This is a list of the albums ranked number one in the United States during 2021. The top-performing albums and EPs in the U.S. are ranked on the Billboard 200 chart, which is published by Billboard magazine. The data is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan based on multi-metric consumption as measured in album-equivalent units, which comprise album sales, track sales, and streams on digital music platforms. Each unit equals one album sold, or 10 individual digital 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.
30 , the fourth studio album by English singer-songwriter Adele, was the best-selling album of 2021, with 1.464 million copies sold. [1] It garnered the biggest opening week of 2021 with 839,000 album-equivalent units, and topped the chart for the final four weeks of the year. [2] Dangerous: The Double Album by American country singer Morgan Wallen was the best-performing album of 2021 and the longest running number-one album of the year, having topped the Billboard 200 for 10 consecutive weeks. [3] It became the first country album since The Chase (1992) by American singer Garth Brooks to reign the Billboard 200 for six or more weeks, [4] and the first album since Whitney (1987) by American singer Whitney Houston, to spend its first 10 weeks at the top spot. [5]
American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift charted three number one albums this year—the most for any artist: her 2020 studio album Evermore and 2021 re-recordings Fearless (Taylor's Version) and Red (Taylor's Version) ; they collectively spent six weeks atop the Billboard 200. [6] Fearless (Taylor's Version) became the first re-recorded album in history to top the chart. [7] American singer-songwriter Olivia Rodrigo's debut studio album, Sour , is the year's second longest reigning number-one album of the Billboard 200 and the longest-reigning by a female artist, with five non-consecutive weeks spent atop the chart.
† | Indicates best-performing album of 2021 [3] |
Issue date | Album | Artist(s) | Album- equivalent units | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
January 2 | Evermore | Taylor Swift | 169,000 | [8] [9] |
January 9 | Whole Lotta Red | Playboi Carti | 100,000 | [10] [11] |
January 16 | Evermore | Taylor Swift | 56,000 | [12] [13] |
January 23 | Dangerous: The Double Album † | Morgan Wallen | 265,000 | [14] [15] |
January 30 | 159,000 | [16] [17] | ||
February 6 | 130,000 | [18] [19] | ||
February 13 | 149,000 | [20] [21] | ||
February 20 | 150,000 | [22] [23] | ||
February 27 | 93,000 | [24] [4] | ||
March 6 | 89,000 | [25] [26] | ||
March 13 | 82,000 | [27] [28] | ||
March 20 | 78,000 | [29] [30] | ||
March 27 | 69,000 | [31] [5] | ||
April 3 | Justice | Justin Bieber | 154,000 | [32] [33] |
April 10 | SoulFly | Rod Wave | 130,000 | [34] [35] |
April 17 | Justice | Justin Bieber | 75,000 | [36] [37] |
April 24 | Fearless (Taylor's Version) | Taylor Swift | 291,000 | [38] [7] |
May 1 | Slime Language 2 | Young Thug and various artists | 113,000 | [39] [40] |
May 8 | A Gangsta's Pain | Moneybagg Yo | 110,000 | [41] [42] |
May 15 | Khaled Khaled | DJ Khaled | 94,000 | [43] [44] |
May 22 | A Gangsta's Pain | Moneybagg Yo | 61,000 | [45] [46] |
May 29 | The Off-Season | J. Cole | 282,000 | [47] [48] |
June 5 | Sour | Olivia Rodrigo | 295,000 | [49] [50] |
June 12 | Evermore | Taylor Swift | 202,000 | [51] [52] |
June 19 | The Voice of the Heroes | Lil Baby and Lil Durk | 150,000 | [53] [54] |
June 26 | Hall of Fame | Polo G | 143,000 | [55] [56] |
July 3 | Sour | Olivia Rodrigo | 105,000 | [57] [58] |
July 10 | Call Me If You Get Lost | Tyler, the Creator | 169,000 | [59] [60] |
July 17 | Sour | Olivia Rodrigo | 88,000 | [61] [62] |
July 24 | 83,000 | [63] [64] | ||
July 31 | Faith | Pop Smoke | 88,000 | [65] [66] |
August 7 | F*ck Love | The Kid Laroi | 85,000 | [67] [68] |
August 14 | Happier Than Ever | Billie Eilish | 238,000 | [69] [70] |
August 21 | 85,000 | [71] [72] | ||
August 28 | 60,000 | [73] [74] | ||
September 4 | Sour | Olivia Rodrigo | 133,000 | [75] [76] |
September 11 | Donda | Kanye West | 309,000 | [77] [78] |
September 18 | Certified Lover Boy | Drake | 613,000 | [79] [80] |
September 25 | 236,000 | [81] [82] | ||
October 2 | 171,000 | [83] [84] | ||
October 9 | Sincerely, Kentrell | YoungBoy Never Broke Again | 137,000 | [85] [86] |
October 16 | Fearless (Taylor's Version) | Taylor Swift | 152,000 | [87] [88] |
October 23 | Certified Lover Boy | Drake | 94,000 | [89] [90] |
October 30 | Punk | Young Thug | 90,000 | [91] [92] |
November 6 | Certified Lover Boy | Drake | 74,000 | [93] [94] |
November 13 | = | Ed Sheeran | 118,000 | [95] [96] |
November 20 | Still Over It | Summer Walker | 166,000 | [97] [98] |
November 27 | Red (Taylor's Version) | Taylor Swift | 605,000 | [6] [99] |
December 4 | 30 | Adele | 839,000 | [2] [100] |
December 11 | 288,000 | [101] [102] | ||
December 18 | 193,000 | [103] [104] | ||
December 25 | 183,000 | [105] [106] | ||
Position | Country | Artist | Weeks at No. 1 |
---|---|---|---|
1 | USA | Morgan Wallen | 10 |
2 | USA | Taylor Swift | 6 |
3 | CAN | Drake | 5 |
US | Olivia Rodrigo | ||
5 | UK | Adele | 4 |
6 | US | Billie Eilish | 3 |
7 | CAN | Justin Bieber | 2 |
