Adele's 21 Tops Whitney Houston's Billboard Record

Where does 21 stand among the all-time Billboard giants?

British singer Adele seven-times platinum album 21 has remained at the top of the Billboard charts for 21 consecutive weeks, adding to her six Grammy Awards, BRIT Award, and presumable giant room full of cash. Those 21 weeks means 21 has set the record for the longest time spent at the top spot for an album by female artist, surpassing none other than the recently deceased Whitney Houston, whose 1992 album The Bodyguard had long held that title. Basically, this makes 21 the most successful album of the past decade, although Adele still has her work cut out for her for more Billboard immortality. If 21 maintains the top spot for another three weeks, she'll tie Prince's Purple Rain and the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, at 24 weeks each. Fleetwood Mac's Rumours was No. 1 for 31 weeks, a mark also held by Harry Belafonte's Calypso and the South Pacific soundtrack. Michael Jackson's Thriller held the pole position for 37 weeks, but none of those come close to the mark set by the Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim's soundtrack for West Side Story, which was No. 1 for 54 weeks way back in 1962-63. 21 also needs to remain on the Billboard 200 for another 776 weeks to match the record set by Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. We'll check back in, oh, 14 years or so.