Chris Stapleton Makes History as ‘Tennessee Whiskey’ Becomes First Country Song to Go Double Diamond

Chris Stapleton’s unforgettable take on “Tennessee Whiskey” has officially made history.

The powerhouse ballad is now the first country song ever to receive a Double Diamond certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the organization confirmed on Monday. That milestone means the track has surpassed 20 million units sold in the United States. Until now, only two songs of any genre had reached that level: Just The Way You Are by Bruno Mars and Sunflower by Post Malone and Swae Lee.

RIAA CEO Mitch Glazier praised Stapleton’s impact, noting that his raw voice and masterful storytelling have fueled chart dominance, awards recognition, and — most importantly — a deep connection with listeners. The organization celebrated the moment as a defining chapter in Stapleton’s career, marking “Tennessee Whiskey” as the first country single to ever cross the Double Diamond threshold.

The song’s story stretches back more than four decades. In 1980, songwriters Dean Dillon and Linda Hargrove crossed paths at Nashville’s Bluebird Cafe and wrote “Tennessee Whiskey” in roughly an hour that same night. The song was first recorded by David Allan Coe, becoming a modest hit in 1981, before George Jones released a more polished version that climbed to No. 2 on the Hot Country Singles chart.

But it was Chris Stapleton who gave the song its modern rebirth. His soulful reimagining — famously drawing melodic inspiration from Etta James’ 1967 classic “I’d Rather Go Blind” — transformed the track into a generational anthem. The turning point came at the 2015 CMA Awards, when Stapleton performed the song alongside his wife Morgane Stapleton and Justin Timberlake, launching it back onto the charts — this time all the way to No. 1.

Since then, the song has taken on a life of its own, inspiring covers from artists as varied as T-Pain and Carín León. Asked by Rolling Stone why the track seems to transcend genre boundaries, Stapleton offered a simple answer: he doesn’t try to explain magic — he just lets it happen.

With “Tennessee Whiskey” now etched into the record books, that magic has never been more undeniable.