Taylor Swift’s current chart domination has put another chart titan, Herb Alpert, back in the news. Last week, Swift became the first living artist to put four albums in the top 10 on the Billboard 200 since Alpert & the Tijuana Brass achieved the feat in April 1966. Swift repeats the feat this week.
Alpert congratulated Swift on matching his achievement with a sweet message on TikTok. “Hi Taylor, this is Herb Alpert,” he says in the clip. “I’ve been getting calls from all over the world from publications wanting to know how do I feel about you breaking my record of — I don’t know — 150 years ago. I feel great! I think you’re a wonderful artist, sincere, you’re gracious and you deserve it. You deserve it all. Congratulations.”
On Billboard’s most recent list of the Greatest of All Time Billboard 200 Artists, Alpert is No. 7 – just ahead of Swift at No. 8. (Swift will likely move up in the next update.)
Alpert, 88, had such a huge impact from the 1960s to the 1980s, as both an artist and a record company founder, that his name continues to resurface in the news. In 2006, he and his business partner Jerry Moss (they are the A and M in A&M Records) were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the non-performer category.
In 2013, President Obama presented Alpert with the National Medal of the Arts. The following year, the trumpeter won a Grammy for best pop instrumental album for Steppin’ Out. The award came 48 years after he won four Grammys for the Tijuana Brass instrumental hit “A Taste of Honey.” In 2020, Herb Alpert Is…, a documentary written and directed by John Scheinfeld, was released. The film featured comments from Sting, Questlove, Quincy Jones and more.
Alpert has accomplished a lot in his life and career. His chart dominance from 1965 to 1968, when he had five No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 and one No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100, is a big part of the story, but there’s much more to it. Take a look.
