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.
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$ha, B.o.B and Drake) had reached the #1 position with their debut LPs. But while no other acts managed to pull off the same feat after that, three sophomore albums reached the top of the chart in 2010: Vampire Weekend’s Contra, Lady Antebellum’s Need You Now and Susan Boyle’s The Gift. We’ll leave it up to you to decide where Justin Bieber’s My World 2.0 falls (technically, his first My World, which was released in 2009, is an EP).
DIGITAL LOVE: The Hope For Haiti Now charity compilation became the first digital-exclusive album to reach #1 on the Billboard Top 200 (there was no physical CD available).
FOLLOW-UPS: Of all the artists who reached #1 in 2010, five of them offered follow-up releases to their chart-topping albums by December: Susan Boyle’s sophomore LP The Gift was in the hands of holiday shoppers 10 months after I Dreamed A Dream spent its final week on top of the chart; Usher rolled out Versus a mere five months after Raymond v. Raymond; Justin Bieber stripped things down (minds out of the gutter, ladies) with My Worlds Acoustic, which breezed in on the heels of My World 2.0; Ke$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.
IDOLATOR FAVES: Only one of the albums we singled out in our 10 Out Of ’10: Idolator’s Favorite Albums Of The Year list hit the top of the chart—Ke$ha’s Animal. Oh, well. Being #1 isn’t everything, you know.
THE RELEASES THAT TOPPED THE CHART IN 2010
Susan Boyle, I Dreamed A Dream Ke$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
