Fleetwood Mac’s 1977 blockbuster Rumours tops Billboard’s Prime Catalog Albums itemizing for the nineteenth nonconsecutive week on the chart dated Sept. 13, which permits it to maneuver up on our checklist of the longest-running No. 1 albums on the catalog chart because it originated in 1991.
Rumours topped the Billboard 200 for 31 nonconsecutive weeks in 1977-78, which established a brand new document (which it nonetheless holds) because the album with the longest run at No. 1 by a gaggle or duo. The outdated document was held by The Monkees’ Extra of the Monkees, which had 18 weeks on prime in 1967.
Rumours first topped the Catalog Albums chart in Could 2011.
The Catalog Albums chart ranks the week’s hottest catalog albums within the U.S. Catalog albums are titles which are older than 18 months outdated and have fallen under No. 100 on the Billboard 200 — or vacation albums of their second vacation season. The chart was launched in Billboard within the problem dated Could 25, 1991.
For the primary 18 years of Prime Catalog Albums, catalog albums weren’t eligible to seem on the Billboard 200. That modified with the Dec. 5, 2009-dated chart, when catalog restrictions have been lifted, turning the Billboard 200 into an all-inclusive checklist of the best-selling albums within the nation, no matter their age. (The adjustment got here after Michael Jackson’s dying in June 2009, which triggered a gross sales explosion for his catalog titles. Jackson’s catalog compilation Quantity Ones was the best-selling album in six of the primary seven weeks following his dying, but was ineligible for Billboard’s flagship chart – marking the primary time a catalog album had outsold the No. 1 album on the Billboard 200.) Beginning with the difficulty dated Dec. 13, 2014, Billboard shifted from pure gross sales to a multi-factor consumption formulation that additionally contains on-demand streaming and digital monitor gross sales.
We’re going to rely down the 18 albums with the longest runs at No. 1 on Catalog Albums from 1991 to the current. It’s an eclectic checklist, to say the least. It contains two Christmas albums, a movie soundtrack and a remarkably wide selection of music, together with pop, conventional pop, rock, onerous rock, R&B, rap, nation and reggae.
9 of the albums on the checklist have been launched previous to the 1991 inception of the chart. Impressively, they made the checklist although exercise previous to the chart’s inception doesn’t rely.
Listed below are the albums with the longest runs at No. 1 on Catalog Albums, from 1991 to the current. Every entry contains the album’s launch date, the date the album first reached No. 1 on Catalog Albums and the album’s peak place on the Billboard 200.
Prince, The Very Better of Prince, 18 weeks
Picture Credit score: Jonathan Daniel/Getty Pictures Launched: July 31, 2001
First reached No. 1: April 10, 2004
Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 for one week (Could 7, 2016)
Notes: That is the one album to concurrently rank No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and the Catalog Albums chart. The compilation initially debuted and peaked at No. 66 on the Billboard 200 in August 2001, however re-entered the chart within the problem dated Could 7, 2016, the week following Prince’s dying (on April 21, 2016).
The Righteous Brothers, Unchained Melody: The Better of the Righteous Brothers, 19 weeks
Launched: Oct. 2, 1990
First reached No. 1: Could 25, 1991
Billboard 200 peak: No. 161 (Nov. 24, 1990)
Notes: This album was launched three months after the discharge of the box-office smash Ghost, which featured the duo’s 1965 smash “Unchained Melody” over the well-known pottery wheel scene. Two competing Righteous Brothers recordings of “Unchained Melody” – the unique and a re-recording – made the highest 20 on the Scorching 100 within the wake of Ghost.
Fleetwood Mac, Rumours, 19 weeks
Launched: Feb. 4, 1977
First reached No. 1: Could 21, 2011
Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 for 31 weeks (starting April 2, 1977)
Notes: Rumours was No. 1 on the Billboard 200 longer than another album within the Nineteen Seventies. It was the primary non-compilation album in historical past to spawn 4 prime 10 hits on the Billboard Scorching 100. Rumours was voted into the Grammy Corridor of Fame in 2003 and the Nationwide Recording Registry in 2017.
Pink Floyd, The Darkish Aspect of the Moon, 23 weeks
Launched: March 1, 1973
First reached No. 1: April 17, 1993
Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 for one week (April 28, 1973)
Notes: This rock basic spawned the band’s first prime 20 hit on the Scorching 100, “Cash.” Pink Floyd didn’t obtain a single Grammy nomination for this album, in the event you can imagine that: The album’s solely nomination was finest engineered recording (non-classical), for which Alan Parsons obtained the nod. Notice: A separate, high-end audio SACD version topped the Catalog Albums chart for one week in 2003. That week isn’t included within the tally for the common version.