US | Moneybagg Yo | ||
US | Young Thug | ||
10 | US | Playboi Carti | 1 |
US | Rod Wave | ||
US | DJ Khaled | ||
US | J. Cole | ||
US | Lil Baby | ||
US | Lil Durk | ||
US | Polo G | ||
US | Tyler, the Creator | ||
US | Pop Smoke | ||
AUS | The Kid Laroi | ||
US | Kanye West | ||
US | YoungBoy Never Broke Again | ||
UK | Ed Sheeran | ||
US | Summer Walker |
The Billboard 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by Billboard magazine to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists. Sometimes, a recording act is remembered for its "number ones" that outperformed all other albums during at least one week. The chart grew from a weekly top 10 list in 1956 to become a top 200 list in May 1967, acquiring its existing name in March 1992. Its previous names include the Billboard Top LPs (1961–1972), Billboard Top LPs & Tape (1972–1984), Billboard Top 200 Albums (1984–1985) and Billboard Top Pop Albums (1985–1992).
Republic Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Based in New York City, it was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially an imprint of the Universal Motown Republic Group, and was renamed Universal Republic Records after a reorganization in 2006 before going back to its original name in 2012.
The American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift has released 11 original studio albums, 4 re-recorded albums, 5 extended plays (EPs), and 4 live albums. Her albums discography has accumulated 114 million album-equivalent units worldwide, 51 million of which are certified in the United States. In terms of pure sales, she has tallied 46.6 million albums in the United States and 7 million albums in the United Kingdom. On the US Billboard 200, as of June 2024, she has accumulated 14 number-one albums—seven of which sold one million first-week copies, and 79 weeks at number one—more than any other solo act.
The Canadian Album Chart, also known as Billboard Canadian Albums, is the official record chart ranking the 100 most popular music albums and extended plays in Canada. It is compiled weekly by U.S.-based music sales tracking company Luminate, and published every Tuesday by American music and entertainment magazine Billboard. The albums are compared across all genres, ranked by album sales, audio on-demand streaming activity and digital sales of tracks from albums.
Morgan Cole Wallen is an American country music singer and songwriter. He competed in the sixth season of The Voice, originally as a member of Usher's team, but later as a member of Adam Levine's team. After being eliminated in the playoffs of that season, he signed to Panacea Records, releasing his debut EP, Stand Alone, in 2015. He has received several awards including an Academy of Country Music Award and fourteen Billboard Music Awards.
For music from a year in the 2020s, go to 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24
The Billboard Global 200 is a weekly record chart published by Billboard magazine. The chart ranks the top songs globally and is based on digital sales and online streaming from over 200 territories worldwide. First announced in mid-2019, it officially launched in September 2020.
Dangerous: The Double Album is the second studio album by American country music singer Morgan Wallen. The double album was released on January 8, 2021, via Big Loud Records and Republic Records on CD, vinyl, and digital download. The production on the album was handled by Joey Moi, Jacob Durrett, Charlie Handsome, Matt Dragstrem and Dave Cohen. It also features guest appearances by Chris Stapleton and Ben Burgess.
Evermore is the ninth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It was a surprise album released on December 11, 2020, via Republic Records, less than five months after her previous studio album Folklore. Evermore was a spontaneous product of Swift's extended collaboration with her Folklore collaborator Aaron Dessner, mainly recorded at his Long Pond Studio in the Hudson Valley.
Sour is the debut studio album by the American singer-songwriter Olivia Rodrigo. It was released on May 21, 2021, by Geffen Records. The album was written by Rodrigo and producer Dan Nigro. Originally planned as an EP, Sour was expanded into a full-length album following the viral success of her debut single, "Drivers License".
Top Album Sales is a music chart published by Billboard magazine starting in May 1991, and has existed in its current form since December 2014. It is a weekly chart documenting the best-selling albums on a weekly basis in the United States. Up until December 2014, this had been documented by the Billboard 200 chart, but that chart was altered to factor in music streaming by accounting for album-equivalent units in its tallies to document the effect of the rise of music streaming outlet such as Apple Music and Spotify. Starting in the Top Album Sales chart's debut week of May 25, 1991, Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from Soundscan, now known as Luminate. During the week of December 6, 2014, the chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album units and streaming equivalent album units. The Top Album Sales chart was created to preserve the older methodology of counting pure album sales.