Here is a complete list of all Prince albums on the Billboard charts in the US.
(source: Billboard 200 Pop Album Chart)

debut / title / peak / (weeks on charts)

1) 10/28/78: For You - 163 (5)
2) 11/17/79: Prince - 22 (28)
3) 11/08/80: Dirty Mind - 45 (52)
4) 11/07/81: Controversy - 21 (63)
5) 11/20/82: 1999 - 9 (125)
6) 07/14/84: Purple Rain - 1 (24 wks #1) (39)
7) 05/11/85: Around The World In A Day - 1 (3 wks #1) (40)
8) 04/19/86: Parade - 3 (28)
9) 04/18/87: Sign "O" The Times - 6 (45)
10) 05/28/88: Lovesexy - 11 (21)
11) 07/08/89: Batman - 1 (6 wks #1) (34)
12) 09/08/90: Graffiti Bridge - 6 (24)
13) 10/19/91: Diamonds And Pearls - 3 (45)
14) 10/31/92: Love Symbol - 5 (34)
15) 10/02/93: The Hits 1 - 46 (20)
16) 10/02/93: The Hits 2 - 54 (19)
17) 10/02/93: The Hits / The B-Sides - 19 (12)
18) 06/04/94: The Beautiful Experience - 92 (12)
19) 09/03/94: Come - 15 (10)
20) 12/10/94: Black Album - 47 (11)
21) 10/14/95: The Gold Experience - 6 (8)
22) 04/06/96: Girl 6 - 75 (4)
23) 07/27/96: Chaos And Disorder - 26 (4)
24) 12/07/96: Emancipation - 11 (21)
25) 03/14/98: Crystal Ball - 62 (5)
26) 07/18/98: Newpower Soul - 22 (8)
27) 02/20/99: 1999-The New Master - 150 (1)
28) 09/11/99: The Vault... Old Friends 4 Sale - 85 (5)
29) 11/27/99: Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic - 18 (15)
30) 08/04/01: The Very Best Of - 66 (10)
31) 12/08/01: The Rainbow Children - 108 (2)
32) 2002: One Nite Alone... Live! - failed to make the pop chart
33) 2003: N.E.W.S. - failed to make the pop chart
34) 05/08/04: Musicology - 3 (14+)

thanks from on newpower to another

I never realilized how far 1999 blows away the others as far as longevity goes. 125 weeks on the chart

27) 02/20/99: 1999-The New Master - 150 (1)

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

That's GOTTA suck.... and here all this time I though New Power soul smelled like Rotton Eggs...

All his albums done well when you count worldwide sales (and the fact that some of his album sales were not even counted by Soundscam such as Crystal Ball which sold for $50 right from Prince's website as well as in stores for $35 I think and a hundred thousand units plus were in worldwide fans, friends or supporters hands and Prince himself made $12 million in that same year reported in Forbes).

1999 (the album) never got any higher than #9? As popular as its hit songs were/are? That surprised me more than anything.

I can't understand how the greatest hits package charted so badly. Poor marketing perhaps.

ConsciousContact said:

It probably did very well for a 3-CD set

I'm stunned.

Althought they spent very little time on the charts, I ddin't realize that Emancipation and the Gold Experience peaked that high on the charts ??? Is that acurate?

1999 was on the charts for 125 weeks? You don't see albums sticking around like that much anymore. I'm also a little surprised that Purple Rain fell off the charts just 15 weeks after it came out of the #1 spot. I guess PR's success was more concentrated in a short burst of time than 1999.

TheNewPowerMan said:

I'm really surprised. 8 weeks peaking at #22. I thought it bombed.

bsbd2luvr said:

Hard to believe that PR was his first number one though, eh? Damn...

bsbd2luvr said:

that was because he released Around The World in a Day so quickly..Purple Rain fell off the charts as soon as that album was released

Very interesting statistics... Thanks.

Wonder if anyone knows how many records Prince has shifted in the course of his career, incl. 12'', cassettes and all. And how the ratio of his sales are in regards to US vs. rest of the world.

Anyone with an educated guess??

AsianBomb777 said:

I believe ConsciousContact ment The Very Best Of Prince (1cd), not The Hits/B-Sides.

