On August 14 1984, Madonna’s self-titled debut album was certified platinum by the RIAA to commemorate U.S. sales of more than one-million copies.
The album would eventually be certified five times platinum in the U.S.
Tag Archives: Certification
Today in Madonna History: July 14, 1987
On July 14 1987, Madonna’s second studio album, Like a Virgin was certified 7x platinum (7 million units) in the USA.
According to author J. Randy Taraborrelli, “Every important artist has at least one album in his or her career whose critical and commercial success becomes the artist’s magic moment; for Madonna, Like a Virgin was just such a defining moment”.
Madonna – Stay (Rough Mix Edit)
Today in Madonna History: July 7, 1984
On July 7 1984, Warner Bros. Records took out a full-page ad in Billboard magazine to congratulate Madonna on the Gold certification of her self-titled debut album.
The ad featured the first look at a new photo shoot Madonna had recently completed with Steven Meisel. This image would later appear on the back cover of her next album, Like A Virgin.
Today in Madonna History: May 25, 1985
On May 25 1985, Madonna performed The Virgin Tour at Cobo Arena in Detroit, Michigan. The show was filmed by Daniel Kleinman, and released by Warner Music Video and Sire Records on November 13 1985.
Here is the dialog from Madonna’s famous Virgin Tour introduction (filmed by James Foley for the video release, it was not present during the concerts):
“I went to New York. I had a dream. I wanted to be a big star, I didn’t know anybody, I wanted to dance, I wanted to sing, I wanted to do all those things, I wanted to make people happy, I wanted to be famous, I wanted everybody to love me. I wanted to be a star. I worked really hard, and my dream came true.”
Madonna Live: The Virgin Tour was an enormous success. The home video release was the top selling music video cassette of 1986 in the USA, and the video was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipment of 100,000 copies.
Today in Madonna History: May 23, 1985
On May 23 1985, Madonna accepted a Canadian Quadruple Platinum certification award for shipment of over 400,000 copies of her second album, Like A Virgin, within Canada. The award was presented by WEA Canada’s VP of sales Garry Newman to Madonna and Sire Records president Seymour Stein prior to her sold-out Toronto concert at Maple Leaf Gardens.
Like A Virgin was eventually certified (in July, 1992) with the rare Canadian Diamond certification for shipment of over one million copies in Canada. The only other Madonna album to date to receive Diamond certification in Canada is True Blue, which managed to achieve the feat within a year of its release. To date, only eighteen albums in total (by any artist or musical group) have received a Diamond certification in Canada.
Today in Madonna History: March 29, 1988
On March 29 1988, Madonna Live: The Virgin Tour home video was certified multi-platinum for sales of over 100,000 units in the U.S.
Today in Madonna History: February 27, 1995
On February 27 1995, Madonna’s chart topping single, Take A Bow, was certified Gold by the RIAA for shipments of 500,000 copies.
Matthew Jacobs (The Huffington Post) had this to say about Take A Bow:
Take A Bow is Madonna’s most poetic ballad. Much in the way that such hits as Borderline and Into The Groove act as the fuselage of ’80s pop … a lost-love elegy that squares nicely with the burgeoning female singer-songwriter movement of the ’90s. Don’t mistake its sleepy quality for stuffiness. This song is Madonna at her loveliest.
Today In Madonna History 