The Rolling Stones are back in a major way this week as their first album of original material in almost two decades finds its way to the Billboard charts. The set, titled Hackney Diamonds, debuts inside the top 10 on the Billboard 200—the weekly ranking of the most-consumed albums in the U.S.
This latest set from the rock band is not just another successful release. It’s further proof that the Rolling Stones are still one of the top acts in the world, and it’s a historic accomplishment for the legendary rockers. According to Billboard, the Rolling Stones have become the first act of any kind to chart a new album inside the top 10 on the Billboard 200 in each of the past seven decades.
The Rolling Stones first reached the highest tier on the Billboard 200 back in 1964. Since then, they have returned to the top 10 fairly regularly, although their output has slowed considerably in the past few decades as they have aged. For example, in the 1960s, the Rolling Stones charted 13 top 10 albums on the Billboard 200. In contrast to that prolific output, in both the 2010s and the 2020s, the group has sent just one new effort into the highest tier on the ranking.
Billboard also points out that just one other musical act is close to accomplishing the same feat. Barbra Streisand has scored a new top 10 album in each decade from the sixties until the 2010s. The singer and actress only needs to collect one more top 10 album this decade to match the Rolling Stones…though at the moment she doesn’t have any plans to release anything that would help her catch up.
Hackney Diamonds opens as the No. 3 album in the country this week, launching with 101,000 equivalent album units. The set marks the band’s 38th top 10 on the Billboard 200—that’s the most placements in the region among all artists.
