Official U.S. RIAA Certified Sales

https://www.riaa.com/?s=prince

PRINCE: 1 Million ( February 21, 1980) (World Wide Total - 2 Million)

DIRTY MIND: 500,000 (June 20, 1984) (World Wide Total - 1 Million)

CONTROVERSY: 1 Million (January 11, 1985) (World Wide Total - 2 Million)

1999: 4 Million (March 24, 1999) (World Wide Total - 6 Million)

PURPLE RAIN: 13 Million (May 16, 1996) (World Wide Total - 21 Million as of 2018.)

** Keep in mind RIAA has not recertified Purple Rain sales since '96 and it has at least sold 1-3 million more in the U.S. since then, so if counted PR in the U.S. would stand at over 13 Million.)

ATWIAD: 2 Million (July 2, 1985) (World Wide Total - 4 Million)

PARADE: 1 Million (June 3, 1986) (World Wide Total - 4 Million)

SIGN O' THE TIMES: 1 Million (July 7, 1987) (World Wide Total - 4 Million)

LOVESEXY: 500,000 (December 5, 1988) (World Wide Total - 2 Million)

BATMAN: 2 Million (August 29, 1989) (World Wide Total - 4 Million)

GRAFFITI BRDIGE: 500,000 (November 1, 1990) (World Wide Total - 2 Million)

DIAMONDS & PEARLS: 2 Million (January 30, 1992) (World Wide Total - 6 Million)

LOVE SYMBOL: 1 Million (December 7, 1992) (World Wide Total - 2 Million)

THE HITS 1: 1 Million (August 10, 1995) (World Wide Total -2 Million)

THE HITS 2: 1 Million (August 10, 1995) (World Wide Total - 2 Million)

THE HITS/THE B-SIDES: 1 Million(December 1, 1993) (World Wide Total - 2 Million)

COME: 500,000 (October 18, 1994) (World Wide Total - 1 Million)

THE GOLD EXPERIENCE: 500,000 (December 7, 1995) (World Wide Total - N/A)

EMANCIPATION: 600,000 (Certified as 2x Platinum counting 3 discs) (February 7, 1997)

(World Wide Total - N/A)

RAVE UN2 THE JOY FANTASTIC: 500,000 (December 10, 1999) (World Wide Total - N/A)

THE VERY BEST OF PRINCE: 1 Million (September 21, 2004) (World Wide Total - 4 Million)

** Like Purple Rain, the RIAA has not re-certified TVBOP which currently stands at 2.6 Million sales in the U.S. TVBOP was the biggest selling Prince album world wide and in the U.S selling 660,000 in the U.S. alone after his death.

MUSICOLOGY: 2 Million (January 31, 2005) (World Wide Total - 3 Million)

3121: 500,000 (June 26, 2006) (World Wide Total - N/A)

[Edited 1/6/18 13:47pm]

What about his last few albums like art official age and HitNRun phase 1 & 2?

Few comments I have:

- Never knew DIRTY MIND wasn't certified Platinum, always read and heard people saying it went Platinum after the Purple Rain success, but no only GOLD in the U.S.

-His biggest selling albums in U.S.A

1. PURPLE RAIN

2. 1999

3. THE VERY BEST OF PRINCE

4. DIAMONDS & PEARLS

-Alot of the albums if audited again by WB, I bet would be recerfified for another million sold. Purple Rain & TVBOP clearly should be recerfified for another million, but have yet to be done by RIAA.

dance4me3121 said:

What about his last few albums like art official age and HitNRun phase 1 & 2?

The albums listed are the only ones that have been CERTIFIED by RIAA.

Meaning GOLD = 500,000 sales or more.

PLATINUM = 1 million sales or more.

DIAMOND = 10 million sales or more.

The above albums you stated, AOA, HitnRUN have not been certified, indicating sales under 500,000.

Say whatever you want, but the guy sold a truckload of records...

feeluupp said:

Few comments I have:

- Never knew DIRTY MIND wasn't certified Platinum, always read and heard people saying it went Platinum after the Purple Rain success, but no only GOLD in the U.S.

