What qualifies as a diamond certified song? Rihanna becomes the first female artist to have the most singles with the honor in music history

Rihanna became the first female artist to have the most singles certified as diamonds by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). According to the RIAA website, on Friday, May 31, 2024, she was awarded four diamond plaques, bringing her total to seven certifications. She shared the news with her fans on X, writing:

"Ain't no back n forth."

According to Inside the Industry, for a song to qualify for diamond certification, it must sell at least 10 million or more equivalent units by combining sales and streaming figures since its release.

The RIAA established the award in 1999. According to the website, each time a song is permanently downloaded, it counts as 1 unit, and 150 on-demand audio or video streams together would make 1 unit. Additionally, sales outside the U.S. and pre-order sales are not included in the count.

According to Inside the Industry, diamond status is the highest certification awarded by the RIAA. Due to the large cap, songs take decades to get the award, and many artists never get one throughout their careers.

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Rihanna's Diamonds from the album Unapologetic received diamond certification in April 2024

The Barbadian singer boasts a total of seven diamond certifications. According to the RIAA website, on May 31, RiRi's songs Umbrella (Good Girl Gone Bad, 2007), Work (Anti, 206), Needed Me (Anti, 2016), and Stay (Unapologetic, 2012) received diamond certification. This achievement follows her song Diamonds (Unapologetic, 2012) going diamond on April 22, 2024.

Additionally, she boasts diamond certifications for We Found Love (feat. Calvin Harris) (Talk That Talk, 2011) and Eminem's Love the Way You Lie (feat. Rihanna) (Recovery, 2010).

As the news spread, Rihanna's fans were quick to celebrate the singer and send their congratulations. Some even noted that she received the honor despite not releasing an album since 2016's Anti.

The Umbrella singer's record label, Roc Nation, also congratulated the songstress.

"Congratulations @Rihanna For Having The Most @RIAA Diamond Singles And Diamond Certified Titles For A Female Artist!," the label wrote.

It is noteworthy that, according to Business Insider, only 25 musicians have diamond certified songs or albums as of May 29, 2024. This list includes Justin Bieber, Eminem, Lady Gaga, and Katy Perry, among others.

Among them, Post Malone holds the record for most diamond-certified songs with nine songs. Additionally, he also has the highest platinum-certified single of all time for Sunflower (feat. Swan Lee) (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, 2018), which is 17 times platinum.

Rihanna has not released any other statement about this achievement.