Chris Stapleton's Tennessee Whiskey Gets Double Diamond Certification

Chris Stapleton's rendition of "Tennessee Whiskey" has become the first country song in history to earn a Double Diamond certification from the Recording Industry Association of America, the organization announced on Monday. The milestone reflects more than 20 million units sold or streamed in the United States, placing the track among music's rarest commercial successes.

Only two other songs across all genres have previously achieved this distinction: Bruno Mars' 2010 hit "Just the Way You Are" and the 2018 collaboration "Sunflower" by Post Malone and Swae Lee. Stapleton's version, released in 2015 on his debut album "Traveller," transformed the tune into a cross-genre staple. Originally written in 1981 by Dean Dillon and Linda Hargrove, the song had earlier recordings, including David Allan Coe's version that same year and George Jones' cover, which reached No. 2 on the Billboard Country Singles chart in 1983. George Strait had passed on recording it initially.

Stapleton's soulful, blues-infused take propelled the song to No. 20 on the Billboard Hot 100. Its breakthrough came during a memorable performance at the 49th annual Country Music Association Awards in November 2015,...