Beyonce may be dominating headlines for the jaw-dropping sales updates made to her catalog at the Recording Industry Association of America overall, but the commercial victory is loaded with smaller yet noteworthy wins.

Beyond becoming the female act with the most Gold and Platinum hits, the news also crowned her the first American singer to sell over 150 million singles.

One of the biggest callouts from the update is Bey capturing her first two Diamond certifications – a feat that was historic by itself.

On Tuesday (December 17), the RIAA revealed Beyonce’s smash 2009 songs ‘Single Ladies’ and ‘Halo’ had crossed the threshold for Diamond certification – meaning they had sold over 10 million units each in the United States alone.

Sitting at 11x Platinum respectively, the tunes are now tied with Rihanna‘s ‘Stay‘ as the highest-certified traditional hits by a Black female vocalist in history.

Among all Black female performers, however, Nicki Minaj‘s ‘Super Bass‘ holds the title of highest-certified among non-holiday songs.

When it comes to all female vocalists, Mariah Carey‘s holiday classic ‘All I Want for Christmas‘ reigns as the overall highest-certified song at 16x Platinum.

Together, ‘Ladies’ and ‘Halo’ helped to push Bey’s cumulative solo career single sales to 161.5 million – making her one of the best-selling artists of all time.

[source]

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