As of November 9, R&B superstar Chris Brown stood in the record books of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) as the most Gold and Platinum-awarded male singer in the organization’s 71-year history (for singles). For multiPlatinum-certified songs, Brown – the first male vocalist to have 20 tunes certified as high – is tied with his ‘Double Negative‘ co-star Justin Bieber for the most awards of this ilk.
In the penultimate certification category, Brown’s record had long been unmatched – that is until The Weekend captured his latest plaque on Friday (November 10).
Details inside.
While Breezy boasts no shortage of RIAA record-breaking stats, the same can be said for The Weeknd (born Abel Tesfaye).
In addition to being the first Black male singer to sell over 100 million singles in the United States, Abel is tied with Bruno Mars for most Diamond singles ever among all vocalists (5). For context, Diamond denotes sales of 10 million in the country. At writing, the overall record is held by rapper Post Malone (8).
Tesfaye’s latest stride toward RIAA history came Friday when his Swedish House Mafia duet, ‘Moth to a Flame,’ flew to Platinum status – meaning it’s sold the equivalence of 1 million copies in the U.S. For Swedish, ‘Moth’ marks their third Platinum hit following 2012’s ‘Don’t You Worry Child’ and 2011’s ‘Save the World.’
Coming as the Canadian hitmaker’s 37th hit to be certified as high, the upgrade not only lifted his overall single sales to 113 million but also locked him in a tie with Chris for most Platinum-certified songs among male vocalists.
Overall, the only acts to have more of the shiny plaques for singles are Eminem (40), Beyonce (40), Rihanna (44), Post Malone (45), Taylor Swift (49), Kanye West (51), and Drake (80).
