Taylor Swift, The Beatles, Michael Jackson, Elvis.
Photos: Gi; Illustration by Lyanne Natividad
As Taylor Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version) logs a fifth nonconsecutive week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 (dated Jan. 6, 2024), Swift surpasses Elvis Presley for the most weeks at No. 1 by a solo artist. As Billboard reported on New Year’s Eve, Swift has now logged 68 weeks at No. 1, one more week than Presley, who logged 67 weeks on top between 1956 and 2002. The Beatles continue to lead all artists, with 132 weeks on top between 1964 and 2001.
Swift’s strong showing is impressive when you consider that the chart dates back to March 1956, more than 33 years before she was born.
Also of note, while Presley’s feats on the Billboard Hot 100 are shortchanged by the fact that his breakthrough in 1956 pre-dated the launch of Billboard’s flagship songs chart by more than two years, the Billboard 200 captures Presley’s entire career. His debut album, Elvis Presley, entered the chart at No. 11 in the issue dated March 31, 1956 – which was the chart’s second week.
Here’s a look at all acts with 30 or more weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 since March 24, 1956, when the chart began publishing on a consistent weekly basis. Ties are shown in alphabetical order.
Two quick notes: The Beatles and Presley could add to their weeks-at-No.-1 totals with the arrival of a new compilation or if one of their existing albums returns or finally reaches No. 1.
Also, If you count the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack (which logged 24 weeks at No. 1 in 1978) as a Bee Gees album, the trio had 31 weeks on top. Bee Gees had six tracks on the album — five of which were No. 1 hits on the Hot 100. But Billboard counts it as a multi-artist soundtrack album.
Mariah Carey (30 weeks)
Image Credit: Michael Brennan/GI First week at No. 1: March 2, 1991
Most recent week at No. 1: May 10, 2008
Longest-running No. 1: Mariah Carey (11 weeks in 1991)
Notes: All of Carey’s No. 1 albums have been regular studio releases. The Queen of Christmas’ 1994 holiday album, Merry Christmas, peaked at No. 3.
Eagles (30 weeks)
First week at No. 1: July 26, 1975
Most recent week at No. 1: Nov. 17, 2007
Longest-running No. 1: The Long Run (nine weeks in 1979).
Notes: The long run at No. 1 for The Long Run is one week more than the band’s most famous album, Hotel California (eight weeks in 1977). The RIAA has certified Eagles/Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975, which logged five weeks at No. 1 in 1976, at 38 times platinum, higher than any other album in history. The group’s tally of No. 1 albums also includes a live album, 1994’s Hell Freezes Over.
Eminem (34 weeks)
First week at No. 1: June 10, 2000
Most recent week at No. 1: Jan. 23, 2020
Longest-running No. 1: The Marshall Mathers LP (eight weeks in 2000)
Notes: Eminem’s tally of No. 1 albums includes a 2005 greatest hits set, Curtain Call: The Hits. Eminem was the key artist on 8 Mile: Music From and Inspired by the Motion Picture, which logged four weeks at No. 1 in 2002-03, but that doesn’t count toward his total. Neither do a pair of No. 1 albums he recorded as a member of the group D12, which logged a combined three weeks at No. 1.
Prince (35 weeks)
Image Credit: Richard E. Aaron/Redferns First week at No. 1: Aug. 4, 1984
Most recent week at No. 1: May 7, 2016
Longest-running No. 1: Purple Rain soundtrack (24 weeks in 1984-85)
Notes: Prince’s No. 1 albums include two soundtracks, Purple Rain and Batman. Purple Rain had the longest run at No. 1 of any soundtrack in the 1980s. It was one of two No. 1 albums on which Prince shared billing with his band, The Revolution. The other was Around the World in a Day. Prince’s tally also includes a 2001 hits compilation, The Very Best of Prince, which reached No. 1 following his death in 2016.
Drake (36 weeks)
First week at No. 1: July 3, 2010
Most recent week at No. 1: Dec. 2, 2023
Longest-running No. 1: Views (13 weeks in 2016)
Notes: Drake is the hip-hop artist with the most weeks at No. 1. Also, he has logged more weeks at No. 1 than any other Canadian artist. His tally includes a pair of collabs, with Future (What a Time to Be Alive) and 21 Savage (Her Loss).