-His biggest selling albums in U.S.A

1. PURPLE RAIN

2. 1999

3. THE VERY BEST OF PRINCE

4. DIAMONDS & PEARLS

-Alot of the albums if audited again by WB, I bet would be recerfified for another million sold. Purple Rain & TVBOP clearly should be recerfified for another million, but have yet to be done by RIAA.

*

Yeah, a lot of that debate around Dirty Mind's sales and Controversy's sales, to a lesser degree, was a product of the debate as to whether or not Prince's talent had slipped because his later records were not selling as well. And, folks like me would always counter with "Dirty Mind and Controversy, to a lesser degree, are great records, but they weren't certified as gold or platinum until after the success of Purple Rain." Somebody later corrected me that Controversy was certified platinum before the success of Purple Rain, but I wasn't sure if those numbers were just in the US or worldwide. At any rate, I still think that Dirty Mind and Controversy's limited sales prior to Purple Rain show that good or great art can't always be judged by sales.

The main album that doesn't have 100% confirmed sale figures for world wide total is the BATMAN album.

RIAA indicates it sold over 2 million in the U.S. alone... However on Wikipedia it states worldwide it sold over 11 million copies, which I don't think is accurate. In The Rise & Fall Of Prince book it said it sold 4.4 million world wide... However I feel BATMAN being the #1 movie in the world for months and it being #1 on the charts in USA, U.K. HOLLAND, SWITZERLAND, top 5 in many European countries, I feel we don't have the accurate total sales for BATMAN... I feel it is way over the 5 million mark but under 10 million...

NorthC said:

Say whatever you want, but the guy sold a truckload of records...

Yup, 16 certified PLATINUM albums.

Counting just the RIAA certified albums he sold over 39 Million albums in the U.S. alone, and over 77 Million total world wide.

Counting the non certified commercially released albums in the U.S. such as:

-THE BLACK ALBUM

-CHAOS AND DISORDER

-GIRL 6

-CRYSTAL BALL

-NEWPOWERSOUL

-THE VAULT: OLD FRIENDS 4 SALE

-THE RAINBOW CHILDREN

-ONE NIGHT ALONE LIVE!

-N.E.W.S.

-ULTIMATE PRINCE

-PLANET EARTH

-LOTSUFLOW3R

-ART OFFICIAL AGE

-PLECTRUM ELECTRUM

-HITnRUN: PHASE ONE

-HITnRUN: PHASE TWO

-PRINCE 4EVER

... That's another 1-2 million added up all together.

[Edited 1/6/18 19:19pm]

Exactly, American Sales only make up about half of all his sales. Just adding in British, Japanese, German, French and Australian sales of most albums from Parade onwards makes it much higher.

Also some albums did poorer in the Conservative USA than liberal Europe, Lovesexy flopped at #11 and barely went gold in the USA, but was a multi platinum #1 in the UK, Australia and NZ.

.

I mean a 1985 NME article about ATWIAD mentioned that Purple Rain was only Octuple Platinum in April 1985 (8 million).

.

RIAA awards are also stuck in the past, I mean even MJ only has one official Diamon album, being Thriller. Both Dangerous and Bad have stalled at 7 or 8 platinum only, with International sales making up nearly 3/4 of all sales, as both are known to have sold at least 30 million copies each.

.

Plus we have to count multiple sales of albums through either copies breaking (Common with low quality tape and vinyl (Quality of the material used in production NOT the music) in the 80s), being stolen and superfans wanting albums in multiple formats (For example I have Tape, Vinyl, Digital and 2 x CD copies of Purple Rain).

According to Media Traffic the Global Album Chart

Purple Rain including the Purple Rain Deluxe sales was in the Top 10 for only 1 week at #4.

http://www.mediatraffic.de/albums-week27-2017.htm

Media Traffic has the current Purple Rain all time total sales at 21 Million.

Adorecream said:

Exactly, American Sales only make up about half of all his sales. Just adding in British, Japanese, German, French and Australian sales of most albums from Parade onwards makes it much higher.

