Taylor Swift?s Lover logs its 50th week at No. 1 on Billboard?s Catalog Albums chart this week (dated July 6), extending its record for the longest run by a female solo artist in the chart?s history. Lover eclipsed Adele?s debut album, 19, in May.
Lover didn?t get all that considerably appreciate (at least by Swift?s sky-higher requirements) when it was released. The album spent just 1 week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and was passed more than for a Grammy nod for album of the year (although it did acquire a Grammy nod for most effective pop vocal album). But the belated achievement of ?Cruel Summer,? which topped the Billboard Hot 100 for 4 weeks beginning in October 2023, extra than 4 years following the album?s release, has revived the album. The phenomenal achievement of the Eras Tour has also kept it higher on the charts.
The Catalog Albums chart ranks the week?s most well-liked catalog albums in the U.S. Catalog albums are titles that are older than 18 months old and have fallen under No. 100 on the Billboard 200 ? or vacation albums in their second vacation season. The chart was introduced in Billboard in the situation dated May 25, 1991.
For the very first 18 years of Top Catalog Albums, catalog albums weren?t eligible to seem on the Billboard 200. That changed with the Dec. 5, 2009-dated chart, when catalog restrictions have been lifted, turning the Billboard 200 into an all-inclusive list of the most effective-promoting albums in the nation, regardless of their age. (The adjustment came following Michael Jackson?s death in June 2009, which triggered a sales explosion for his catalog titles. Jackson?s catalog compilation Number Ones was the most effective-promoting album in six of the very first seven weeks following his death, but was ineligible for Billboard?s flagship chart ? marking the very first time a catalog album had outsold the No. 1 album on the Billboard 200.) Starting with the situation dated Dec. 13, 2014, Billboard shifted from pure sales to a multi-aspect consumption formula that also involves on-demand streaming and digital track sales.
We?re going to count down the 17 albums with the longest runs at No. 1 on Catalog Albums from 1991 to the present. It?s an eclectic list, to say the least. It involves two Christmas albums, a film soundtrack and a remarkably wide variety of music, which includes pop, standard pop, rock, tough rock, R&B, rap, nation and reggae.
Eight of the albums on the list have been released prior to the 1991 inception of the chart. Impressively, they produced the list even although activity prior to the chart?s inception does not count.
Here are the albums with the longest runs at No. 1 on Catalog Albums from 1991 to the present. Each entry involves the album?s release date, the date the album very first reached No. 1 on Catalog Albums and the album?s peak position on the Billboard 200.
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Prince, The Very Best of Prince, 18 weeks
Image Credit: Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images Released: July 31, 2001
First reached No. 1: April 10, 2004
Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 for 1 week (May 7, 2016)
Notes: This is the only album to simultaneously 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, but re-entered the chart in the situation dated May 7, 2016, the week following Prince?s death (on April 21, 2016).
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The Righteous Brothers, Unchained Melody: The Best of the Righteous Brothers, 19 weeks
Released: Oct. 2, 1990
First reached No. 1: May 25, 1991
Billboard 200 peak: No. 161 (Nov. 24, 1990)
Notes: This album was released 3 months following the release of the box-workplace smash Ghost, which featured the duo?s 1965 smash ?Unchained Melody? more than the renowned pottery wheel scene. Two competing Righteous Brothers recordings of ?Unchained Melody? ? the original and a re-recording ? produced the major 20 on the Hot 100 in the wake of Ghost.
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Pink Floyd, The Dark Side of the Moon, 23 weeks
Released: March 1, 1973
First reached No. 1: April 17, 1993
Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 for 1 week (April 28, 1973)
Notes: This rock classic spawned the band?s very first major 20 hit on the Hot 100, ?Money.? Pink Floyd did not acquire a single Grammy nomination for this album, if you can think that: The album?s only nomination was most effective engineered recording (non-classical), for which Alan Parsons got the nod. Note: A separate, higher-finish audio SACD edition topped the Catalog Albums chart for 1 week in 2003. That week is not incorporated in the tally for the frequent edition.
