist in history, with 168 million units sold.
HELL YEAH.
You just read all of this and are tilting your head to the side, wondering exactly what an RIAA certification is. Here’s the breakdown.
Starting with their background, the RIAA is a trade organization consisting of major record labels and distributors that aims to “support and promote the creative and commercial vitality of music labels in the United States.” With that being said, however, their primary feature, in terms of public discussion of music, is undoubtedly their tracking of artists’ sales. These sales, of course, are tracked in terms of “gold,” “platinum,” and “diamond” certifications once a song or album hits the required criteria.
RIAA Criteria
When a single or album has sold at least 500,000 units, it is then eligible for a Gold certification; when it hits 1 million, it is eligible for Platinum certification. And finally, a song or record must sell 10 million units for it to be certified Diamond. There’s only been 13 Diamond-Certified songs in country music history. And keep in mind that the RIAA doesn’t just keep a running tab on these awards and hand out plaques; an artist’s label will actively pursue certification by applying, submitting statistics, and paying a few hundred dollars to undergo an audit to verify the sales. And then… You must purchase a plaque for each person involved. Well, only if you want to…
As for what constitutes a “unit,” there are distinctions between sales regarding both singles and albums. Starting with singles, one paid download or 150 on-demand streams constitutes a unit. Albums, on the other hand, are a bit different. Given how popular streaming is in today’s age, there are three different ways an album can sell a single unit: 1) a permanent digital album or physical album sale, which basically means someone bought the record; 2) 10 permanent track downloads from the album, which laughably wouldn’t even be 1/3 of a Morgan Wallen album these days; or 3) 1,500 on-demand audio and/or video streams from the album. Of course, streaming is how a bulk of the units are earned these days.
Now knowing this, you can see that achieving this for Combs is a massive accomplishment, given that he received his first RIAA plaque less than a decade ago.
“When my team first told me about this, my initial reaction was, ‘Are you sure? There’s no way.’ It was only 8 years ago that I got my first plaque for ‘Hurricane’ going Gold. I knew then, without a doubt, I had the best fans in the world. The song had gone Platinum before they could even give me the Gold plaque.”
Combs said, reflecting on this massive career milestone.
“I’m super humbled by the fans’ belief in me and support of my music today and over the years. I know this does not happen without them. This achievement is more so theirs than it is mine. All I ever hoped and dreamed of from the beginning of this crazy ride was to make music that made people feel something, and I can’t wait to continue making country music for the rest of my life.”
At this rate, Combs’ total units sold will keep climbing after the release of The Prequel, a 3-song EP featuring “My Kinda Saturday Night,” “15 Minutes,” and “Days Like These.” While fans are playing the heck out of those new tunes before his next record drops (which he promised for a 2026 released date), his last single “Back In The Saddle” is #8 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart and continuing to rise, as well as “Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma,” which recently earned Combs his 19th #1 single.
A big congratulations to Luke Combs, and we’re stoked to see that number continue to rise.
Fire up a few tunes from The Prequel while you’re here.
“My Kinda Saturday Night”
“15 Minutes”
