As James Taylor’s American Standard debuts in the top 10 on the new Billboard 200 albums chart, he becomes the first act to earn a top 10 album in each of the last six decades.
The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). The new March 14-dated chart (where American Standard debuts, and Lil Baby’s My Turn starts at No. 1, as earlier reported) will be posted in full on Billboard's website on March 10.
American Standard enters at No. 4 with 82,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending March 5, according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data. Of that sum, 81,000 is in album sales (boosted by a concert ticket/album sale redemption offer), making it the top selling album of the week. The set was released via Fantasy Records/Concord, and also enters at No. 1 on the Top Album Sales, Top Rock Albums and Top Americana/Folk Albums charts.
The appropriately titled album, which boasts Taylor taking on standards from the American songbook, gives Taylor his 13th top 10 effort on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart. It also gives Fantasy Records its highest charting album since 1970, when Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Cosmo’s Factory spent nine weeks at No. 1.
Meanwhile, with American Standard’s bow at No. 4 on the Billboard 200, Taylor becomes the first act with top 10 albums in each of the last six decades: the 1970s, ‘80s, ‘90s, ‘00s, ‘10s and ‘20s.
He logged his first six top 10s in the 1970s with Sweet Baby James (peaking at No. 3 in 1970), Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon (No. 2, 1971), One Man Band (No. 4, No. 1973), Gorilla (No. 6, 1975), JT (No. 4, 1977) and Flag (No. 10, 1979). In the ‘80s and ‘90s, he managed one top 10 in each decade with Dad Loves His Work (No. 10 in 1981) and Hourglass (No. 9 in 1997). In the ‘00s, he claimed two top 10s with October Road (No. 4 in 2002) and Covers (No. 4, 2008). And, in the ‘10s, he reached the region with Live at the Troubadour (a collaborative set with Carole King; No. 4, 2010) and his first No. 1 album, and most recent release before his latest, Before This World (2015).
There are only a handful of acts that could join Taylor in this elite club. Here are the artists that have achieved top 10s in the ‘70s, ‘80s, ‘90s, ‘00s and ‘10s: Eric Clapton, Neil Diamond, Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney, Bette Midler, Tom Petty, The Rolling Stones, Santana, Bob Seger, Bruce Springsteen, Barbra Streisand and Van Halen. Of the above, The Rolling Stones, Santana and Streisand have scored top 10s in the ‘1960s through 2010s.
Meanwhile, Jackson, who died in 2009, achieved his two top 10s in the 2010s via posthumous efforts.
