According to
VVN Music,
METALLICA upped their platinum album totals in December on two of their classics, with the band's self-titled LP (a.k.a. the Black Album) getting its 16th platinum certificate from the
RIAA (
Recording Industry Association Of America), signifying 16,000,000 copies sold, while
"Ride The Lightning" landed its sixth. They also secured six gold certificates for passing 500,000 digital downloads of individual songs and two gold certificates for songs that exceeded 500,000 downloads as ringtones.
Multi-Platinum Album (1,000,000 units sold)
*
Metallica (16x Platinum)
*
Ride The Lightning (6x Platinum)
Digital Gold Single (500,000 units sold)
*
Nothing Else Matters*
Fade to Black*
The Unforgiven*
For Whom the Bell Tolls*
Master of Puppets*
The Day That Never ComesMastertone Gold Song (500,000 ringtone downloads)
*
Enter Sandman*
One"Metallica" in 2009 surpassed
SHANIA TWAIN's 1997 record,
"Come On Over", as the best-selling CD of the
SoundScan era.
Although
METALLICA had scored their first radio and video airplay with their previous effort, 1988's
"...And Justice For All", the black album was the band's biggest commercial breakthrough, producing five singles and making them into one of the most popular rock bands in the world.
METALLICA played the complete "black album" at its own
Orion Music + More festival, which took place last June in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
METALLICA headlined both days and performed its entire 1984 album
"Ride The Lightning" for the first time ever on the other day of the festival.
