Six musical acts earned their first Gold or Platinum album certifications from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in January, according to the organization’s monthly tally of album certifications. Country star BlakeShelton and Grammy Best New Artist winner fun. both earned their first Platinum awards for Red River Blue and SomeNights, respectively. Meanwhile, four artists took home their first Gold plaques, including Imagine Dragons for Night Visions, Lana Del Rey for Born to Die, Frank Ocean for Channel Orange and Phillip Phillips for The World From The Side Of The Moon.
Two bands received 6x multi-Platinum certifications last month, marking the highest RIAA honors awarded in January. Green Day's American Idiot crossed into the 6x Platinum stratosphere, as did Lady Antebellum with Need You Now. Taylor Swift earned two multi-Platinum certifications as her latest album, Red, went 4x multi-Platinum and the single "I Knew You Were Trouble" reached triple-Platinum.
Also in January, two artists earned their first Platinum awards for selling more than 1 million downloads of a single. English singer/songwriter Ed Sheeran did it with "The A-Team," and Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am went Platinum with "Scream & Shout." Other first time Platinum recipients for digital singles include Avicii for "Levels," Grouplove for "Tongue Tied" and Lifehouse for "Broken."