Eagles’ ‘Greatest Hits’ Moonwalks Past MJ’s ‘Thriller’ as Best Selling Album of All Time

The internet is in an uproar as of yesterday, August 20, as The Eagles have broken Michael Jackson’s record of Best Selling Album of All Time. According to The Wrap, “Greatest Hits 1971-1975” is now certified 38x platinum– five times more than “Thriller.” What many fans don’t know is that the two albums have been interchanging first place for the award for years now.

Rolling Stone reports that The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) last tallied the sales for “Greatest Hits 1971-1975” in 2006, with the album at 29x platinum–and in second place to MJ–at that time. Now, number of streams on platforms like Spotify and number of views of music videos on YouTube all count towards a bands’ album selling numbers, dramatically changing the methods for album data collection. Multiple sources, including The Washington Post, confirm that 1,500 streams of an album is equal to one sale, and ten song downloads equals one album sale.

Don Henley, lead singer of The Eagles, told Associated Press,”We are grateful for our families, our management, our crew, the people at radio and, most of all, the loyal fans who have stuck with us through the ups and downs of 46 years. It’s been quite a ride.” The band received the Kennedy Center Honor in 2016, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998, and their song ‘Hotel California’ currently holds the spot for third best-selling album of all time, at 26x platinum.  

Diehard Michael Jackson fans took to Twitter and other social media sites to remind everyone that these numbers only apply to the U.S., with “Thriller” still being the Best-Selling Album of All Time globally. Jackson was also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001, and revolutionized the culture and techniques surrounding recording, singing, and dance.

The Eagles are currently on their U.S. tour.