AC/DC never got about their business in a quiet manner.
When the Australian rock legends recently climbed a US sales mountain for Back in Black, however, the feat nearly slipped by unnoticed.
The band’s seminal seventh studio album is now certified 27-times platinum in the United States, for 27 million sales, breaking the stalemate with Eagles’ Hotel California, and placing the Aussies on the all-time podium.
Produced by Robert “Mutt” Lange and recorded soon after the death of AC/DC’s iconic frontman Bon Scott, Back in Black has been back in business of late.
On July 8th, the album was certified 26-times platinum – almost five years since the last time it collected a new certification plaque from the RIAA, the United States’ equivalent of ARIA. That’s five years to add one million sales.
Thanks in part to the AC/DC sync in the smash Marvel Studio film Deadpool & Wolverine, the album needed just one month to move from 26 million to 27 million units sold.
Back in Black is now the third-highest-certified album in U.S. history, notes Forbes, which has closely tracked the album’s performance, nudging Eagles’ Hotel California, stuck on 26-times platinum.
Cut it this way – Back in Black is the best-selling rock album in the US, ever.
The all-time best-sellers in the world’s biggest music market? Eagles fly high at No. 1 with Greatest Hits 1971 – 1975 (38 million units sold), followed by Michael Jackson’s Thriller (34 million sold).
Released in 1980 with gravel-voiced northern Englishman Brian Johnson on the mic, Back in Black is stacked with epic, timeless riffs, and hits, including the title track which earlier this year passed one billion views on YouTube.
AC/DC was one of the very first names read out for induction into the ARIA Hall of Fame, saluted at a ceremony in 1988, alongside Dame Joan Sutherland, Johnny O’Keefe, Slim Dusty, Col Joye and Vanda & Young.
Later, in 2003, the artists were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame.
Ten years on, in 2013, Back in Black was entered into the Grammy Hall Of Fame, established by the Recording Academy to honour “recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance.”
When Rolling Stone AU/NZ ran the rule across the 200 greatest Australian albums of all time, Back in Black came in at No. 1.
AC/DC continues to rock. Angus Young and Co. completed their 2024 Power Up tour last month in front of 82,000 screaming fans at Croke Park in Dublin, Ireland.
