RIAA Gold album award for Bonnie Raitt album Sweet Forgiveness. Released in April 1977, the album was certified Gold by the RIAA on Oct. 24, 1980 for 500,000 copies sold.

This album features Raitt's bluesy cover of "Runaway" (penned by Del Shannon and Max Crook) which reached #57 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It also featured Raitt singing and playing acoustic, electric and slide guitars on Jackson Browne and Karla Bonoff-penned tracks. The album itself peaked at #25 on the Top 200 Albums chart.

Item Highlights:

• RIAA "floater" Gold LP award
• In VG condition with original manufacturer sticker
• First presentation award from 1980
  
• Presentation to artist manager
• Award measures approx. 17" x 21"
  
• Known as a "floater" award because the components appear to "float" above the matte, they were made from 1975-1981
• RIAA "floater" awards numbered only 25-50 plaques worldwide for any given single/album
• Great collectors item for any Bonnie Raitt fan

Detailed Item Description: This is a first presentation RIAA Gold album award from 1980. That makes this award approx. 42 years old. It is presented to Garry George, an artist manager who worked with Raitt, Maria Muldaur, Warren Zevon and others.

It is VG condition with typical frame wear and mars on the plexiglas. Its' backing paper is original and complete with Creative Glassics manufacturer sticker.

Notes on the condition of all vintage RIAA awards: Please do not buy this item if you want a brand new piece of memorabilia. These are historical artifacts from the year they were produced. As a result they may show signs of wear. Frankly, if you see a 20 to 50-year-old award purported to be in 100% perfect condition, it might be too good to be true. After all, an antique should have "good' wear. If not, you might want to question the piece.

As to where they came from, they could have been displayed in record label offices, recording studios, artist manager's offices, radio stations, private collector's homes and yes, of course, possibly the artist's or songwriter's home. Typically, we don't know all the places they may have been over the years other than what we've stated in the description.