Taylor Swift ’s The Tortured Poets Department tops the Billboard 200 for the 12th week this week (chart dated July 20), which ups Swift’s career total of weeks at No. 1 to 81. This extends her lead as the solo artist with the most weeks on top in the chart’s history.
Swift’s strong showing is impressive when you consider that the Billboard 200 dates back to March 1956, more than 33 years before she was born. Swift surpassed Elvis Presley for the most weeks at No. 1 by a solo artist when 1989 (Taylor’s Version) logged its fifth week at No.
1 in the issue dated Jan. 6, 2024. That gave her 68 weeks at No.
1, one more week than Presley, who logged 67 weeks on top between 1956 and 2002. 1989 (Taylor’s Version) remained on top the following week, bringing her total to 69. Tortured Poets has brought it to 81.
The Beatles continue to lead all artists, with 132 weeks on top between 1964 and 2001. A few quick notes: 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. 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.