In the never-ending battle between the leading top-selling country legends, Garth Brooks has officially surpassed Luke Combs, regaining his spot as the second-highest-selling country artist of all time.
Back in October 2025, Combs took the lead on the RIAA certifications, surpassing Brooks with 168 million combined singles and albums, including both physical units sold and streaming numbers. At the time, Brooks had held the record for over twenty years with 162.5 million uits to his name.
Consequently, a few months later in December 2025, Morgan Wallen took the cake, beating out both Brooks and Combs with his now reigning title as the leading highest-selling country artist of all time. Impressively, he also sits at the third spot as the highest-selling all-genre artist, leading amongst Drake (333 million), followed by Taylor Swift (247.5 million) and Wallen (241 million).
Today, Combs officially holds 163.5 million combined units, now trailing behind Brooks by a staggering 37 million units. The Recording Industry Association of America updated 14 of Brooks’ albums with new certifications, setting him a new record with 200.5 million combined units.
The heavy hitter, which remains one of Brooks’ most popular projects and apparently the most purchased, is his 1998 album, Double Live. Today, the two-disc compilation, which was his first live album release, is now certified 25x Platinum, with each platinum certification representing either 1 million sales, 1.5 billion streams, or a combination.
Impressively, while Brooks famously only streams his music via Amazon Music (a partnership that was established in 2016), this generally means that these accomplishments are most likely primarily through album sales. Gaining 25 million units is also pretty much unheard of in country music, as both Brooks and Shania Twain hold the highest certified albums, with Twain’s 1997 Come On Over being 2x Diamond certified.
“The Dance” singer also still remains the overall top-selling country artist in terms of pure physical album sales. While Combs’ and Wallens’ achievements may be heavily promoted thanks to streaming units, Brooks has sold well over 170 million records worldwide, with 16 studio albums (as well as live and holiday projects) ranging from his first self-titled debut in 1989 to his most recent Time Traveler in 2023.
As of today, Brooks’ newest RIAA certifications that sent him soaring past Combs’ include:
- 777 Jackpot Box Set: 7x Platinum
- Double Live: 25x Platinum
- The Anthology Part I | The First Five Years: 4x Platinum
- The Anthology Part II | The Next Five Years: 3x Platinum
- The Anthology Part IV | Coming Home: 3x Platinum
- The Anthology Part V | The Comeback | The Next Five Years: 3x Platinum
- The Anthology Part VI | The Comeback | The Next Five Years: 3 Million
- Triple Live: 13x Platinum
- Beyond The Season: 4x Platinum
- Fun: 2x Platinum
- Gunslinger: 2x Platinum
- Magic of Christmas: Platinum
- Man Against Machine: 2x Platinum
- Time Traveler: Platinum