Eagles soar to the top

THE Eagles’ greatest hits album has cruised past Michael Jackson’s Thriller to become the best-selling album of all time in the US.

The Recording Industry Association of America says the Eagles’ album — Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975 — is now certified 38x platinum, which means sales and streams of the album have reached 38 million copies.

The album was released in 1976 and pushes Jackson’s Thriller, which is 33x platinum, to second place.

RIAA also said the Eagles’ Hotel California, released in 1977, is now 26x platinum, making it the third best- selling album of all time.

The last time RIAA tallied sales for the Eagles’ greatest hits album was in 2006, when it said it was 29x platinum. Sales and streams for Thriller were last updated last year.

Eagles member Don Henley said: “We are grateful for our families, our management, our crew, the people at radio and, most of all, the loyal fans who have stuck with us through the ups and downs of 46 years. It’s been quite a ride.”

RIAA’s platinum status was once equivalent to selling one million albums or songs, but in 2013 the company began incorporating streaming from YouTube, Spotify and other digital music services to determine certification for albums and songs. Now 1500 streams of an album is equivalent to an album sale, and 10 song downloads equals one album sale.

The Eagles, who formed in Los Angeles in the early 1970s, mastered the mix of rock ’n’ roll and country music, and the band’s hits, including Hotel California and Take It Easy, became part of the soundtrack of that decade.

The band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.