HELLYEAH‘s self-titled debut album was officially certified gold on February 25 by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) for sales in excess of half a million copies.
The RIAA developed its gold and platinum awards program in 1958 to honor artists and create a standard by which to measure the commercial success of a sound recording. The program trademarked the gold record and formalized the industry practice of presenting awards to artists for music sales achievements.
Presently, the RIAA awards a gold honor for 500,000 units sold, a platinum honor for 1 million units sold and a diamond award for more than 10 million units sold.
In the streaming age, each permanent digital album or physical album sale count as 1 unit for certification purposes, 10 permanent track downloads from the album count as 1 unit for certification purposes, and 1,500 on-demand audio and/or video streams from the album count as 1 unit. For songs, 150 on-demand audio and/or video streams count as 1 unit for certification purposes.
HELLYEAH was formed in 2006 by NOTHINGFACE guitarist Tom Maxwell and bassist Jerry Montano, MUDVAYNE singer Chad Gray and guitarist Greg Tribbett, and former PANTERA and DAMAGEPLAN drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott.
Montano left a week after the release of the band’s self-titled debut album in 2007 and was replaced by Bob “Zilla” Kakaha, who had played with Abbott in DAMAGEPLAN.
Prior to the recording of HELLYEAH‘s fourth album, “Blood For Blood”, the band parted ways with Tribbett and Kakaha. They were replaced by Kyle Sanders, a former member of BLOODSIMPLE and the brother of MASTODON‘s Troy Sanders, and Christian Brady, respectively.
HELLYEAH‘s latest effort, “Welcome Home”, was released in September 2019 via Eleven Seven Music. The disc marked HELLYEAH‘s final effort with Abbott, who passed away nearly three years ago.
STONE SOUR drummer Roy Mayorga stepped in as Vinnie Paul‘s replacement for the touring activity in support of “Welcome Home”.
