Words by Riley Fitzgerald
Graphic by Apple Corps

Currently sitting at No. 88, The Beatles‘ Abbey Road has now spent 351 weeks on the Billboard 200 albums chart.

Released more than half a century ago, the album first peaked at No.1 on the charts in November 1st, 1969.

It has sold consistently ever since.

Abbey Road is currently riding a burst of renewed interest following the album’s 50th-anniversary re-release last year.

In October 2019, 49 years and 252 days since the album’s initial release, Abbey Road again topped the US charts at No. 1.

“It’s hard to believe that Abbey Road still holds up after all these years,” Beatle Paul McCartney commented after hearing news of the album’s chart success. “But then again it’s a bloody cool album.”

Figures released by Neilson Music late last year also revealed the Fab Four’s 11th album to be the best selling vinyl record of the last decade.

Between 2010 and 2019 it moved no less than 558,000 units in the US.

It was followed closely by Pink Floyd‘s Dark Side of the Moon which shifted 376,000 units.

When it came to overall US album sales and streams in 2019 the Beatles ranked a respectable 10, losing out to Taylor Swift‘s Lover which came in at No. 1.

In terms of The Beatles albums, the success of Abbey Road is matched only by Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band which has spent 229 weeks on the Billboard 200.

Abbey Road‘s biggest competitor however is Beatles compilation 1.

Since its December 2000 release, 1 has spent 422 weeks in the chart and currently sits at 80.

View the full May 30 Billboard 200 album chart here.

Top 10 Vinyl Albums Of 2019 (Rank, Artist, Title, Sales)
1 Beatles Abbey Road 246,000
2 Billie Eilish When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? 176,000
3 Queen Greatest Hits 1 139,000
4 Soundtrack Guardians Of The Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol. 1 123,000
5 Queen Bohemian Rhapsody (The Original Soundtrack) 108,000
6 Beach Boys Sounds Of Summer: Very Best Of 107,000
7 Pink Floyd Dark Side Of The Moon 92,000
8 Michael Jackson Thriller 88,000
9 Bob Marley & The Wailers Legend 84,000
10 Fleetwood Mac Rumours 78,000

Top 10 Vinyl Albums Of The Decade (Rank, Artist, Title, Sales)
1 Beatles Abbey Road 558,000
2 Pink Floyd Dark Side Of The Moon 376,000
3 Soundtrack Guardians Of The Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol. 1 367,000
4 Bob Marley & The Wailers Legend 364,000
5 Amy Winehouse Back To Black 351,000
6 Michael Jackson Thriller 334,0000
7 Beatles Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band 313,000
8 Fleetwood Mac Rumours 304,000
9 Miles Davis Kind Of Blue 286,000
10 Lana Del Rey Born To Die 283,000