URANIUM RECORD: HISTORY AND SINGERS WHO HAVE WON IT - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The Uranium Disc represents one of the most important awards in music, but at the same time, one of the most unattainable since it is only obtained by those who exceed 50 million copies sold throughout the world.

The one in charge of popularizing the award, as well as giving it for the first time, was Hispavox, a Spanish record company. It delivered the first Uranium Disc in 1982, after verifying that the artist Raphael's sales exceeded 50 million copies.

Uranium disc by singer Raphael. Source: beingmagazine.com.mx

Although this type of award was born in the 1980s, only those artists who also excelled in the music industry at that time were the ones who won it.

Many artists, today, attribute that this type of award has been displaced by the birth of digital platforms where their music records are reproduced.

History

Hispavox, one of the most successful Spanish record companies, was in charge of giving rise to this type of award. She was in charge of producing more than 10,000 musical productions throughout the world, which quickly positioned her as a reference in the music industry and took advantage of her authority to create the Uranium Disc.

To this day, there is no award that has the caliber of this album. 50 million sales is a record that is also more difficult considering that to achieve it you must obtain that figure with a specific album and not with an accumulation of a whole trajectory.

It was something that really seemed impossible in the 80s, but that some succeeded. The controversy, however, arises with the first winner, since it is believed that he did not meet the necessary requirements to obtain the Uranium Disc.

Why the name Uranium Disk?

The name of Uranium Disc is due to the fact that this chemical element is the one with the highest chemical weight among the elements that have been discovered to date. Therefore, the name fits perfectly with those artists who have managed to gain a greater weight in the music industry.

Within music fans, it is very common to receive information about the winners of gold (500,000 copies) or platinum (1 million copies). Although they have their merit, the figures to obtain them only represent 1 and 2% respectively of what is needed to achieve the Uranium Disc.

The Uranium Disc even surpasses the Diamond Disc that is delivered in the United States to artists who are capable of exceeding 10 million sales.

Singers who obtained Uranium Disc

Michael_Jackson_gives_autograph.jpg: Alan Lightderivative work: Rodhullandemu

The Uranium Disc has its importance within the music industry, being a highly coveted award by great artists of the music of today and yesterday. However, most of the awards have been singers or groups from the 80s.

A "golden age" for many musicologists, who consider that it was when the greatest myths of current music have appeared. The winners are:

Raphael

He was the first to be recognized in 1982. According to the Hispavox discography, the notable Spanish singer was the first to exceed the figure of 50 million record copies sold.

This achievement rests on the museum that exists about the singer in his native country. Although there was never an official spokesperson to corroborate the information, it is said that Raphael could even have obtained 2 Uranio albums for the amount of material (especially ballads in Spanish) sold with his album Hoy y siempre.

Despite being the first winner, there are music representatives who claim that Raphael reached this figure not with a single album, but that it is an accumulated of his entire musical career.

AC DC

The Australian rock band managed to become legends of music in just seven years of musical career. In fact, to this day they continue to act and gain followers all over the world. This was worth to him to obtain the 50 million sales that granted him the much desired Uranium Disc.

The album that made it possible to achieve this milestone was Back in Black. This album accumulated only in the United States, 22 million copies.

What in

It is cataloged, according to the BBC itself, as "the most important British band in history." Their success with the Greatest Hits album allowed them to become the third group to generate 50 million copies.

In 2006, after 25 years since its publication, this album became the best-selling album in the history of the whole of the United Kingdom, leaving behind iconic bands like The Beatles.

Michael jackson

He is undoubtedly the most famous soloist in history, being considered the "King of Pop". Michael reached the top of the music industry with his album Thriller, the best-selling music production in history, accumulating 120 million copies.

Although it also emerged in the eighties, today it continues to generate sales and this earned it a second Uranium Disc for those cumulative sales.

The Myth of Pink Floyd and the Uranium Disc

This British band is one of the best known worldwide despite the fact that their music exceeds 40 years of existence.

Although their album The dark side of the moon exceeded 50 million copies worldwide, they managed to reach this goal in 1973, just seven years before the emergence of the Uranium Disc, so there was always the question of whether they were recognized or not with this award.

References

1. Last Fm. Raphael history (2014). Biography by Valentineni of May 15.
2. Mental Floss. (2019). "The 35 Best-Selling Albums in American History" by Austin Thompson.
3. Naxos VideoLibrary (2009). JACKSON, Michael: Life and Times of the King of Pop.
4. Queen Museum (2017). Queen rare records. By June.
5. Lourder Soun (2018). Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon: Inside the making of their classic album. By Classic Rock.