Queen have made US album chart history as their 1981 “Greatest Hits” collection reaches a new milestone almost three decades after its release.
According to Billboard, the package has logged its 55th week at No. 1 on Billboard’s Catalog Albums chart, to earn the distinction of being the rock album with the longest-run atop the list in its’ 29-year history.
The feat places Queen’s “Greatest Hits” behind only Bob Marley & The Wailers’ 1984 hits album, “Legend”, which has headed the catalog chart for 126 weeks; the UK rockers notched ahead of Creed’s 1997 debut, “My Own Prison”, to take second place on the all-time list, while the Florida band’s set moves to third place at 54 weeks.
The Catalog Albums chart ranks the most popular catalog albums of the week in the US; catalog albums are generally titles that are at least 18 months old, or holiday albums in their second holiday season.
While both Queen’s and Marley’s hits records were released well before the 1991 introduction of the chart, what makes the UK band’s feat even more impressive is that it first reached No. 1 on Catalog Albums just two years ago – on June 2, 2018 – five months before the US release of the biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody”, which has turbocharged Queen’s popularity.
The US sales milestone follows word that Queen recently made UK music history with the 1981 collection when it passed 900 weeks on the Official Albums Chart Top 100, making it only the third album to do so behind Marley’s “Legend” and ABBA's “Gold.”
See also:
Queen make UK album chart history
Queen drummer Roger Taylor releases video for new single Isolation
Queen drummer Roger Taylor addresses Bohemian Rhapsody sequel issue
Queen honored with Royal Mail stamps
Search Queen at hennemusic