Also some albums did poorer in the Conservative USA than liberal Europe, Lovesexy flopped at #11 and barely went gold in the USA, but was a multi platinum #1 in the UK, Australia and NZ.

.

I mean a 1985 NME article about ATWIAD mentioned that Purple Rain was only Octuple Platinum in April 1985 (8 million).

.

RIAA awards are also stuck in the past, I mean even MJ only has one official Diamon album, being Thriller. Both Dangerous and Bad have stalled at 7 or 8 platinum only, with International sales making up nearly 3/4 of all sales, as both are known to have sold at least 30 million copies each.

.

Plus we have to count multiple sales of albums through either copies breaking (Common with low quality tape and vinyl (Quality of the material used in production NOT the music) in the 80s), being stolen and superfans wanting albums in multiple formats (For example I have Tape, Vinyl, Digital and 2 x CD copies of Purple Rain).

Exactly. As a matter of fact, the only albums that really sold "better" or more in the U.S. were albums like PRINCE, 1999, PURPLE RAIN... Everything after Purple Rain, his albums sold better overseas expecially Europe.

Albums like Parade and SOTT barely went Platinum in the U.S. while overseas it was selling 3 million plus.

Like you said LOVESEXY barely went GOLD in the U.S. It's total U.S. sales to this date is no more than 750,000... However overseas it was high on the charts in Europe and sold an addition 2 million. Hence why he chose to tour overseas more than the U.S. during the mid 80's.

feeluupp said:

Official U.S. RIAA Certified Sales

https://www.riaa.com/?s=prince

PRINCE: 1 Million ( February 21, 1980) (World Wide Total - 2 Million)

DIRTY MIND: 500,000 (June 20, 1984) (World Wide Total - 1 Million)

CONTROVERSY: 1 Million (January 11, 1985) (World Wide Total - 2 Million)

1999: 4 Million (March 24, 1999) (World Wide Total - 6 Million)

PURPLE RAIN: 13 Million (May 16, 1996) (World Wide Total - 21 Million as of 2018.)

** Keep in mind RIAA has not recertified Purple Rain sales since '96 and it has at least sold 1-3 million more in the U.S. since then, so if counted PR in the U.S. would stand at over 13 Million.)

ATWIAD: 2 Million (July 2, 1985) (World Wide Total - 4 Million)

PARADE: 1 Million (June 3, 1986) (World Wide Total - 4 Million)

SIGN O' THE TIMES: 1 Million (July 7, 1987) (World Wide Total - 4 Million)

LOVESEXY: 500,000 (December 5, 1988) (World Wide Total - 2 Million)

BATMAN: 2 Million (August 29, 1989) (World Wide Total - 4 Million)

GRAFFITI BRDIGE: 500,000 (November 1, 1990) (World Wide Total - 2 Million)

DIAMONDS & PEARLS: 2 Million (January 30, 1992) (World Wide Total - 6 Million)

LOVE SYMBOL: 1 Million (December 7, 1992) (World Wide Total - 2 Million)

THE HITS 1: 1 Million (August 10, 1995) (World Wide Total -2 Million)

THE HITS 2: 1 Million (August 10, 1995) (World Wide Total - 2 Million)

THE HITS/THE B-SIDES: 1 Million(December 1, 1993) (World Wide Total - 2 Million)

COME: 500,000 (October 18, 1994) (World Wide Total - 1 Million)

THE GOLD EXPERIENCE: 500,000 (December 7, 1995) (World Wide Total - N/A)

EMANCIPATION: 600,000 (Certified as 2x Platinum counting 3 discs) (February 7, 1997)

(World Wide Total - N/A)

RAVE UN2 THE JOY FANTASTIC: 500,000 (December 10, 1999) (World Wide Total - N/A)

THE VERY BEST OF PRINCE: 1 Million (September 21, 2004) (World Wide Total - 4 Million)

** Like Purple Rain, the RIAA has not re-certified TVBOP which currently stands at 2.6 Million sales in the U.S. TVBOP was the biggest selling Prince album world wide and in the U.S selling 660,000 in the U.S. alone after his death.

