Of the 129 albums that can boast at least a Diamond certification in the 71-year history of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), only six of them were delivered by solo Black male vocalists – Lionel Richie‘s ‘Can’t Slow Down,’ Prince’s ‘Purple Rain,’ Stevie Wonder’s ‘Songs in the Key of Life,’ Usher‘s ‘Confessions,’ and King of Pop Michael Jackson‘s ‘Bad’ and ‘Thriller.’
And while the latter made history in 2022 for becoming the first singer overall in history to own multiple singles and albums certified as high, he also became the only male performer of color to own one Diamond plaque of each project type.
Video In-Article Ad (Desktop)That changed Friday (February 9) thanks to a slew of certification upgrades afforded to the ‘Confessions‘ singer’s most popular titles.
Video In-Article Ad (Desktop)Ahead of the Super Bowl halftime show he’s already promised will be a nod to Jackson’s legacy on February 11, Ush (born Usher Raymond) has joined his idol in a unique RIAA club.
Video In-Article Ad (Desktop)Taking to press, the RIAA announced several updates to the certification statuses of some of Raymond’s biggest hits. See the full list below.
Video In-Article Ad (Desktop)14x Platinum
Video In-Article Ad (Desktop)- Confessions (Album)
13x Platinum
Video In-Article Ad (Desktop)- Yeah (Single)
8x Platinum
Video In-Article Ad (Desktop)- DJ Got Us Falling in Love (Single)
5x Platinum
Video In-Article Ad (Desktop)- 8701 (Album)
- U Got It Bad (Single)
- Love in This Club Part I (Single)
4x Platinum
Video In-Article Ad (Desktop)- Burn (Single)
- I Don’t Mind (Single)
3x Platinum
Video In-Article Ad (Desktop)- Scream (Single)
- Confessions Part II (Single)
- Raymond v. Raymond (Album)
2x Platinum
Video In-Article Ad (Desktop)- No Limit (Single)
- U Remind Me (Single)
- Hey Daddy (Single)
- Here I Stand (Album)
1x Platinum
Video In-Article Ad (Desktop)- Caught Up (Single)
- Superstar (Single)
- Lemme See (Single)
- Trading Places (Single)
- Good Kisser (Single)
- U Don’t Have to Call (Single)
- Love in This Club Part II (Single)
- There Goes My Baby (Single)
- Lil Freak (Single)
- Looking 4 Myself (Album)
- Moving Mountains (Single)
Gold
Video In-Article Ad (Desktop)- Papers (Single)
- Hard II Love (Album)
- Hot Tottie (Single)
For context, Diamond denotes sales equivalence of 10 million in the United States while Platinum and Gold represent 1 million and 500,000 respectively.
Video In-Article Ad (Desktop)With the ascension of ‘Yeah’ to Diamond status, the 45-year-old has joined an elite crew of solo hitmakers who can boast having at least one album and one single certified at that level.
Video In-Article Ad (Desktop)As of time reported the list includes Eminem (3 Diamond albums, 3 Diamond singles), Whitney Houston (3 Diamond albums, 1 Diamond single), Michael Jackson (2 Diamond albums, 2 Diamond singles), Mariah Carey (2 Diamond albums, 1 Diamond single), Elton John (1 Diamond single, 1 Diamond album), and Taylor Swift (1 Diamond album, 1 Diamond single).
Video In-Article Ad (Desktop)Together, the shiny new plaques push Usher’s career digital single sales to 81.5 million – making him one of the best-selling acts of all time.
Video In-Article Ad (Desktop)Among male vocalists, the only performers to have sold as many or more digital songs are Justin Bieber (122.5 million), The Weeknd (113 million), Morgan Wallen (103.5 million), Ed Sheeran (95 million), Chris Brown (94.5 million), Bruno Mars (91.5 million), Luke Combs (90.5 million), and Luke Bryan (81.5 million).
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LMAO DIAMOND IN SALES BYTCHES, NOT SALES WITH STREAMS LMAOOO, LESSERS LIKE WOMAN BEATER CHRISSY WILL NEVER LMAOOO🤣
Relax, no guidance last I checked was at 9 mill. It’ll be diamond this year or next.
By way of streams.. there’s a difference.
In FREE STREAMS DUMB DUMB. Lol Chris entire 11 album combined haven’t sold 20 million. Usher has sold over 80 million albums in ACTUAL PURE SALES.
Excuses when Usher is Chris Browns lesser. When’s the last time he had a damn hit I’ll wait
Baby please, Chris Brown can’t even sing without a heavily autotuned mic. Only 34 and his vocals already shot to hell please.
Good is a hit delusional MF. Usher has more Billboard Hot 100 #1’s, more R&B and hip-hop #1’s, and more R&B chart #1’s.
Justin Timberlake’s catalog could nevaaaaaa! Ursha Baby! 🥰
The difference between the other current artist on the list is most of their digital sales is from free streams but most of Usher’s digital sales is actual pure sales. Now combine that with his over 80 million pure album sales.