The Rolling Stones Are First Act With Billboard 200 Top 10 Albums Each Decade Since the 1960s

Keith Caulfield
·3 min read
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The Rolling Stones become the first act with newly-charted top 10 titles on the Billboard 200 albums chart in the 1960s, ‘70s, ‘80s, ‘90s, 2000s, ‘10s and now the ‘20s. The band’s new studio album, Hackney Diamonds, debuts at No. 3 on the chart dated Nov. 4. It’s the group’s first album of original material since 2005’s A Bigger Bang (which also debuted, and peaked, at No. 3).

The new Nov. 4-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Oct. 31.

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Additionally, The Rolling Stones extend its record for the most top 10 albums, overall, among all artists in the Billboard 200’s history, which dates back to March 1956 (when the tally began publishing on a regular, weekly basis), as Hackney Diamonds marks the act’s 38th top 10-charting set. Barbra Streisand has the second-most, with 34, while The Beatles and Frank Sinatra are tied with the third-most, each with 32.

Hackney Diamonds is The Rolling Stones’ first album since the death of their drummer, Charlie Watts, in 2021, which left the group a trio comprising Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood. Before his passing, Watts worked on the new project, and he appears on two of the album’s songs (“Mess It Up” and “Live by the Sword”). Former bandmember Bill Wyman also appears on “Sword,” playing bass guitar. The 12-song album also features contributions from Elton John, Lady Gaga, Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder, among others.

The Rolling Stones claimed their first top 10 album on the Billboard 200 with 12 x 5, which reached the top 10 dated Dec. 12, 1964 (climbing 11-3, its peak position). The Stones logged 13 top 10 albums in the 1960s (12 x 5; The Rolling Stones, Now!; Out of Our Heads; December’s Children [And Everybody’s]; Big Hits [High Tide and Green Grass]; Aftermath; Got Live If You Want It!; Between the Buttons; Flowers; Their Satanic Majesties Request; Beggars Banquet; Through the Past, Darkly [Big Hits Vol. 2] and Let It Bleed), 12 in the ‘70s (‘Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out!,’ Sticky Fingers, Hot Rocks 1964-1971, Exile on Main St., More Hot Rocks [Big Hits & Fazed Cookies], Goats Head Soup, It’s Only Rock ‘N Roll, Made in the Shade, Metamorphosis, Black and Blue, Love You Live and Some Girls), six in the ‘80s (Emotional Rescue, Tattoo You, ‘Still Life’ [American Concert 1981], Undercover, Dirty Work and Steel Wheels), three in the ‘90s (Voodoo Lounge, Stripped and Bridges to Babylon), two in the 2000s (Forty Licks and A Bigger Bang), one in the ‘10s (Blue & Lonesome) and now one, so far, in the ‘20s (Hackney Diamonds).

Of those 38 top 10s, nine have reached No. 1: Out of Our Heads, Sticky Fingers, Exile on Main St., Goats Head Soup, It’s Only Rock ‘N Roll, Black and Blue, Some Girls, Emotional Rescue and Tattoo You.

Notably, one other act has newly-charted Billboard 200 top 10s in each decade from the ‘60s through the ‘10s: Barbra Streisand, who would match The Rolling Stones’ new achievement with a new top 10 of her own this decade.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.

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