2001 saw 227 albums surpass the 1 million sales marker for the first time, earning the artists responsible a Platinum record. Now, of course, a recording of your neighbor serenading her cats with broadway showtunes while mowing the lawn can go platinum these days and besides, you can only go platinum once, unless we're talking about hair care and then i'm living proof that you can go back again and again. the real action is MULTI-PLATINUM.

RIAA issued 243 multi-platinum certifications in the year just gone and together they tell an interesting story about popular music in 2001.

Most multi-platinum certifications:

AC/DC leads the pack with 8, followed by the Eagles and John Denver with 7 apiece. that's right, eight different AC/DC albums surpassed a new million-sales marker in 2001, including Back in Black, which has now sold over 19 million copies. The Eagles' Hotel California topped 16 million copies last year while John Denver's Greatest Hits chalked up its' 9 millionth sale.

Most certifications for the same album:

Shaggy's HotShot which was certified 2X, 3X, 4X, 5X AND 6X platinum. Hot on Shaggy's heels were Enya and Linkin Park (can you see this combo on stage at the Grammys?) whose albums A Day Without Rain and Hybrid Theory respectively surpassed the two, three, four and five million markers last year. Three certification apiece went to Dido's No Angel (double, triple and quadruple platinum), ditto Alicia Keys's Songs in A Minor and Staind's Break the Cycle while Nelly's Country Grammar broke the 6, 7, and 8 million thresholds, making it indisputably the most commercially successful hip-hop album of 2001.

Same Artist, Different Album, Multiple Certifications:

Only Destiny's Child managed this feat last year with The Writing's On The Wall surpassing 7 and 8 million units sold, while current release Survivor went double and triple platinum.

Pales in Comparison:

The strange death of POP continued apace in 2001, as new releases from established artists failed to excite. While the Backstreet Boys' first two records, Backstreet Boys and Millenium, jumped past 14 and 13 million units sold respectively, there was no multi-platinum certification in the offing for their most recent issue, Black and Blue, during 2001. Though Britney Spears' sophomore release Oops...I Did It Again rocketed past 9X platinum, her imaginatively-titled current release Britney has only been certified 4X platinum. While 'N SYNC's third opus, Celebrity, soared past 5 million units sold in 2001, this was nothing compared to the 11X platinum reached by their second effort, No Strings Attached.

Diamond Life:

10 million units sold, 10X Platinum, this is the stuff of DIAMONDS. Six albums achieved diamond status in 2001, only two of which were NOT greatest hits compilations. Led Zeppelin's self-titled box set, The Eagles' Greatest Hits II, Aerosmith's Greatest Hits, Madonna's Immaculate Collection, Kid Rock's Devil Without A Cause and Creed's Human Clay joined the ranks of "girl's best friend" in the last twelve-month. In fact, 10X platinum was the second multi-platinum certification for Creed's sophomore release as it has soared past nine million earlier in the year. Frighteningly enough, Creed's follow-up Weathered has spent the last eight weeks entrenched atop the Billboard 200 album chart, signally plenty more RIAA certifications to come.

Huh? Tracy Chapman?:

Yes, she's got a Fast Car and two multi-platinum certifications under her belt for 2001. Her self-titled debut slid past six million units sold, while New Beginning broke 5 million.

All Things Must Sell:

Eerie coincidence that George Harrison's seminal All Things Must Pass received a six-times platinum certification just months before his death. any bets on whether this one creeps past 7 million this year?

All That You CAN Leave Behind:

With all the hoopla around U2's latest, (especially since the Grammy nods...8, is it?) you'd think the thing was selling like hotcakes. the reality is more like Jennifer Lopez's J.Lo, both of which went 2 and 3 times platinum last year.

Oh Lordy...Troubles SOOO Hard:

All that advertising licensing must have paid off or maybe it was just Gwen Stefani, but E!s male fashion breakthrough of 2001 had a sales breakthrough as well, with Moby's Play certified 2X platinum.

I Gotta Cut Loose:

cheer or jeer, like it or lump it, oldies but not necessarily goodies.

Meatloaf's Bat Out Of Hell - 14X Platinum

Beastie Boys' Licensed to Ill - 9X Platinum

Phil Collins' No Jacket Required - 12X Platinum

The Cars' Candy-O - 4X Platinum

Footloose Original Motion Picture Soundtrack - 9X Platinum

Celine Dion's Falling Into You - 11X Platinum