Billboard began an album chart in 1945. Initially only five positions long, the album chart was not published on a weekly … See more

Billboard's "chart year" runs from the first week of December to the final week in November. This altered calendar allows for Billboard to calculate year-end charts and release them in time for its final print issue in the last … See more

• As a musician, Paul McCartney has the most number-one albums, with 27. This includes 19 albums from his work with the Beatles, three solo albums and five albums as a part of his 1970s group Wings. John Lennon is … See more

† The West Side Story soundtrack ran for 53 weeks at number one on the stereo album chart; it was number one for 12 weeks on the mono album chart.
‡ The South Pacific soundtrack ran for 28 weeks at n… See more

• The first album to debut at number one was Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy by Elton John. John repeated the same feat with the album Rock of the Westies – the second album to debut at number on… See more