Soundgarden’s ‘Superunknown’ Now Certified Six Times Platinum in U.S.
Soundgarden's fourth studio album, Superunknown, has officially been certified six times platinum in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
The record, which yielded enduring hits such as "Black Hole Sun," "Spoonman," "Fell on Black Days," "My Wave" and "The Day I Tried to Live," remains the group's best-selling album, stateside at least. It racked up multi-platinum certifications rather quickly after its spring 1994 release and, just two years after it came out, Superunknown had gone platinum five times over, meaning it had sold over five million copies.
Flash forward 16 years and another one million units (which includes on-demand streaming equivalents to represent additional sales metrics) have been moved, thrusting the historic grunge album to six times platinum certification.
The next best-selling Soundgarden studio effort is Badmotorfinger, which went double platinum in April of 1996, and the other two platinum awards the band has collected are for Down on the Upside and the Telephantasm compilation.
Regarding musical output from surviving Soundgarden members, drummer Matt Cameron (also of Pearl Jam) and guitarist Kim Thayil linked up with former Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic to form the new band 3rd Secret, who surprise released their debut album on April 9. Flanking the three musicians in the band are singers Jillian Raye and Jennifer Johnson as well as guitarist Bubba Dupree.
Soundgarden Gold + Platinum Certifications in the U.S.
- Superunknown — 6x platinum (April 21, 2022)
- Badmotorfinger — 2x platinum (April 16, 1996)
- Down on the Upside — platinum (Aug. 14, 1996)
- Telephantasm (compilation) — platinum (Sept. 28, 2010)