RIAA Certifications Go to Conway Twitty, Johnny Cash, Lady Antebellum and Others
The hits keep ringing for the late Conway Twitty and Johnny Cash, according to data released Thursday (March 18) by the Recording Industry Association of America, the organization that certifies gold and platinum recordings. Ringtones of Twitty's "Hello Darlin'" and Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" have now been declared gold, signifying 500,000 downloads as reflected by the RIAA Mastertone certifications. Lady Antebellum, Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood were among the platinum certifications listed in the RIAA's report for January and February of 2010. Lady Antebellum's new album, Need You Now, has been certified platinum for shipments of 1 million copies, and the title track received double-platinum certification for more than 2 million downloads. Swift's latest album, Fearless, was certified for shipments of 6 million copies, and her single, "Today Was a Fairytale," achieved gold status. Underwood's Carnival Ride album now stands at 3 million while her latest, Play On, is now at the 1 million level. Additionally, Underwood's "Cowboy Casanova," Jason Aldean's "Big Green Tractor" and the Zac Brown Band's "Toes" singles have all received platinum certification. A platinum album certification also went to Alan Jackson's Good Time, and gold awards have been attained by Miranda Lambert's Revolution and Tim McGraw's Southern Voice. Gold singles for the first two months of the year include Brad Paisley's "Online," Toby Keith's "God Love Her," LeAnn Rimes' "I Need You" and Darius Rucker's "It Won't Be Like This For Long" and "Alright."