On Monday (October 6), the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) revealed that Luke Combs has surpassed Garth Brooks to become the highest-certified country artist in history. Combs has amassed 168 million combined sales and streams compared to Brooks’ 162.5 million, breaking a record that Brooks held for over 20 years. “When my team first told me about this, my initial reaction was, ‘Are you sure? There’s no way,’” Combs said in a statement. “All I ever hoped and dreamed of from the beginning of this crazy ride was to make music that made people feel something and I can’t wait to continue making country music for the rest of my life.” Combs, who earned his first RIAA plaque just eight years ago for “Hurricane,” also holds the record for the country artist with the most Diamond-certified singles (marking sales/streams of 10 million units), with his four Diamond hits including “Beautiful Crazy,” “When It Rains It Pours,” “Hurricane” and “She Got the Best of Me.” (Billboard)