MUSICOLOGY: 2 Million (January 31, 2005) (World Wide Total - 3 Million)

3121: 500,000 (June 26, 2006) (World Wide Total - N/A)

[Edited 1/6/18 13:47pm]

I cannot understand for the life of me why "Diamonds and Pearls" is out of print. D&P is one of his top 5 best selling albums, yet is is easier to get a CD copy of almost any other WB-published Prince album, including Graffiti Bridge, Lovesexy, and For You, than Diamonds and Pearls. I could buy any of those 3 aforementioned albums in CD form through Amazon or Barnes and Noble but not "Diamonds and Pearls"!!!

206Michelle said:

feeluupp said:

Official U.S. RIAA Certified Sales

https://www.riaa.com/?s=prince

PRINCE: 1 Million ( February 21, 1980) (World Wide Total - 2 Million)

DIRTY MIND: 500,000 (June 20, 1984) (World Wide Total - 1 Million)

CONTROVERSY: 1 Million (January 11, 1985) (World Wide Total - 2 Million)

1999: 4 Million (March 24, 1999) (World Wide Total - 6 Million)

PURPLE RAIN: 13 Million (May 16, 1996) (World Wide Total - 21 Million as of 2018.)

** Keep in mind RIAA has not recertified Purple Rain sales since '96 and it has at least sold 1-3 million more in the U.S. since then, so if counted PR in the U.S. would stand at over 13 Million.)

ATWIAD: 2 Million (July 2, 1985) (World Wide Total - 4 Million)

PARADE: 1 Million (June 3, 1986) (World Wide Total - 4 Million)

SIGN O' THE TIMES: 1 Million (July 7, 1987) (World Wide Total - 4 Million)

LOVESEXY: 500,000 (December 5, 1988) (World Wide Total - 2 Million)

BATMAN: 2 Million (August 29, 1989) (World Wide Total - 4 Million)

GRAFFITI BRDIGE: 500,000 (November 1, 1990) (World Wide Total - 2 Million)

DIAMONDS & PEARLS: 2 Million (January 30, 1992) (World Wide Total - 6 Million)

LOVE SYMBOL: 1 Million (December 7, 1992) (World Wide Total - 2 Million)

THE HITS 1: 1 Million (August 10, 1995) (World Wide Total -2 Million)

THE HITS 2: 1 Million (August 10, 1995) (World Wide Total - 2 Million)

THE HITS/THE B-SIDES: 1 Million(December 1, 1993) (World Wide Total - 2 Million)

COME: 500,000 (October 18, 1994) (World Wide Total - 1 Million)

THE GOLD EXPERIENCE: 500,000 (December 7, 1995) (World Wide Total - N/A)

EMANCIPATION: 600,000 (Certified as 2x Platinum counting 3 discs) (February 7, 1997)

(World Wide Total - N/A)

RAVE UN2 THE JOY FANTASTIC: 500,000 (December 10, 1999) (World Wide Total - N/A)

THE VERY BEST OF PRINCE: 1 Million (September 21, 2004) (World Wide Total - 4 Million)

** Like Purple Rain, the RIAA has not re-certified TVBOP which currently stands at 2.6 Million sales in the U.S. TVBOP was the biggest selling Prince album world wide and in the U.S selling 660,000 in the U.S. alone after his death.

MUSICOLOGY: 2 Million (January 31, 2005) (World Wide Total - 3 Million)

3121: 500,000 (June 26, 2006) (World Wide Total - N/A)

[Edited 1/6/18 13:47pm]

I cannot understand for the life of me why "Diamonds and Pearls" is out of print. D&P is one of his top 5 best selling albums, yet is is easier to get a CD copy of almost any other WB-published Prince album, including Graffiti Bridge, Lovesexy, and For You, than Diamonds and Pearls. I could buy any of those 3 aforementioned albums in CD form through Amazon or Barnes and Noble but not "Diamonds and Pearls"!!!

When I travelled in Europe recently it was stocked full in the various music shops...

Adorecream said:

Exactly, American Sales only make up about half of all his sales. Just adding in British, Japanese, German, French and Australian sales of most albums from Parade onwards makes it much higher.

