Ozzy Osbourne‘s latest album, last year’s “Ordinary Man”, was officially certified gold on September 9 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.
Ozzy, who suffered from several medical issues last year, including a fall, neck surgery and hospitalization for the flu, told Entertainment Tonight that the making of “Ordinary Man” helped him cope with the emotional toll of his recovery. The disc was recorded with Andrew Watt after Ozzy previously collaborated with the guitarist/producer on the Post Malone song “Take What You Want”.
“That whole album came out of nowhere, and it was so much fun,” Ozzy said. “It was what I needed to get me out of my gloom and doom and my recovery.”
“Ordinary Man” came out in February 2020. Recorded in Los Angeles, the LP features Watt on guitars, Duff McKagan (GUNS N’ ROSES) on bass and Chad Smith (RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS) on drums. Beyond the core band, “Ordinary Man” features a who’s-who of Ozzy friends and collaborators, including Elton John, Post Malone and Tom Morello.
To celebrate the album’s arrival, Ozzy made history by launching a worldwide tattoo sale and album listening event. Held on the eve of the album’s release, Ozzy premiered his new album simultaneously at tattoo parlors in 57 cities around the world — making it the largest multi-city album release event in rock ‘n’ roll history. Globally more than 3,000 fans received exclusive Ozzy-inspired tattoos created specifically for the one-day only event while hearing the album for the first time. Over 1,000 unique tattoo designs were created from some of the top artists around the world, with a total social reach of over 20 million.
