History's Best-Selling Album Is a Greatest Hits Collection

The Eagles have given Michael Jackson the boot
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Aug 20, 2018 1:03 PM CDT
History's Best-Selling Album Is by ... The Eagles
In this Jan. 15, 2014, file photo, Don Henley, left, and Glenn Frey of The Eagles perform on the "History of the Eagles" tour at the Forum in Los Angeles. The Eagles' greatest hits album has surpassed Michael Jackson's "Thriller" as the best-selling album of all-time.   (Photo by John Shearer/Invision/AP, File)

The Eagles' greatest hits album has moonwalked past Michael Jackson's Thriller to become history's best-selling album of all-time. The Recording Industry Association of America told the AP on Monday that the Eagles' album—Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975—is now certified 38x platinum, which means sales and streams of the album have reached 38 million copies. The album was released in 1976 and pushes Jackson's Thriller, which is 33x platinum, to second place. RIAA also said that the Eagles' Hotel California, released in 1977, is now 26x platinum and makes it the third best-selling album of all-time.

The last time RIAA tallied sales for the Eagles' greatest hits album was in 2006, when it said it was 29x platinum. Sales and streams for Thriller were last updated last year. "We are grateful for our families, our management, our crew, the people at radio and, most of all, the loyal fans who have stuck with us through the ups and downs of 46 years. It's been quite a ride," Don Henley said in a statement. RIAA's platinum status was once equivalent to selling one million albums or songs, but in 2013 the company began incorporating streaming from YouTube, Spotify, and other digital music services to determine certification for albums and songs. Now 1,500 streams of an album is equivalent to an album sale. Also, 10 song downloads equals 1 album sale.

(More The Eagles stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X