The Eagles' 'Greatest Hits' album is now the best-selling album of all time

Eagles.
(Image credit: Rick Diamond/Getty Images)

The Eagles' greatest hits are now the entire music industry's greatest hits.

Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975, a compilation of Eagles songs like "Take It Easy" and "Tequila Sunrise," is now the best-selling album of all time, reports The Associated Press, with 38 million copies sold.

The Recording Industry Association of America on Monday announced that The Eagles' album, released in 1976, had surpassed Michael Jackson's Thriller, the longtime record holder. Thriller now holds second place, while The Eagles' 1977 album Hotel California is in third place.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Back in 2007, The Eagles explained that they had never wanted a Greatest Hits album in the first place. "None of us had a say in the decision," lead guitarist Don Felder told the Times Online. Clearly, the decision paid off: The album is now certified 38x platinum.

Bandmate Don Henley, who still tours with the band, said in a statement that the band is "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."

Continue reading for free

We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.

Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.

Summer Meza

Summer is news editor at TheWeek.com, and has previously written for Newsweek and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. A graduate of Columbia Journalism School and Santa Clara University, she now lives in New York with two cats.