Harry Belafonte (37 weeks)
First week at No. 1: March 24, 1956
Most recent week at No. 1: May 20, 1957
Longest-running No. 1: Calypso (31 weeks in 1956-57)
Notes: The legendary singer’s Belafonte album was No. 1 on the very first weekly Billboard 200 chart. Calypso is tied with the South Pacific soundtrack as the longest-running No. 1 album of the 1956-59 period. Belafonte had the second shortest span of weeks at No. 1 of any act on this list, with only The Monkees having a slightly shorter span. He is one of just two artists on this list who has had just two No. 1 albums. Belafonte died on April 25, 2023 at age 96.
The Monkees (37 weeks)
First week at No. 1: Nov. 12, 1966
Most recent week at No. 1: Dec. 30, 1967
Longest-running No. 1: More of the Monkees (18 weeks in 1967)
Notes: The group had a briefer span of No. 1 albums – just a little more than a year – than any other act on this list. But that also underscores how hot they were at the time. They held the No. 1 spot for 31 consecutive weeks, longer than any other act in the entire 1956-2023 period.
Fleetwood Mac (38 weeks)
Image Credit: CBS via GI First week at No. 1: Sept. 4, 1976
Most recent week at No. 1: Sept. 6, 1997
Longest-running No. 1: Rumours (31 weeks in 1977)
Notes: Rumours had the longest run at No. 1 of any album in the 1970s. It also had the longest run at No. 1 of any album by a group or duo in the entire 1956-2023 period. Fleetwood Mac has had more weeks at No. 1 than any other mixed-gender (and mixed-nationalities) group. Their most recent No. 1 album, The Dance, was recorded live on a soundstage. The group’s Christine McVie died in November 2022.
The Rolling Stones (38 weeks)
First week at No. 1: Aug. 21, 1965
Most recent week at No. 1: Nov. 14, 1981
Longest-running No. 1: Tattoo You (nine weeks in 1981)
Notes: The Stones are the third-highest ranking group on this list, behind The Beatles and The Kingston Trio.
Elton John (39 weeks)
First week at No. 1: July 15, 1972
Most recent week at No. 1: Nov. 22, 1975
Longest-running No. 1: Greatest Hits (10 weeks in 1974-75).
Notes: Elton’s span of No. 1 albums – not quite 3-1/2 years – doesn’t reflect his status as a dominant figure in pop music for more than half a century. Elton had the first two albums to enter the Billboard 200 at No. 1 – Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy and Rock of the Westies (both 1975). Greatest Hits spent more weeks on top than any other greatest hits album in the 1970s. Elton was the key artist on The Lion King soundtrack, which logged 10 weeks at No. 1 in 1994-95, but that doesn’t count toward his total.
Adele (40 weeks)
First week at No. 1: March 12, 2011
Most recent week at No. 1: Jan. 8, 2022
Longest-running No. 1: 21 (24 weeks in 2011-12)
Notes: Adele has spent more weeks at No. 1 than any other solo artist who wasn’t born in the U.S. (Runner-up is Elton John, with 39 weeks on top.) Adele and Harry Belafonte are the only artists on this list who have had just two No. 1 albums. (Adele will surely have more to come.) 21 spent more weeks at No. 1 than any other album of the 2010s. It also spent more weeks at No. 1 than any other album by a female artist in the entire 1956-2023 period.
Whitney Houston (46 weeks)
Image Credit: Getty Images First week at No. 1: March 8, 1986
Most recent week at No. 1: Sept. 19, 2009
Longest-running No. 1: The Bodyguard soundtrack (20 weeks in 1992-93)
Notes: Houston is the second-highest-ranking female solo artist. Houston’s tally includes The Bodyguard soundtrack, which had the most weeks at No. 1 of any soundtrack in the 1990s. Houston recorded just six of the 12 songs on The Bodyguard, but they were the ones that sold the album. Houston’s tally does not include the Waiting to Exhale soundtrack, which logged five weeks at No. 1 in 1996, as she sang just three of the songs on that album. Houston very nearly notched a posthumous No. 1 – as Prince, Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley, of the artists on this list, did – but her The Greatest Hits album wasn’t able to unseat Adele’s blockbuster 21. The compilation logged three weeks at No. 2 in March 2012.
