Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl is the 30th album to log 15 or more weeks at No. 1 in the 70-year history of the Billboard 200. And it’s the first to stay on top that long by an artist who was this deep into their career. Showgirl is Swift’s 12th studio album (and that’s not counting her “Taylor’s Version” re-recordings).
In addition, Swift is the only artist to stay at No. 1 for 15 or more weeks with multiple albums. Her previous studio album, 2024’s The Tortured Poets Department, logged 17 weeks on top. That Swift achieved this feat with back-to-back studio albums this deep into her career is another tremendous achievement.
Three artists tallied 15 or more weeks on top with their 11th studio albums: Andy Williams (Days of Wine and Roses logged 16 weeks on top in 1963), Fleetwood Mac (Rumours had 31 weeks on top in 1977-78) and Pink Floyd (The Wall had 15 weeks on top in 1980).
As usual, we have some fine print. The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was the group’s 12th studio album in the U.S., but only their eighth studio album in the U.K. Why the disparity? The group’s American label, Capitol Records, concocted several albums for the American market, including “Yesterday”… and Today.
Bee Gees released 14 studio albums prior to Saturday Night Fever, 12 of which were released internationally. But Billboard regards that blockbuster 1977 soundtrack as a Various Artists release.
Here’s a list of all albums that have logged 30 or more weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, with a notation of how deep into their discography the artists were at the time. They are listed in descending order by most weeks at No. 1. In the case of a tie, the oldest album is listed first.
