1970 Elton John Debut RIAA Award To Elton Up For Sale An iconic RIAA Gold Album award has come onto the market for Elton John's April 1970 American debut. The award sports the special -- are rare -- feature that it is presented to Sir Elton himself. This is the album that started it all for Elton in the USA since his U.K.-released debut album Empty Sky was not released in the U.S. until 1975. This also made his self-titled album his first RIAA Gold record in the USA. The album's track list included iconic breakthrough hit "Your Son...

Elton John Biopic "Rocketman" To Premiere Late May Elton John is the latest rock musician to have their life brought to the big screen. Rocketman tells the story of John’s life beginning with his time as a prodigy at the Royal Academy of Music through his musical partnership with Bernie Taupin. The film will also explore John’s battles with depression, substance abuse, and acceptance of his sexual orientation. Starring as Elton John will be Taron Egerton,who also lent his own vocals to the role. The British actor has previously sung John’s “I...

Record Awards As Art: From Mild To Wild Record awards in their earliest days were pretty plain, starting with simple dark-stained wood framed affairs with white matte boards in the 60s and early 70s. The period of 1975 thru the mid-80s brought silver and gold painted frames and charcoal-colored mattes. This was followed by a graduation to some pretty pedestrian black plastic-covered frame/black matte awards from the mid-80s through late 90s. Just before the millennium, however, the RIAA loosened up its' previously strict design...

This Week In Music History Mar 14-27 The week in music history brought to you by MusicGoldmine.com. Just a couple of highlights from this week in music history! MAR 18: Today in 1981, REO Speedwagon were at #1 with “Keep On Loving You”. The song has been a mainstay in 80s channels for four decades! MAR 25: Happy birthday to Elton John, born today in 1947! John has been collaborating with Bernie Taupin for over 50 years and has sold over 300 million records worldwide! Elton continues to perform and record today. Photo credit: G...

This Week In Music History Jan 31 - Feb 13 The week in music history brought to you by MusicGoldmine.com. Just a couple of highlights from this week in music history! JAN 31: Today in 1985, Foreigner was at #1 with the rock ballad “I Want To Know What Live Is”. It remains their biggest hit to date. FEB 9: Sadly, Mary Wilson on The Supremes has passed away at age 76. She was a co-founder of the ground breaking all-female group. Wilson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with her fellow Supremes in 1988. RIP FEB 10: Toda...

5 Tips To Spot Fake RIAA Awards One of the tricky parts of collecting RIAA record awards is avoiding the fakes that do occasionally exist in the marketplace. Here are five tips that can help you avoid buying a fake RIAA award: 1. Certification: Does the certification date versus the award type make sense? This can be a very tricky area because a recording is not certified officially by the RIAA until the record label submits the paperwork. In some cases, there can be years-long gaps before Platinum was issued on recordings ...

Rare Doors RIAA Award To Jim Morrison Up For Sale [SOLD] Becoming friends with Jim Morrison in college at UCLA. Seeing his former college-mate rise to worldwide fame as the lead vocalist and poet laureate of The Doors. Spending good, and sometimes tumultuous, times with him in France years later. Photographing what would become some of the last images of him ever seen due to his untimely demise in 1971 at the young age of 27. Those are some of the unique experiences of Alain Ronay. Ronay, who hails from France and today is a naturalized American, ...

This Week In Music History Mar 22-28 The week in music history brought to you by MusicGoldmine.com. Just a couple of highlights from this week in music history! MAR 25: Happy birthday to Elton John, born today in 1947!🎂🎤 🎹 John has sold more than 300 million records worldwide, clearly making him one of the best-selling artists of all-time. Along with his lyricist, Bernie Taupin, he has released over 30 albums. Currently, John is on his farewell tour (with some dates postponed due to current events). Photo credit: yabosid [https...

This Week In Music History Oct 20-26 The week in music history brought to you by MusicGoldmine.com. OCT 20: Today in 1977, a plane crash would take the life of Lynyrd Skynyrd members and crew, while injuring many other passengers. Ronnie Van Zant, Stevie Gaines, Cassie Gaines, assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, pilot Walter McCreary, and co-pilot William Gray perished in the crash. The plane had previously experienced issues and another band's - Aerosmith - crew had rejected possibly using the plane due to the p...

This Week In History Sept 1-7 The week in music history brought to you by MusicGoldmine.com. SEPT 1: Happy birthday to Gloria Estefan, born today in 1957! 🎂🎤 The singer, songwriter, actress, and entrepreneur began her music career as the lead singer of the Miami Latin Boys, which would later become the Miami Sound Machine. She has won three Grammys and was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. SEPT 2: Billy Preston was born today in 1946. The child prodigy began his career playing organ f...

This Week In Music History May 12-18 The week in music history brought to you by MusicGoldmine.com. MAY 12: Happy Birthday to Steve Winwood, born today in 1948!🎂🎶 Winwood has been a member of The Spencer Davis Group, Traffic, Blind Faith, and Go. He has had a successful solo career, as well. He began performing with his father at age 8 and was so obviously underage that his piano was turned away from audience view during pub gigs! Winwood has won two Grammys and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Traffi...

This Week In Music History Mar 24-30 The week in music history brought to you by MusicGoldmine.com MAR 24: Today in 1972, America was at #1 with "A Horse With No Name". 🐴It was their first and most successful song. The tune has been certified gold by the RIAA. Originally, the song was called "Desert Song". The writer Dewey Bunnell said that part of the inspiration for the song was memories from his childhood trips to Arizona and New Mexico when his family was stationed at Vandenberg Air Force Base. D...