Records are made to be broken, not the vinyl kind but the Guinness Book of World Records kind.
Peter Frampton’s "Frampton Comes Alive" at one time was considered the record holder for the best-selling live album.
"Frampton Comes Alive" was released January 6, 1976.
Frampton ate a bit of humble pie when he left his band Humble Pie to become a solo artist in 1971. He didn’t have the same success without the group. He recorded four albums by himself. They did OK, but they weren’t as successful had he had hoped.
The live album had different results. The album slowly climbed the charts. Maybe the price helped. The double album was only one dollar more than a single album. "Frampton Comes Alive" reached number one on the Billboard 200 album chart in April 1976. It stayed there for ten weeks. It sold more than six million discs in the U.S., and 11 million worldwide, then thought to be a record.
Counting album sales can be tricky.
The Recording Industry Association of America counts discs, not albums. Frampton sold three million albums (or six million disks) in the U.S.. Garth Brooks holds the record of 20 million discs sold. for his 2001 album “Double Live.” Divide that in half and it’s 10 million albums.
Eric Clapton is the true recordholder for his “Unplugged” album. It was only one record. It sold 26 million copies worldwide.
