Adele's historic reign continues, as 21 returns to No.1 on the Billboard 200, for its 24th week.
The album, which sold 75,000 copies last week, according to Nielsen SoundScan, now ties with Prince & the Revolution's Purple Rain soundtrack and the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack with 24 weeks atop the list. Only eight albums, including 21, have ruled for at least 24 weeks.
Here are the albums with 20 or more weeks at No. 1 in the 56 year history of the Billboard 200 chart:
Weeks at No. 1, Title, Artist, Peak Year
54, "West Side Story" soundtrack, 1962**
37, "Thriller," Michael Jackson, 1983
31, "Rumours," Fleetwood Mac, 1977
31, "South Pacific" soundtrack, 1958
31, "Calypso," Harry Belafonte, 1956
24, "21," Adele, 2011
24, "Purple Rain," Prince and the Revolution/Soundtrack, 1984
24, "Saturday Night Fever" soundtrack, 1978
21, "Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em," M.C. Hammer, 1990
20, "The Bodyguard," Whitney Houston/Soundtrack, 1992
20, "Blue Hawaii," Elvis Presley/Soundtrack, 1961
** (The figure of 54 weeks at No. 1 combines the set's time atop separate stereo and mono LP charts before the Billboard 200 became a singular ranking the week of Aug. 17, 1963.)
As if 21 spending its 24th week atop the chart isn't enough, the album has never left the top 10 in its entire 68-week chart run, dropping only as low as No. 7.
It also continues its reign as the best-selling album of 2012 – 3.52 million copies sold this year alone. Overall, 21 has sold 9.34 million copies, making it the 24th biggest seller in America since SoundScan began tracking sales in 1991 according to Billboard.
