The Albums That Hit #1 This Year

When it came to the chart-topping albums of 2010, there were comebacks, stunning debuts and records that would eventually go on to become Grammy nominees. There was also redemption, twice as much Susan Boyle and, overall, a whole lot of Glee.  Head below to see our breakdown of the LPs you put at #1 on Billboard’s Top 200 chart during the first year of the new decade.

 
MOST WEEKS AT #1: Both Eminem and Susan Boyle spent seven weeks at #1 on the Top 200 in 2010, but only Em did so with the same album (Recovery). SuBo, however, has the distinction of having book-ended the year—I Dreamed A Dream was the first #1 album of 2010, while The Gift topped the final chart (calendar date December 25).
BEST-SELLING ALBUM: Eminem’s Recovery sold 3.2 million copies in 2010. According to Billboard, Em’s LP was followed by Need You Now, from fellow Album Of The Year Grammy nominees Lady Antebellum (3 million), and Taylor Swift’s Speak Now (2.6 million).
DEBUT ALBUMS VS. SOPHOMORE ALBUMS: When we rounded up the top albums halfway through the year, four artists (Susan Boyle, Ke$ha, B.o.B and Drake) had reached the #1 position with their debut LPs. But while no other acts managed to pull off the same feat after that, three sophomore albums reached the top of the chart in 2010: Vampire Weekend’s Contra, Lady Antebellum’s Need You Now and Susan Boyle’s The Gift. We’ll leave it up to you to decide where Justin Bieber’s My World 2.0 falls (technically, his first My World, which was released in 2009, is an EP).
COUNTRY STRONG: With their Grammy-nominated album Need You Now, Lady Antebellum led the way in a year that saw a total of six country artists—including Zac Brown Band, Kenny Chesney, Toby Keith, Sugarland and Taylor Swift—top the chart.
DIGITAL LOVE: The Hope For Haiti Now charity compilation became the first digital-exclusive album to reach #1 on the Billboard Top 200 (there was no physical CD available).
FOLLOW-UPS: Of all the artists who reached #1 in 2010, five of them offered follow-up releases to their chart-topping albums by December: Susan Boyle’s sophomore LP The Gift was in the hands of holiday shoppers 10 months after I Dreamed A Dream spent its final week on top of the chart; Usher rolled out Versus a mere five months after Raymond v. Raymond; Justin Bieber stripped things down (minds out of the gutter, ladies) with My Worlds Acoustic, which breezed in on the heels of My World 2.0; Ke$ha unleashed Animal, the first 2010 release to hit #1, then added mini album Cannibal to her catalog in November; the cast of Glee had three #1s on the Top 200 in 2010.
TOP ALBUMS WITH TOP SINGLES: Five chart-topping albums contained singles that likewise landed on top of the Hot 100 chart: Ke$ha’s Animal (”Tik Tok”), Usher’s Raymond v. Raymond (”OMG”), B.o.B’s The Adventures Of Bobby Ray (”Nothin’ On You”), Eminem’s Recovery (”Not Afraid”, “Love The Way You Lie”) and Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream (”California Gurls”, “Teenage Dream”, “Firework”).


THE RELEASES THAT TOPPED THE CHART IN 2010

Susan Boyle, I Dreamed A Dream
Ke$ha, Animal
Vampire Weekend, Contra
Various Artists, Hope For Haiti Now
Lady Antebellum, Need You Now
Sade, Soldier Of Love
Ludacris, Battle Of The Sexes
Justin Bieber, My World 2.0
Usher, Raymond v. Raymond
Glee Cast, Glee—The Music: The Power Of Madonna
B.o.B, The Adventures Of Bobby Ray
Godsmack, The Oracle
Glee Cast, Glee—The Music, Vol. 3: Showstoppers
Jack Johnson, To The Sea
Glee Cast, Glee—The Music: Journey To Regionals
Drake, Thank Me Later
Eminem, Recovery
Avenged Sevenfold, Nightmare
Arcade Fire, The Suburbs
Katy Perry, Teenage Dream
Disturbed, Asylum
Sara Bareilles, Kaleidoscope Heart
Linkin Park, A Thousand Suns
Zac Brown Band, You Get What You Give
Kenny Chesney, Hemingway’s Whiskey
Toby Keith, Bullets In The Gun
Lil Wayne, I Am Not A Human Being
Sugarland, The Incredible Machine
Taylor Swift, Speak Now
Susan Boyle, The Gift
Kanye West, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

of course,
My favourite album is RECOVERY by EMINEM