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Meat Loaf, Bat Out of Hell, 23 weeks
Released: Oct. 21, 1977
First reached No. 1: Aug. 24, 1991
Billboard 200 peak: No. 13 (Feb. 5, 2022)
Notes: The album?s enduring achievement as a catalog album laid the groundwork for the achievement of Meat Loaf?s 1993 sequel Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell, which hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Bat Out of Hell spawned his very first major 20 hit on the Hot 100, ?Two Out of Three Ain?t Bad.? This was Meat?s very first solo album he had previously teamed with female singer Shaun Murphy in Stoney & Meatloaf, which released 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, resulting in a new peak position.
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Johnny Cash, 16 Biggest Hits, 26 weeks
Image Credit: Courtesy of Everett Collection Released: February 1999
First reached No. 1: Sept. 27, 2003
Billboard 200 peak: No. 65 (Jan. 12, 2013)
Notes: This is the nation album with the longest run at No. 1. The album topped the catalog chart for the very first time in the situation dated Sept. 27, 2003, the week following Cash?s death on Sept. 12, 2003.
The album initially peaked at No. 185 on the Billboard 200 in May 1999, but reached its No. 65 peak in January 2013.
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Beastie Boys, Licensed to Ill, 27 weeks
Released: Nov. 15, 1986
First reached No. 1: June 24, 1995
Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 for seven weeks (starting March 7, 1987)
Notes: This is the hip-hop album with the longest run at No. 1. The album produced history in April 1987 as the very first hip-hop album to attain No. 1 on the Billboard 200. It bumped Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band out of the major spot, and place the sector on notice that rock?s era of unchallenged supremacy was coming to an finish. The album spawned the trio?s only major 10 hit on the Hot 100, ?(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!).?
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Kenny G, Miracles: The Holiday Album, 27 weeks
Released: Nov. 1, 1994
First reached No. 1: Nov. 11, 1995
Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 for 3 weeks (starting Dec. 10, 1994)
Notes: This is the instrumental album with the longest run at No. 1. Miracles: The Holiday Album was the very first Christmas album to major the Billboard 200 because Mitch Miller?s Holiday Sing Along With Mitch, which was released in 1961. Kenny G?s recording of ?Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,? which Judy Garland introduced in the 1944 film Meet Me in St. Louis, received a Grammy nomination for most effective pop instrumental efficiency.
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Michael Jackson, Number Ones, 31 weeks
Released: Nov. 18, 2003
First reached No. 1: July 11, 2009
Billboard 200 peak: No. 13 (Dec. 6, 2003)
Notes: This is the R&B/pop crossover album with the longest run at No. 1. This topped the catalog chart for the very first time in the situation dated July 11, 2009, the week following Jackson?s death on June 25, 2009.
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Eric Clapton, Time Pieces/The Best of Eric Clapton, 37 weeks
Released: May 14, 1982
First reached No. 1: Feb. 22, 1992
Billboard 200 peak: No. 101 (June 12, 1982)
Notes: This collection became a smash on Catalog Albums although ?Tears in Heaven? was a hit, on its way to becoming Clapton?s longest-operating Hot 100 hit to that point. (?Tears in Heaven? is not on the collection, nor is the subsequent ?Change the World,? which had an even longer run on the Hot 100.)
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Adele, 19, 41 weeks
Image Credit: Paul Bergen/Redferns Released: 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 although Adele?s sophomore album, 21, set up residency in the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200, as fans sought to catch up on what they?d missed. 19 brought Adele her very first two Grammys ? most effective new artist and most effective female pop vocal efficiency for ?Chasing Pavements,? which was her very first major 30 hit on the Hot 100.
This album initially peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard 200 in February 2009 (following Adele?s very first large evening at the Grammys), but reached its No. 4 peak in February 2012 (following her second, even larger evening at the Grammys).
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Metallica, Metallica, 45 weeks
Released: Aug. 12, 1991
First reached No. 1: Jan. 17, 1998
Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 for 4 weeks (starting Aug. 31, 1991)
Notes: This is the only tough rock/metal album on this list. This was Metallica?s very first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 and spawned the band?s very first major 20 hit on the Hot 100, ?Enter Sandman.? Metallica won a Grammy for most effective metal efficiency.
