Blog Posts by Paul Grein

This week marks the 65th anniversary of Billboard's first album chart. The chart was just a top 10 listing when it first appeared in the issue dated March 24, 1945. It expanded to its current 200 positions in 1967.

Like just about every top 10 that has followed in the past 65 years, that first top 10 featured a mix of legends (Glenn Miller, Judy Garland, Tommy Dorsey) and hit-makers that had just a brief time in the spotlight. (Does anybody out there remember orchestra leader Mark Warnow or the "boogie woogie" piano duo of Pete Johnson and Albert Ammons? I didn't think so.)

To get the party started, here are 20 all-time record-holders from the past 65 years. I also identify the two closest runners-up.

The first six categories are open to all artists. The next six are divided by musical genre. Carving 65 years of music into genres is something only a fool would attempt. Naturally, I couldn't resist. As you might imagine, I have a fair amount of Fine Print after the list.

The Beatles:

"Break Your Heart" by Taio Cruz featuring Ludacris vaults from #53 to #1 in its second week on Billboard's Hot 100, which sets a new record for the biggest move to #1 by an act with its first chart single. The old record was held by Kelly Clarkson's "A Moment Like This," which shot from #52 to #1 in October 2002.

Cruz is a British singer-songwriter-producer who has worked with such acts as Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, the Pussycat Dolls and Ke$ha. "Break Your Heart" logged three weeks at #1 in the U.K. in September and October. It's the second transatlantic #1 by a new act in the past few months, following Owl City's "Fireflies."

This is the third time that Ludacris has been featured on a #1 Hot 100 hit. He was also featured on Usher's "Yeah!" (which also featured Lil Jon) and Fergie's "Glamorous." The rap superstar and movie actor has also had two #1 hits as a lead artist. He scored in 2003 with "Stand Up" (featuring Shawnna) and in 2006 with "Money Maker" (featuring Pharrell).

As of this week, Johnny Cash has amassed more top 10 albums on The Billboard 200 since he died in September 2003 than he did while he was alive.  American VI: Ain't No Grave opens at #3, becoming Cash's third posthumous album to crack the top 10. It follows The Legend Of Johnny Cash, which reached #5 in 2005, and American V: A Hundred Highways, which hit #1 in 2006. During Cash's lifetime, he made the top 10 with just two albums: Johnny Cash At San Quentin (#1 in 1969) and Hello, I'm Johnny Cash (#8 in 1970).

Cash isn't the first music star to have more top 10 albums after he died than he did in his lifetime. But most of the other stars of whom this is true died years before their time. 2Pac, for example, had just two top 10 albums during his lifetime, and has had nine since he was shot to death in September 1996.

As part of Nirvana, Kurt Cobain had two top 10 albums during his lifetime and three since he took his own life in April 1994. Janis Joplin had two top 10 albums during her

Men and women are working together at the highest levels. And, no, I'm not talking about Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton. I'm going right to the top, to the uppermost reaches of The Billboard 200. For the first time in chart history, the top three albums are all by mixed-gender groups. Sade's Soldier Of Love holds at #1 for the second week, Lady Antebellum's Need You Now holds at #2 and the Black Eyed Peas' The E.N.D. rebounds to #3.

Mixed-gender groups weren't always so common. From 1945, when Billboard published its first album chart, to 1962, not one mixed-gender group hit #1. The first one to achieve the feat was Peter, Paul & Mary in September 1962. The Grammy-winning trio featured Mary Travers, who died last September.

In the past 47 years, 22 more mixed-gender groups and duos have reached #1. Just about all major genres are represented, from pop and rock to country and rap.

Here's a list of all 23 mixed-gender groups and duos that have had #1 albums on The Billboard 200.

For the first time in chart history, the top three albums on The Billboard 200 are all by mixed-gender groups. Sade's Soldier Of Love holds at #1 for the second week, Lady Antebellum's Need You Now holds at #2 for the second week and the Black Eyed Peas' The E.N.D. rebounds from #8 to #3. Helen Adu fronts Sade, Hillary Scott is the female member of Lady Antebellum and Fergie is a key Pea.

By holding at #1 for a second week, Soldier Of Love equals the mark set in February 1986 by Sade's sophomore album, Promise.

Need You Now got a boost from the trio's Friday appearance on Oprah. The Lady Antebellum smash, which was #1 for two weeks before its two-week run at #2, is the first album to spend its first four weeks in the top two spots since Susan Boyle's I Dreamed A Dream in November and December. It's the first country album to do this since Dixie Chicks' Taking The Long Way in May and June 2006.

Need You Now also makes news by becoming the first album to sell 1 million copies in 2010.

The organization that hands out gold, platinum and multi-platinum awards has just confirmed what you probably already assumed: Beyonce was just about the hottest music artist for the past decade. The Recording Industry Assn. added up all the certifications that it awarded from 2000 through 2009, not just for albums, but for all the music configurations that they track-albums, digital songs, master ringtones and music videos.

The Washington, D.C.-based organization gave an artist credit for one "unit" when a title went gold, a second when it went platinum, a third when it went double-platinum, and so on. The RIAA counted only titles that were released from 2000 to 2009, so catalog product didn't affect the rankings. Beyonce came out on top for the decade with 64 certifications. Eagles were the top group for the decade, with 48. Michael Jackson was the top male solo artist, with 44.

The RIAA's methodology is clever, but simplistic. It gave equal weight to all four of these configurations

Sade's Soldier Of Love enters the Billboard 200 at #1, becoming the group's eighth consecutive top 10 album. The group, named after lead singer Sade Adu, has never missed the top 10, in a chart career that began 25 years ago this month. Sade's consistency is remarkable because the group breaks most of the key rules of the music business. Like these, for instance:

Maintain a regular flow of product. Soldier Of Love is Sade's first studio album since 2000's Lovers Rock. And that was their first studio album since 1992's Love Deluxe. Most acts would be reluctant to stay away that long between albums. They'd worry that a similar act would swoop in and fill their niche. Sade has the confidence, and the uniquely strong bond with its fans, to go at its own pace.

This is a singles-driven business. Though Sade has sold millions of albums, it has had just five top 40 hits on the Hot 100, the most recent being "No Ordinary Love" in early 1993. Lovers Rock reached #3 and won a Grammy for Best Pop

To help celebrate Black Music Month, here's a quick look at African American artists who have made history on the Billboard charts, from the Mills Brothers to Jay-Z. I also show key achievements by black artists at the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards.

Of course, black artists are so central to the history of popular music that the idea of spotlighting them in this way is probably a little dated. Still, it's a useful way of conveying information about black trailblazers--which is the point of Black Music Month.

Michael Jackson has set so many records that I could fill up a column listing just his achievements. (In fact, I did last June, right after he died.) Combining his solo recordings and his hits with the Jackson 5, he has had more top 10 singles on the Hot 100 (39) and more top 40 singles (60) than any other black artist.

In the same way, combining her solo recordings and her Supremes releases, Diana Ross has had more top 40 albums on The Billboard 200 (34) than any other