Also some albums did poorer in the Conservative USA than liberal Europe, Lovesexy flopped at #11 and barely went gold in the USA, but was a multi platinum #1 in the UK, Australia and NZ.

.

I mean a 1985 NME article about ATWIAD mentioned that Purple Rain was only Octuple Platinum in April 1985 (8 million).

.

RIAA awards are also stuck in the past, I mean even MJ only has one official Diamon album, being Thriller. Both Dangerous and Bad have stalled at 7 or 8 platinum only, with International sales making up nearly 3/4 of all sales, as both are known to have sold at least 30 million copies each.

.

Plus we have to count multiple sales of albums through either copies breaking (Common with low quality tape and vinyl (Quality of the material used in production NOT the music) in the 80s), being stolen and superfans wanting albums in multiple formats (For example I have Tape, Vinyl, Digital and 2 x CD copies of Purple Rain).

I agree. I guess it really is the recorc company's job to keep auditing the number and sales to insure another certification.

For example: THE VERY BEST OF PRINCE is the biggest selling Prince album after his death, it now stands at 2.6 Million sold in the U.S. but only has been certfified 1x Platinum back in 2004. So that should be recertififed to 2x Platinum. Same deal with PURPLE RAIN, it was certified 13x Platinum way back in 1996, in 22 years it has surely sold another 1 million to be recertified.

I am really interested to see what the exact numbers of his other albums like 1999, BATMAN, DIAMONDS AND PEARLS currently stand. I am sure a lot more of his albums need to be recertified by the RIAA.

Also another fun fact, PURPLE RAIN sold better than every single MJ album in the U.S. except for Thriller.

BTW PURPLE RAIN has re entered the BILLBOARD 200 ALBUMS CHART once again:

Adorecream said:

Exactly, American Sales only make up about half of all his sales. Just adding in British, Japanese, German, French and Australian sales of most albums from Parade onwards makes it much higher.

Also some albums did poorer in the Conservative USA than liberal Europe, Lovesexy flopped at #11 and barely went gold in the USA, but was a multi platinum #1 in the UK, Australia and NZ.

.

I mean a 1985 NME article about ATWIAD mentioned that Purple Rain was only Octuple Platinum in April 1985 (8 million).

.

RIAA awards are also stuck in the past, I mean even MJ only has one official Diamon album, being Thriller. Both Dangerous and Bad have stalled at 7 or 8 platinum only, with International sales making up nearly 3/4 of all sales, as both are known to have sold at least 30 million copies each.

.

Plus we have to count multiple sales of albums through either copies breaking (Common with low quality tape and vinyl (Quality of the material used in production NOT the music) in the 80s), being stolen and superfans wanting albums in multiple formats (For example I have Tape, Vinyl, Digital and 2 x CD copies of Purple Rain).

Just checked RIAA, BAD was just certified DIAMOND in Feb 16, 2017. THRILLER 33x Platinum also in Feb 16, 2017.

feeluupp said:

206Michelle said:

I cannot understand for the life of me why "Diamonds and Pearls" is out of print. D&P is one of his top 5 best selling albums, yet is is easier to get a CD copy of almost any other WB-published Prince album, including Graffiti Bridge, Lovesexy, and For You, than Diamonds and Pearls. I could buy any of those 3 aforementioned albums in CD form through Amazon or Barnes and Noble but not "Diamonds and Pearls"!!!

When I travelled in Europe recently it was stocked full in the various music shops...

Really?!

feeluupp said:

206Michelle said:

I cannot understand for the life of me why "Diamonds and Pearls" is out of print. D&P is one of his top 5 best selling albums, yet is is easier to get a CD copy of almost any other WB-published Prince album, including Graffiti Bridge, Lovesexy, and For You, than Diamonds and Pearls. I could buy any of those 3 aforementioned albums in CD form through Amazon or Barnes and Noble but not "Diamonds and Pearls"!!!

When I travelled in Europe recently it was stocked full in the various music shops...

HMV has D&P in stock but only will ship to the UK, not the US. I'm not familiar with other major music retailers in Europe.

feeluupp said:

Adorecream said:

Exactly, American Sales only make up about half of all his sales. Just adding in British, Japanese, German, French and Australian sales of most albums from Parade onwards makes it much higher.

