When the RIAA certifies an album platinum (meaning it has achieved at least a million units in sales), it’s one of music’s biggest achievements. But which music legends have been honored the most of all time? Let’s break down the artists with the most platinum-certified albums ever.
To start, here’s everybody with between 10 and 14 platinum songs (all data accurate as of November 9, 2022 via the RIAA website):
Andrea Bocelli (10), Frank Sinatra (10), Isley Brothers (10), Jimi Hendrix (10), Johnny Cash (10), Kiss (10), Santana (10), Taylor Swift (10), Bon Jovi (11), Brooks & Dunn (11), Celine Dion (11), Eminem (11), Eric Clapton (11), Journey (11), Kenny G (11), Prince (11), Simon & Garfunkel (11), Tim McGraw (11), Vince Gill (11), John Mellencamp (12), Ozzy Osbourne (12), Queen (12), Toby Keith (12), The Who (12) Barry Manilow (13), Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band (13), Eagles (13), Jay-Z (13), John Denver (13), Linda Ronstadt (13), Lynyrd Skynyrd (13), Metallica (13), Michael Jackson (13), Van Halen (13), Dave Matthews Band (14), The Doors (14), James Taylor (14), Mariah Carey (14), Rush (14)
Here are the artists with between 15 and 19 platinum hits:
Alan Jackson (15), Bob Dylan (15), Kenny Chesney (15), Pink Floyd (15), Willie Nelson (15), U2 (16), Billy Joel (17), Bruce Springsteen (17), Kenny Rogers (17), Madonna (17), Aerosmith (18), Chicago (18), Led Zeppelin (18), Luther Vandross (18), Reba McEntire (19), Rod Stewart (19)
Here’s everybody with between 20 and 40 platinum-certified songs:
AC/DC (20), Alabama (21), Neil Diamond (21), Elton John (28), The Rolling Stones (28), Barbra Streisand (30), Garth Brooks (31), George Strait (33)
And that brings us to the top two spots. In second place is The Beatles, who have a whopping 42 platinum songs. No. 1 is actually way ahead of them, though: Elvis Presley accumulated 57 platinum songs during his storied career.
However, when it comes to multi-platinum songs (songs that have sold at least 2 million units), The Beatles are on top with 26, followed by Presley’s 25. Following them are Garth Brooks (17), Elton John, Led Zeppelin (14 each), Billy Joel, George Strait (13 each), AC/DC, Aerosmith, Barbara Streisand, Madonna, Neil Diamond, Pink Floyd, and Van Halen (12 each).
Check out the platinum songs data for yourself here and the multi-platinum data here.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.