'American Idol' Winner Phillip Phillips Earns First Gold Record

Phillip Phillips' first single "Home" has gone gold, marking sales in excess of 500,000 units -- 523,477 to be exact, according to management and publishing company Pulse Recordings, which represents the song's co-writer and producer Drew Pearson. This week alone, it sold more than 27,000 copies. 

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Not your hopelessly sappy coronation number, "Home" was chosen by Idol perma-mentor Jimmy Iovine, who "heard it and loved it, and that was it,” Pearson told The Hollywood Reporter on finale night. 

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Released by Interscope, the Dave Matthews-esque song, co-written with British singer-songwriter Greg Holden, immediately set an American Idol record by selling more than 278,000 downloads in its first week, surpassing David Cook's single, "The Time of My Life," which moved 236,000 in 2008.

Not that there are any hard feelings. The same day Pulse tweeted the latest numbers, Phillips apparently was enjoying some barbecue with the Cook family in Kansas City, Mo. The season seven winner, however, was half a world away in the Philippines. Phillips is a week into the Idol summer tour and performed with the Top 10 on July 12 at Sprint Center in Kansas City. 

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Typically, achieving gold certification is marked with a plaque presentation (as season 10 winner Scotty McCreery experienced in October 2011 with "I Love You This Big"). No word yet on when -- or where -- the celebration will take place.    

Twitter: @Idol_Worship