Top 10 Artists and Albums of All Time on UK And US Album Charts

In 1948, for Columbia, classical music was the main destination of new longplaying records. However, when first album charts started in 1955 in America and 1 year later in UK, it was clear that pop music will be dominant.

The first Number 1 albums in US and UK,respectively, were:

  • 28.05.1955 – US album chart – „Crazy Otto” [Decca, honky-tonk piano];
  • 28.07.1956 – UK album chart – Frank Sinatra – „Songs For Swingin’ Lovers” [Capitol].

OK, in the middle of 2024 year we can look at UK and US album charts from quite a long perspective. It is good to know the lists of longest rivers and highest mountains… And it could be also interesting to create all time lists of top artists and albums. I believe it is different with albums than with singles. I mean sales figures are the most important for singles. So, how many millions of records were sold.

However, in order to measure somehow the long term importance of albums and artists one has much better tool – WEEKS ON CHART. So, how long the respective albums find their buyers.

Taking into consideration the whole period from the 50s till 30.06.2024 and adding weeks on charts, totally, you will find below the 10 top artists and albums ever in UK and US, respectively:

UK Artists

UKArtistsWeeks
1Queen2466
2Fleetwood Mac2164
3The Beatles2121
4Oasis2113
5Michael Jackson2012
6David Bowie1876
7Elvis Presley1855
8Abba1824
9Taylor Swift1651
10Ed Sheeran1595

US Artists

USArtistsWeeks
1The Beatles3290
2Drake3082
3Taylor Swift2918
4Elvis Presley2614
5Frank Sinatra2518
6Eminem2346
7Johnny Mathis2200
8Michael Jackson2146
9Elton John2082
10
The Rolling Stones2066

UK Albums

UKAlbumsWeeks
1Abba's Gold – Greatest Hits1162
2Bob Marley & The Wailers' Legend1140
3Queen's Greatest Hits1108
4Fleetwood Mac's Rumours1051
5Oasis' [What's The Story] Morning Glory?651
6Eminem's Curtain Call: The Hits624
7Michael Jackson's Number Ones587
8Pink Floyd's The Dark Side Of The Moon575
9Oasis – "Time Flies 1994-2007"564
10Arctic Monkeys - "AM"563

US Albums

USAlbumsWeeks
1Pink Floyd's The Dark Side Of The Moon990
2Bob Marley & The Wailers' Legend840
3Journey's Greatest Hits810
4Metallica [1991]748
5Creedence Clearwater Revival's Chronicle714
6Eminem's Curtain Call: The Hits690
7Guns N' Roses' Greatest Hits682
8Bruno Mars' Doo-Wops & Hoologans682
9Nirvana's Nevermind676
10Michael Jackson's Thriller632

British fans have their Official Charts and American ones – Billboard 200. And what about European non-British fans? We are closer to UK chart, however, Billboard 200 cannot be neglected, absolutely. And that’s my „invention” – total weeks on British chart are corrected with a half of weeks on Billboard 200. Why a half? In order to reduce dominance of Billboard 200. I mean US chart includes 200 albums, whereas UK chart – 100 albums only.

Results? Well, thanks to American Queen-scepticism […] Queen is landing on my list at Number 3 „only”. And Number 1 are still The Beatles! On the other hand, thanks to dominating British preferences, „Journey’s Greatest Hits” [nothing against…] are No. 38 „only” on my list… Again, an American Abba-scepticism makes their „Gold – Greatest Hits” No. 4 „only” on my list. These are just a few examples of advantages of those my „clever” lists…

So, top 10 artists and albums ever – from point of view of non-British European fan – are:

Top 10 Artists (UK + 1/2 US)

UKArtistsWeeks
1The Beatles3766
2Elvis Presley3162
3Queen3133
4Taylor Swift3110
5Michael Jackson3085
6Fleetwood Mac2966
7Eminem2614
8Elton John2557
9Frank Sinatra2329
10Drake2327

Top 10 Albums (UK + 1/2 US)

UKAlbumsWeeks
1Bob Marley & The Wailers' Legend1560
2Queen's Greatest Hits1408
3Fleetwood Mac's Rumours1344
4Abba's Gold – Greatest Hits1328
5Pink Floyd's The Dark Side Of The Moon1070
6Eminem's Curtain Call: The Hits969
7Nirvana's Nevermind774
8Guns N'Roses' Greatest Hits749
9The Beatles - „1”720
10Arctic Monkeys – „AM”717

For more – see below! You will find there also, written by small digits, exact number of weeks on UK and US chart, respectively, for each artist and album. OK, the US figures should be obviously multiplied by 2.

By the way, I think my lists of all time should be interesting for all worldwide fans located closer to UK than US. And, obviously, having no their own representative charts in their countries.