The NOW series debuted in the United States in 1998 after the NOW brand had become an enormous multi-platinum international success for 20 years with more than 50 volumes internationally. To date, the NOW series has generated sales of nearly 100 million albums around the globe. In the U.S. NOW 1 (October 20, 1998, sold nearly 2 million copies), NOW 2 (July 27, 1999, certified double platinum), NOW 3 (December 7, 1999, certified double platinum), NOW 4 (July 19, 2000, in its first week of sales was the first compilation ever to reach #1 on the Billboard 200 top selling albums chart), NOW 5 (November 14, 2000, certified quadruple platinum) and NOW 6 (April 3, 2001, certified triple platinum) all combined have scanned over eighteen million copies sold.