The Eagles' “Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975” has surpassed 40 million copies sold in the United States, becoming the first album in history to reach this milestone. The result was certified by the RIAA, the Recording Industry Association of America, which awarded the album quadruple diamond recognition.
The best of published in 1976 thus consolidates its absolute primacy in the US market, clearly distancing itself from the second most certified title ever, “Thriller” by Michael Jackson, stuck at 34 million units. In third place is another album by the Eagles, “Hotel California”, with 28 million certified copies.
Released in February 1976, “Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975” also occupies a central place in the history of the American recording industry: it was in fact the first album to receive platinum certification, introduced by the RIAA that year to indicate the million copies sold. The album remained at the top of the US charts for five weeks and in 2017 it was included in the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress, reserved for works considered “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant”.
In view of the fiftieth anniversary, “Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975” will return to stores on February 13th in a new reissue on transparent vinyl. And who knows, it might be a good opportunity to add a precious missing gem like “Hotel California”.
In 2025 the Eagles also celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of another of their classics, “One Of These Nights”, released on June 10, 1975 by Asylum. This is the fourth studio album by the American group, already quite famous at the time thanks above all to the success of “Desperado” (1973), but still far from the commercial exploit that would come thanks to these nine songs and the subsequent LP “Hotel California” a year later. “One Of These Nights” will be the first Eagles album to fly to the top of the US charts (for 4 weeks), also winning a nominations at the Grammys in the “Album Of The Year” category and totaling four million copies sold. The three singles extracted, “One Of These Nights”, “Lyin'Eyes” and “Take It To The Limit” will respectively reach position no.1, no.2 and no.4 on the Billboard Top 100, immediately becoming hits. best seller.
Antonio Santini for SANREMO.FM