Also some albums did poorer in the Conservative USA than liberal Europe, Lovesexy flopped at #11 and barely went gold in the USA, but was a multi platinum #1 in the UK, Australia and NZ.

.

I mean a 1985 NME article about ATWIAD mentioned that Purple Rain was only Octuple Platinum in April 1985 (8 million).

.

RIAA awards are also stuck in the past, I mean even MJ only has one official Diamon album, being Thriller. Both Dangerous and Bad have stalled at 7 or 8 platinum only, with International sales making up nearly 3/4 of all sales, as both are known to have sold at least 30 million copies each.

.

Plus we have to count multiple sales of albums through either copies breaking (Common with low quality tape and vinyl (Quality of the material used in production NOT the music) in the 80s), being stolen and superfans wanting albums in multiple formats (For example I have Tape, Vinyl, Digital and 2 x CD copies of Purple Rain).

Exactly. As a matter of fact, the only albums that really sold "better" or more in the U.S. were albums like PRINCE, 1999, PURPLE RAIN... Everything after Purple Rain, his albums sold better overseas expecially Europe.

Albums like Parade and SOTT barely went Platinum in the U.S. while overseas it was selling 3 million plus.

Like you said LOVESEXY barely went GOLD in the U.S. It's total U.S. sales to this date is no more than 750,000... However overseas it was high on the charts in Europe and sold an addition 2 million. Hence why he chose to tour overseas more than the U.S. during the mid 80's.

I never thought about that being a reason for SO MANY overseas dates and long stayovers. I thought more along the lines of him just loving the environment there; maybe he found something that artistically awakened in him overseas. It really does make sense too that he was simply performing for folks that were supporting him the most!

According to the new Riaa rules :
.
Purple Rain should be 16*P
Diamonds and TVBO should be 3*P each
The Hits 1 and 2 2*P each.
.
That's about all the recertifications needed.
.
Despite being #1 intenationnally, the Ba j'tman album was a semi failure.It had a weak number one sales, because it was released in summer.
Batdance was a huge hit, but Kiss was huge too, but it didn t prevent Parade from having disappointing sales.
.
Batman lacked a second hit, Partyman was an international flop, strangely.That s why thé album Still stand at less than 5 millions worldwide.
.
Thé only albums where Europe outsold usa's numbers were Lovesexy and Diamonds.
[Edited 1/7/18 9:01am]

RODSERLING said:

According to the new Riaa rules : . Purple Rain should be 16*P Diamonds and TVBO should be 3*P each The Hits 1 and 2 2*P each. . That's about all the recertifications needed. . Despite being #1 intenationnally, the Ba j'tman album was a semi failure.It had a weak number one sales, because it was released in summer. Batdance was a huge hit, but Kiss was huge too, but it didn t prevent Parade from having disappointing sales. . Batman lacked a second hit, Partyman was an international flop, strangely.That s why thé album Still stand at less than 5 millions worldwide. . Thé only albums where Europe outsold usa's numbers were Lovesexy and Diamonds. [Edited 1/7/18 9:01am]

Yea PURPLE RAIN should've been recertified with the re release of PR DELUXE, don't know why NPG or WB didn't press on that...

TVBOP deff will be 3 million plus in the U.S. soon, if not already...

I can see why BATMAN wasn't a huge international seller, makes sense, there was no strong second single after Batdance like you said.

As far as the albums that sold better than Europe than USA, you can add PARADE and SOTT, they deff sold better in Europe than USA. SOTT barely sold 1 million in USA, it sold more in Europe.

feeluupp said:

Parade sold about 1.9 millions on thé US, and about that same amount outside.
SOTT sols equally 1.6 millions inside and outside the Us.

Thèse two albums were not huge sellers on Europe. They sold decently about 300.000 copies in Germany, uk and France. Barely one Platinum level, when you think about it.

It's always good to remember that this was a Platinum album nearly every single year for almost 2 full decades. That's incredible.

billymeade said:

It's always good to remember that this was a Platinum album nearly every single year for almost 2 full decades. That's incredible.

