Eagles' Collection Reclaims Title of Best Selling Album

The Eagles' Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975 has been certified as the best selling album of all time by the Recording Industry Association of America. According to the RIAA, the compilation has sold more than twenty-seven million copies, pulling away from Michael Jackson's Thriller.

Just one week ago, the RIAA certified Thriller as having moved twenty-six million copies, which technically pulled it even with the Their Greatest Hits. But the Eagles album continues to set marks for album sales; originally released in 1976, it was the first album to ever receive the RIAA's platinum certification.

The album is the crown jewel in the Eagles' platinum crown, which includes a diamond seller (more than ten million copies sold) with Hotel California (fifteen million copies) and the nearly-diamond Greatest Hits Vol. 2 (nine million copies). In their three decades, the group has moved more than 100 million albums.

The Eagles are also on the brink of adding another collection to their catalogue. The Eagles: Selected Works 1972-1999 is set for release next Tuesday. For those keeping score at home, the four-disc box set would need to sell some seven million copies to top the record-breaking status of its single-disc predecessor.

ANDREW DANSBY
(November 9, 2000)