Tag Archives: Certification
Today in Madonna History: October 5, 1988
Today in Madonna History: September 19, 1990
On September 19 1990, Madonna’s Hanky Panky was certified gold (for shipment of 500,000 units) in the USA.
During an interview with Rolling Stone, Madonna talked about getting a good “spanky”:
The spanking thing started because I believed that my character in Dick Tracy liked to get smacked around and that’s why she hung around with people like Al Pacino’s character. Warren Beatty asked me to write some songs, one of them, the Hanky Panky song, was about that. I say in the song ‘Nothing like a good spanky’, and in the middle I say, ‘Ooh, my bottom hurts just thinking about it’. When it came out everybody started asking, ‘Do you like to get spanked?’ and I said: ‘Yeah. Yeah, I do’.
Today in Madonna History: September 8, 1986
On September 8 1986, Madonna’s third album, True Blue, was certified double platinum (for shipment of 2 million units) in the USA.
Here’s a snippet of Davitt Sigerson’s review of True Blue from Rolling Stone (July 17, 1986):
Madonna’s sturdy, dependable, lovable new album remains faithful to her past while shamelessly rising above it. True Blue may generate fewer sales and less attention than Like a Virgin, but it sets her up as an artist for the long run. And like every other brainy move from this best of all possible pop madonnas, it sounds as if it comes from the heart.
Today in Madonna History: August 14, 1984
Today in Madonna History: July 30, 1990
On July 30 1990, Madonna’s I’m Breathless album was certified double platinum (for shipment of two million units) in the USA.
In a 1994 interview with Q magazine, Madonna professed a particular fondness for the album:
“I would have to say the favourite record that I’ve made is the soundtrack to Dick Tracy. I love every one of those songs.”
Today in Madonna History: July 22, 1985

On July 22 1985, Like A Virgin was certified 5x Platinum in the US – the first solo album by a female artist to be certified for shipment of 5-million copies. The album remained a consistently strong catalogue seller well into the next decade, eventually earning a Diamond certification (the RIAA’s highest certification award) in 1998 for shipment of over 10 million copies in the US.