Wow man I never really thought about it like this....

feeluupp said:

Wow...i wonder why

Adorecream said:

Exactly, American Sales only make up about half of all his sales. Just adding in British, Japanese, German, French and Australian sales of most albums from Parade onwards makes it much higher.

Also some albums did poorer in the Conservative USA than liberal Europe, Lovesexy flopped at #11 and barely went gold in the USA, but was a multi platinum #1 in the UK, Australia and NZ.

.

I mean a 1985 NME article about ATWIAD mentioned that Purple Rain was only Octuple Platinum in April 1985 (8 million).

.

RIAA awards are also stuck in the past, I mean even MJ only has one official Diamon album, being Thriller. Both Dangerous and Bad have stalled at 7 or 8 platinum only, with International sales making up nearly 3/4 of all sales, as both are known to have sold at least 30 million copies each.

.

Plus we have to count multiple sales of albums through either copies breaking (Common with low quality tape and vinyl (Quality of the material used in production NOT the music) in the 80s), being stolen and superfans wanting albums in multiple formats (For example I have Tape, Vinyl, Digital and 2 x CD copies of Purple Rain).

Bad went Diamond almost a year ago.

http://hiphop-n-more.com/2017/02/michael-jackson-bad-album-diamond-certified/

[Edited 1/8/18 16:14pm]

MotownSubdivision said:

Adorecream said:

Exactly, American Sales only make up about half of all his sales. Just adding in British, Japanese, German, French and Australian sales of most albums from Parade onwards makes it much higher.

Also some albums did poorer in the Conservative USA than liberal Europe, Lovesexy flopped at #11 and barely went gold in the USA, but was a multi platinum #1 in the UK, Australia and NZ.

.

I mean a 1985 NME article about ATWIAD mentioned that Purple Rain was only Octuple Platinum in April 1985 (8 million).

.

RIAA awards are also stuck in the past, I mean even MJ only has one official Diamon album, being Thriller. Both Dangerous and Bad have stalled at 7 or 8 platinum only, with International sales making up nearly 3/4 of all sales, as both are known to have sold at least 30 million copies each.

.

Plus we have to count multiple sales of albums through either copies breaking (Common with low quality tape and vinyl (Quality of the material used in production NOT the music) in the 80s), being stolen and superfans wanting albums in multiple formats (For example I have Tape, Vinyl, Digital and 2 x CD copies of Purple Rain).

Bad went Diamond almost a year ago.

http://hiphop-n-more.com/2017/02/michael-jackson-bad-album-diamond-certified/

[Edited 1/8/18 16:14pm]

Yea... Shows you MJ's label and estate still wants to get the proper certifications for sales... Prince's estate should do the same... Especially with Purple Rain.

feeluupp said:

MotownSubdivision said:

Bad went Diamond almost a year ago.

http://hiphop-n-more.com/2017/02/michael-jackson-bad-album-diamond-certified/

[Edited 1/8/18 16:14pm]

Yea... Shows you MJ's label and estate still wants to get the proper certifications for sales... Prince's estate should do the same... Especially with Purple Rain.

Agreed. But in fairness, I think they've got bigger fish to fry at the moment. Once they've taken care of that they can bring this info up to date. I'm kinda surprised it hasn't already been taken care of though, Wikipedia itself has Purple Rain marked at 25 million.

MotownSubdivision said:

feeluupp said:

Yea... Shows you MJ's label and estate still wants to get the proper certifications for sales... Prince's estate should do the same... Especially with Purple Rain.

Agreed. But in fairness, I think they've got bigger fish to fry at the moment. Once they've taken care of that they can bring this info up to date. I'm kinda surprised it hasn't already been taken care of though, Wikipedia itself has Purple Rain marked at 25 million.

Purple Rain the exact total sales are 21 Million. As shown on the Media Traffic United World Chart as the most recent calculation when PR DEXLUXE was released.

As far as RIAA certifications, it was last certified by the RIAA in 1996 for 13 Million... Surely it has passed that number by now in the U.S.