Meat Loaf, Bat Out of Hell, 23 weeks
Launched: Oct. 21, 1977
First reached No. 1: Aug. 24, 1991
Billboard 200 peak: No. 13 (Feb. 5, 2022)
Notes: The album’s enduring success as a catalog album laid the groundwork for the success of Meat Loaf’s 1993 sequel Bat Out of Hell II: Again Into Hell, which hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Bat Out of Hell spawned his first prime 20 hit on the Scorching 100, “Two Out of Three Ain’t Dangerous.” This was Meat’s first solo album; he had beforehand teamed with feminine singer Shaun Murphy in Stoney & Meatloaf, which launched an eponymous album in 1971.
This album initially peaked at No. 14 in September 1978 and re-entered the chart at No. 13 in February 2022, leading to a brand new peak place.
Johnny Money, 16 Largest Hits, 26 weeks
Picture Credit score: Courtesy of Everett Assortment Launched: February 1999
First reached No. 1: Sept. 27, 2003
Billboard 200 peak: No. 65 (Jan. 12, 2013)
Notes: That is the nation album with the longest run at No. 1. The album topped the catalog chart for the primary time within the problem dated Sept. 27, 2003, the week following Money’s dying on Sept. 12, 2003.
The album initially peaked at No. 185 on the Billboard 200 in Could 1999, however reached its No. 65 peak in January 2013.
Beastie Boys, Licensed to Ailing, 27 weeks
Launched: Nov. 15, 1986
First reached No. 1: June 24, 1995
Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 for seven weeks (starting March 7, 1987)
Notes: That is the hip-hop album with the longest run at No. 1. The album made historical past in April 1987 as the primary hip-hop album to succeed in No. 1 on the Billboard 200. It bumped Bruce Springsteen & the E Avenue Band out of the highest spot, and put the business on discover that rock’s period of unchallenged supremacy was coming to an finish. The album spawned the trio’s solely prime 10 hit on the Scorching 100, “(You Gotta) Combat for Your Proper (To Get together!).”
Kenny G, Miracles: The Vacation Album, 27 weeks
Launched: Nov. 1, 1994
First reached No. 1: Nov. 11, 1995
Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 for 3 weeks (starting Dec. 10, 1994)
Notes: That is the instrumental album with the longest run at No. 1. Miracles: The Vacation Album was the primary Christmas album to prime the Billboard 200 since Mitch Miller’s Vacation Sing Alongside With Mitch, which was launched in 1961. Kenny G’s recording of “Have Your self a Merry Little Christmas,” which Judy Garland launched within the 1944 movie Meet Me in St. Louis, obtained a Grammy nomination for finest pop instrumental efficiency.
Michael Jackson, Quantity Ones, 31 weeks
Launched: Nov. 18, 2003
First reached No. 1: July 11, 2009
Billboard 200 peak: No. 13 (Dec. 6, 2003)
Notes: That is the R&B/pop crossover album with the longest run at No. 1. This topped the catalog chart for the primary time within the problem dated July 11, 2009, the week following Jackson’s dying on June 25, 2009.
Eric Clapton, Time Items/The Better of Eric Clapton, 37 weeks
Launched: Could 14, 1982
First reached No. 1: Feb. 22, 1992
Billboard 200 peak: No. 101 (June 12, 1982)
Notes: This assortment turned a smash on Catalog Albums whereas “Tears in Heaven” was a success, on its strategy to changing into Clapton’s longest-running Scorching 100 hit to that time. (“Tears in Heaven” isn’t on the gathering, neither is the following “Change the World,” which had a fair longer run on the Scorching 100.)
Adele, 19, 41 weeks
Picture Credit score: Paul Bergen/Redferns Launched: Jan. 28, 2008
First reached No. 1: March 5, 2011
Billboard 200 peak: No. 4 (March 3, 2012)
Notes: 19 dominated the Catalog Albums chart whereas Adele’s sophomore album, 21, arrange residency within the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200, as followers sought to atone for what they’d missed. 19 introduced Adele her first two Grammys — finest new artist and finest feminine pop vocal efficiency for “Chasing Pavements,” which was her first prime 30 hit on the Scorching 100.
This album initially peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard 200 in February 2009 (following Adele’s first massive night time on the Grammys), however reached its No. 4 peak in February 2012 (following her second, even greater night time on the Grammys).