The Kingston Trio (46 weeks)
First week at No. 1: Nov. 24, 1958
Most recent week at No. 1: Dec. 26, 1960
Longest-running No. 1: The Kingston Trio at Large (15 weeks in 1959)
Notes: The folk trio spent more weeks at No. 1 than any other American group or duo. Among groups and duos where all the members were born in the U.S., runners-up are the Eagles, with 30 weeks at No. 1. The Kingston Trio is the second-highest-ranking group on this list, and the highest-ranking artist whose No. 1 albums are all studio releases consisting of songs the act hadn’t previously recorded.
Michael Jackson (51 weeks)
First week at No. 1: Feb. 26, 1983
Most recent week at No. 1: Nov. 14, 2009
Longest-running No. 1: Thriller (37 weeks in 1983-84)
Notes: Thriller had the longest run at No. 1 of any album in the 1980s. It had a longer run at No. 1 than any other non-soundtrack album in the entire 1956-2023 period. MJ spent more weeks at No. 1 than any other Black artist. (Houston is runner-up at 46 weeks.) Jackson’s total includes a soundtrack (Michael Jackson’s This Is It) and a unique double-disk album (HIStory: Past, Present and Future Book I), which was half greatest hits, half new studio recordings.
Garth Brooks (52 weeks)
Image Credit: James Schnepf/GI First week at No. 1: Sept. 28, 1991
Most recent week at No. 1: Dec. 21, 2013
Longest-running No. 1: Ropin’ the Wind (18 weeks in 1991-92).
Notes: Brooks has spent more weeks at No. 1 than any other (pure) country artist. (Runner-up, with 26 weeks on top so far, is Morgan Wallen). Brooks is also the second-highest-ranking male solo artist. Ropin’ the Wind spent more weeks at No. 1 than any other country album in the entire 1956-2023 period. Brooks’ tally also includes The Hits, which spent eight weeks at No. 1, longer than any other greatest hits album of the 1990s; a double-disk live album, Double Live; and a six-CD box set, The Limited Series.
Elvis Presley (67 weeks)
First week at No. 1: May 5, 1956
Most recent week at No. 1: Oct. 26, 2002
Longest-running No. 1: Blue Hawaii soundtrack (20 weeks in 1961-62)
Notes: Presley spent more weeks at No. 1 than any other male solo artist. His tally of No. 1 albums includes a Christmas album (Elvis’ Christmas Album), a live album (Aloha From Hawaii Via Satellite), a greatest hits set (Elv1s: 30 #1 Hits) and four film soundtracks — Loving You, G.I. Blues, Blue Hawaii and Roustabout.
Taylor Swift (68 weeks)
First week at No. 1: Nov. 29, 2008
Most recent week at No. 1: Jan. 6, 2024
Longest-running No. 1s: Fearless (11 weeks in 2008-09) and 1989 (11 weeks in 2014-15)
Notes: In addition to being the top solo artist on this list, Swift, 34, is the youngest artist and the top American artist. Her tally includes both the original and re-recorded Taylor’s Version editions of Fearless, Speak Now, Red and 1989. The original Fearless had the longest run at No. 1 of any album in the 2000-09 decade.
The Beatles (132 weeks)
First week at No. 1: Feb. 15, 1964
Most recent week at No. 1: Feb. 3, 2001
Longest-running No. 1: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (15 weeks in 1967).
Notes: The Fab Four have spent nearly twice as long at No. 1 as any other act. 1 topped the chart for eight weeks, longer than any other greatest hits set so far in this century. The group’s tally of No. 1 albums also includes a double-disk greatest hits set, The Beatles/1967-1970; three editions of the Anthology series; and four No. 1 soundtracks — A Hard Day’s Night, Help!, Magical Mystery Tour and Let It Be.
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