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Taylor Swift, Lover, 50 weeks
Released: Aug. 23, 2019
First reached No. 1: June 10, 2023
Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 for 1 week (Sept. 7, 2019)
Notes: This is the album by a female solo artist with the longest run at No. 1. It exploded thanks to the reputation of ?Cruel Summer,? which is Swift?s longest-charting Hot 100 hit to date, and to the phenomenal achievement of Swift?s The Eras Tour. In addition to its Grammy nod for most effective pop vocal album, the album?s second single, ?You Need to Calm Down,? was nominated for most effective pop solo efficiency and the album?s title song was nominated for song of the year.
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Various Artists, Grease soundtrack, 52 weeks
Released: April 14, 1978
First reached No. 1: Nov. 2, 1996
Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 for 12 weeks (starting July 29, 1978)
Notes: This is the soundtrack with the longest run at No. 1. This is also the only album to log 10 or extra weeks at No. 1 on each Catalog Albums and the Billboard 200. This album spawned 4 major 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 ? the Olivia Newton-John/John Travolta collabs ?You?re the One That I Want? and ?Summer Nights,? Newton-John?s solo smash ?Hopelessly Devoted to You? and Frankie Valli?s ?Grease.?
This is the only album on this list that received a Grammy nomination for album of the year. (Feel cost-free to inject right here, ?You mean to tell me [blank] wasn?t nominated for album of the year?? Nope, it wasn?t.) Newton-John received a second nod for most effective pop vocal efficiency, female, for ?Hopelessly??
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Creed, My Own Prison, 54 weeks
Released: Aug. 26, 1997
First reached No. 1: Jan. 22, 2000
Billboard 200 peak: No. 22 (May 2, 1998)
Notes: This the debut album with the longest run at No. 1 on Top Catalog Albums. The band?s subsequent two albums, Human Clay (1999)and Weathered (2001) logged a combined total of 10 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
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Michael Bublé, Christmas, 56 weeks
Released: Oct. 25, 2011
First reached No. 1: Nov. 17, 2012
Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 for 5 weeks (starting Dec. 10, 2011)
Notes: This is the album by a male solo artist with the longest run at No. 1. It?s also the Christmas album with the longest run at No. 1. It was Grammy-nominated for most effective standard pop vocal album, but, surprisingly, didn?t win. (It lost to Paul McCartney?s collection of requirements, Kisses on the Bottom.)
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Queen, Greatest Hits, 105 weeks
Image Credit: Richard E. Aaron/Redferns Released in the U.K.: Oct. 26, 1981
First reached No. 1: June 2, 2018
Billboard 200 peak: No. 8 (Nov. 28, 2020)
Notes: This is the rock album with the longest run at No. 1. The compilation very first hit No. 1 on Catalog Albums 5 months prior to the U.S. release of the film Bohemian Rhapsody, which turbocharged Queen?s reputation.
This album initially peaked at No. 14 on the Billboard 200 in December 1981, but ultimately reached its No. 8 peak in November 2020.
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Bob Marley & the Wailers, Legend, 126 weeks
Released: May 8, 1984
First reached No. 1: May 22, 1993
Billboard 200 peak: No. 5 (Sept. 20, 2014)
Notes: This compilation, consisting of recordings from 1972-81, was released 3 years following Marley?s death on May 11, 1981. Marley had only 1 Hot 100 hit as an artist, ?Roots, Rock, Reggae,? which reached No. 51 in 1976 ? and that song is not incorporated on this compilation. Legend does involve two songs Marley wrote that became large pop hits for other 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 following year.
But although they weren?t chart hits for him, quite a few of the songs from Legend have come to be broadly recognized, which includes ?One Love? (performed with an interpolation of the melody from yet another all-time classic, The Impressions? ?People Get Ready?), ?Three Little Birds,? ?Jamming? and ?Get Up, Stand Up.?
This compilation initially peaked at No. 54 on the Billboard 200 in October 1984, but ultimately muscled its way to its No. 5 peak in September 2014. Now that is extra like it for 1 of the most effective-promoting sets of all time, and 1 reggae collection that just about everyone knows.
