Fastest Diamond certificate awarded to a US digital single

“Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X (USA, b. Montero Hill) was awarded a Diamond certificate by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), in recognition of sales of 10 million, on 22 October 2019. The remix of the track that fuelled its sales/streaming surge, featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, was released 200 days earlier, on 5 April 2019.

The country-rap mash-up, the longest-running No.1 (19 weeks) in the history of the US Hot 100, went 3x multi-platinum (3 million copies sold/streamed) on 10 May 2019, before the RIAA dished out 4x-, 5x-, 6x-, 7x-, 8x-, 9x- and 10x-multi-platinum awards all on the same day – 22 October 2019.

In the pre-digital era, Elton John’s tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales, “Something About the Way You Look Tonight”/”Candle in the Wind 1997”, the first Diamond-certified single and the fastest-selling single of all time in the USA and the UK, was recognized by the RIAA for sales of 10 million physical copies on 9 October 1997 – just 17 days after its release on 22 September.

As of 30 October 2019, just 33 singles had received a Diamond award, led by Eminem, Katy Perry (three each), Lady Gaga and Ed Sheeran (two each). Sir Elton’s “Something…”/”Candle…” spent more than 15 years as the RIAA’s lone Diamond recipient for singles, but the rate at which Diamond awards are handed out has increased dramatically in recent years due to the fact that audio streams (i.e., streaming equivalent sales) are now factored into the calculations alongside digital and physical sales.