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Chesney Takes ACM Top Honors
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Sunday marked the 43rd Annual Academy of Country Music Awards. This is the first year that fans were able to vote for Entertainer of the Year. And they chose Kenny Chesney. It was his fourth straight win.
Although claiming to be grateful, Chesney later criticized the new voting method, saying that it had been turned “into a sweepstakes to see who can push people’s buttons the hardest on the Internet.” Is it possible to win and have sour grapes at the same time?
Chesney’s win evens the score between him and Garth Brooks, who received the ACM Crystal Milestone Award for sales of 123 million. The RIAA recently certified Brooks as the top-selling solo artist in U.S. history.
Didn’t Mariah Carey and Madonna break a record like this a few weeks ago? I remember hearing about The Beatles and Elvis. Can’t say I recall a whole lot about Garth Brooks.
Where did this come from? The truth is, no one really knows exactly how many units any artist has sold for sure because there a billion different tracking systems. Well, maybe not a billion. But lots and lots. Billboard and the RIAA are just two.
There are also a million different ways to spin the numbers. Is it #1’s? Albums? Singles? U.S.? Worldwide? Every recording artist in the world holds the record for something if you read his or her impressively, vaguely worded bio. For example:
Janet Jackson is the second most successful female artist in history.
Madonna is the best-selling female rock artist of the Twentieth Century.
Mariah Carey is the best-selling female pop artist of the millennium.
Celine Dion is the best-selling female artist in the world. (And the best singer, too, I hear. She doesn’t even bother getting creative. She just puts it out there, daring someone to question it.)
The only thing we know for sure is that The Beatles, Elvis, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, and Michael Jackson have sold more than anybody else. They’re all 500 million or more worldwide.
Garth Brooks is up there between 100 and 200 million, which is definitely impressive. He’s in a list that includes Prince, U2, and Aerosmith. It also includes Gheorghe Zamfir, the pan flute player from Romania. Just a little perspective.