ConsciousContact said:

Well, figure that most of the fans already have the material on the "Best Of" sets. At the time of its release, if you were a young music lover...you probably didn't spend any money on Prince material, because "who's Prince?" It's not surprising that it didn't do so well.

bsbd2luvr said:

1999 was and R&B Hit first, then they released the LRC video on MTV, and the album became a hit all over again

6) 07/14/84: Purple Rain - 1 (24 wks #1) (39)

Only 39 weeks on the chart? That can't be right.

CandaceS said:

i remember in 1983 being 16 years old and watching ET (entertainment tonight) and the listed the top 5 albums in the country at that time. I think number 1 was Men At Work and I remember Prince "1999" being number 5.

>>>6) 07/14/84: Purple Rain - 1 (24 wks #1) (39)

Only 39 weeks on the chart? That can't be right.<<<

Yep, its right (see link below). As stated earlier ATWIAD was released what 9-10 months after Purple Rain? And PR fell off when Around The World and Raspberry Beret hit the streets. Any true chart geeks out there have the week by week position of Purple Rain after it fell from munber one after 24 weeks? Just curious how quickly it fell. Despite that noone can deny Purple Rain by far is his best seller at last count approaching 14 million in the US.



http://princetext.tripod....lbums.html

4 all the unbelievers:
It's REALLY the official chart position according 2 Billboard 200 Pop Album Chart. No black charts, RNB charts or stuff like this. Just the peak position and weeks on charts on the POP album charts!

Mazerati said:

I could have sworn that PR was on the charts longer...

bsbd2luvr said:

1999 wasn't a success for that long just due to it's own greatness, rather that it received renewed life when Purple Rain made it big and new fans hungry for more went back to purchase it.

ConsciousContact said:

Greatest Hits sets tend to do better in the longrun than immediately

1999 success did grow after purple rain was released. Not being as big of a fan back then, I mistakenly thought the song 1999 and little red corvette was on the purple rain album and when i found out it wasn't I bought 1999. I bet a lot of people did that.


I think the one thing that this info. proved was that WB was kind of right that he released things too frequently.

I think Purple Rain would've been on the charts a lot longer if he didn't release Around the world in a a day so soon. Plus that album was such a different sounding album than 1999 and purple rain that it quickly eclipsed his ROCK-n-ROLL status.

.

so musicology is one of the his first cds after purple rain to spend so much time in top 10!!

Yes these numbers are all correct. I happen to be a Billboard chart geek as well. Matter of fact I have many of the albums weekly positions. I used to jot them down in a logbook (like geeks do!)....I left that book back home in AZ (I live in LA now) but next time I go back I'll get that book and report some interesting numbers.

As what was stated...you see that "1999" was the true breakthrough album as far as the pop charts go. It was Prince's first Top 10 album and I recall it not hitting the top 10 until the spring of 1983 when "Little Red Corvette" became a huge pop hit (#6 on the Hot 100). At this time the song was huge on radio and on MTV, his tour with The Time and Vanity 6 did a second trek around the country playing to bigger venues due to the demand. Then the '1999' the title track was re-released to pop radio and this time reached #12 on the Hot 100 Pop Singles chart. (It previously only reached #44 when it was initally realeased in the summer of 1982 as the album's lead-off single). Then came 'Delerious' in the summer of 1983 and also reached the upper regions of the charts hitting #8. Soon after came the huge anticipation of the new album and film that would become PURPLE RAIN.

Many artists of Prince's stature have had this kind of success with an album that took time to breakthrough and finally hit. Then this would be followed by the album that would touch down like a meteor. Just look at his old rivals Madonna and Michael Jackson. MADONNA and OFF THE WALL were each the breakthrough albums (and better albums at that!) that preceeded what would become of LIKE A VIRGIN and THRILLER.

Man-o-man! Whoever compiled this list deserves a huge round of applause, for their work on such a necessary subject. We all know that Prince's albums between say 97-03 weren't blockbusters, but they still charted somewhere, and the public deserves to know this information. It sort of puts things in perspective. Not even the greats like David Bowie and The Rolling Stones have perfect records, so it's no wonder that Prince would record an album now and then that folks didn't get into. Not every note that Prince will write is meant to be heard by everyone, in my mind. Anyway, BRAVO!

Combine what I just wrote with this fact - between the years of 93 and 98, Prince was somewhere on the Billboard charts for almost 150 weeks! That's 30 weeks per year. How many of us can say the same thing?

VANITYSprisonBYTCH said:[quote]Yes these numbers are all correct. I happen to be a Billboard chart geek as well. Matter of fact I have many of the albums weekly positions.

Can I ask for a copy of this, please?