Metallica, Metallica, 45 weeks
Launched: Aug. 12, 1991
First reached No. 1: Jan. 17, 1998
Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 for 4 weeks (starting Aug. 31, 1991)
Notes: That is the one onerous rock/steel album on this checklist. This was Metallica’s first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 and spawned the band’s first prime 20 hit on the Scorching 100, “Enter Sandman.” Metallica received a Grammy for finest steel efficiency.
Numerous Artists, Grease soundtrack, 52 weeks
Launched: April 14, 1978
First reached No. 1: Nov. 2, 1996
Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 for 12 weeks (starting July 29, 1978)
Notes: That is the soundtrack with the longest run at No. 1. That is additionally the one album to log 10 or extra weeks at No. 1 on each Catalog Albums and the Billboard 200. This album spawned 4 prime 10 hits on the Billboard Scorching 100 — the Olivia Newton-John/John Travolta collabs “You’re the One That I Need” and “Summer season Nights,” Newton-John’s solo smash “Hopelessly Dedicated to You” and Frankie Valli’s “Grease.”
That is the one album on this checklist that obtained a Grammy nomination for album of the yr. (Be happy to inject right here, “You imply to inform me [blank] wasn’t nominated for album of the yr?” Nope, it wasn’t.) Newton-John obtained a second nod for finest pop vocal efficiency, feminine, for “Hopelessly…”
Creed, My Personal Jail, 54 weeks
Launched: Aug. 26, 1997
First reached No. 1: Jan. 22, 2000
Billboard 200 peak: No. 22 (Could 2, 1998)
Notes: This the debut album with the longest run at No. 1 on Prime Catalog Albums. The band’s subsequent two albums, Human Clay (1999)and Weathered (2001) logged a mixed whole of 10 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
Michael Bublé, Christmas, 61 weeks
Launched: Oct. 25, 2011
First reached No. 1: Nov. 17, 2012
Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 for 5 weeks (starting Dec. 10, 2011)
Notes: That is the album by a male solo artist with the longest run at No. 1. It’s additionally the Christmas album with the longest run at No. 1. It was Grammy-nominated for finest conventional pop vocal album, however, surprisingly, didn’t win. (It misplaced to Paul McCartney’s assortment of requirements, Kisses on the Backside.)
Taylor Swift, Lover, 68 weeks
Launched: Aug. 23, 2019
First reached No. 1: June 10, 2023
Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 for one week (Sept. 7, 2019)
Notes: That is the album by a lady solo artist with the longest run at No. 1. It exploded due to the recognition of “Merciless Summer season,” which is Swift’s longest-charting Scorching 100 hit up to now, and to the exceptional success of Swift’s The Eras Tour. Along with its Grammy nod for finest pop vocal album, the album’s second single, “You Have to Calm Down,” was nominated for finest pop solo efficiency and the album’s title music was nominated for music of the yr.
Queen, Best Hits, 105 weeks
Picture Credit score: Richard E. Aaron/Redferns Launched within the U.Ok.: Oct. 26, 1981
First reached No. 1: June 2, 2018
Billboard 200 peak: No. 8 (Nov. 28, 2020)
Notes: That is the rock album with the longest run at No. 1. The compilation first hit No. 1 on Catalog Albums 5 months earlier than the U.S. launch of the movie Bohemian Rhapsody, which turbocharged Queen’s recognition.
This album initially peaked at No. 14 on the Billboard 200 in December 1981, however lastly reached its No. 8 peak in November 2020.
Bob Marley & the Wailers, Legend, 126 weeks
Launched: Could 8, 1984
First reached No. 1: Could 22, 1993
Billboard 200 peak: No. 5 (Sept. 20, 2014)
Notes: This compilation, consisting of recordings from 1972-81, was launched three years after Marley’s dying on Could 11, 1981. Marley had just one Scorching 100 hit as an artist, “Roots, Rock, Reggae,” which reached No. 51 in 1976 — and that music isn’t included on this compilation. Legend does embody two songs Marley wrote that turned massive pop hits for different artists: “Stir It Up,” a No. 12 hit for Johnny Nash in 1973 and “I Shot the Sheriff,” a No. 1 hit for Eric Clapton the next yr.
However although they weren’t chart hits for him, most of the songs from Legend have turn into broadly identified, together with “One Love” (carried out with an interpolation of the melody from one other all-time basic, The Impressions’ “Individuals Get Prepared”), “Three Little Birds,” “Jamming” and “Get Up, Stand Up.”
This compilation initially peaked at No. 54 on the Billboard 200 in October 1984, however lastly muscled its strategy to its No. 5 peak in September 2014. Now that’s extra prefer it for one of many best-selling units of all time, and one reggae assortment that virtually everyone is aware of.
