While it may seem that songs and albums go Gold and Platinum all the time, going Diamond is a truly unique accomplishment. The Recording Industry Association of America, better known as the RIAA, has only certified 64 songs as Diamond in their history.
An RIAA Diamond Certification means a song has earned 10 million units sold. On Aug. 13, XXXTENTACION achieved this with his song "SAD!," released in March 2018 on his ? album.
XXXTENTACION would tragically pass three months later in June, and would not get to see this song reach its full potential. Less than two weeks after his death, "SAD!" would peak at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Over three years and millions of streams later, "SAD!" is now a Diamond record, and his family survives him to celebrate that accomplishment. On Oct. 19, a custom plaque was presented to X's mother Cleo Bernard by RIAA and Virgin Music Label, who handled distribution for X's label Bad Vibes Forever.
In a statement during the plaque presentation, Virgin Music Label and Artist Services President Jacqueline Saturn spoke this significance of this certification saying: "This award stands for the indelible impact that XXX and his music had on his millions of fans. We are proud to present this award to his mother, Cleo, and manager, Solomon, on the RIAA’s behalf."
XXXTENTACION joins the likes of Eminem, The Weeknd, Drake, Kanye West, Post Malone and Travis Scott as artists with Diamond singles. It is truly inspiring to see the impact X had on his fans, as they continued to stream his music at record numbers even after he passed.