When I watched last week’s State Of The Union address, I had two thoughts: “Hey, those are a lot of great plans that Congress won’t pass,” and “Hey, I should organize every best selling album in the U.S. by who was President was at the time, our readers would love that!”
We’re starting with Eisenhower in 1956 because that was the first year album sales were tracked in the U.S., and all this data comes from this Wikipedia page, so take it for what it’s worth.
I also had to make some adjustments to what years went to which Presidents. For example, JFK has 1961 – 1963 since he officially began his term on January 20, 1961 and was assassinated November 22, 1963, so I’m just rounding up. Also, Nixon resigned office on August 1974 in the middle of the year, but I’m giving him all of 1974 just to make things easier for myself (sorry Gerald Ford). Reminder – all these album sales only include US sales.
Here are some interesting takeaways from doing all this research:
Albums that were bestsellers in back to back years:
-My Fair Lady soundtrack (1957-58)
-West Side Story soundtrack (1962-63)
-Michael Jackson’s Thriller (1983-84)
-Adele’s 21 (2011-12)
Artist with the most bestselling albums: Elton John (1974’s Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, 1975’s Elton John’s Greatest Hits, and 1994’s The Lion King soundtrack)
Other artists with multiple bestselling albums:
-Whitney Houston (1986’s Whitney Houston and 1993’s The Bodyguard soundtrack)
-Mariah Carey (1991’s Mariah Carey and 2005’s The Emancipation of Mimi)
-Eminem (2002’s The Eminem Show and 2010’s Recovery)
-Taylor Swift (2009’s Fearless and 2014’s 1989)
Artist I wasn’t expecting to have a bestselling album in the U.S.: Toto (though it is the album that has “Africa”)
Artist I was expecting to have a bestselling album in the U.S. but actually didn’t: The Eagles (they’re one of the bestselling bands of all time, but they never dominated a single year)
The most ironic album-President paring: Nixon and War’s The World Is a Ghetto
Alrighty, let’s begin:
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953 – 1960)
1956: Harry Belafonte – Calypso
1957 and 1958: My Fair Lady (Broadway cast recording)
1959: Henry Mancini – Music from Peter Gunn
1960: The Sound of Music (Broadway cast recording)
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John F. Kennedy (1961 – 1963)
1961: Camelot (Broadway cast recording)
1962 and 1963: West Side Story soundtrack
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Lyndon B. Johnson (1964 – 1968)
1964: Hello, Dolly! (Broadway cast recording)
1965: Mary Poppins soundtrack
1966: Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass – Whipped Cream & Other Delights
1967: The Monkees – More of The Monkees
1968: The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Are You Experienced?
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Richard Nixon (1969 – 1974)
1969: Iron Butterfly – In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida
1970: Simon and Garfunkel – Bridge Over Troubled Water
1971: Jesus Christ Superstar soundtrack
1972: Neil Young – Harvest
1973: War – The World Is a Ghetto
1974: Elton John – Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
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Gerald Ford (1975 – 1976)
1975: Elton John – Elton John’s Greatest Hits
1976: Peter Frampton – Frampton Comes Alive
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Jimmy Carter (1977 – 1980)
1977: Fleetwood Mac – Rumours
1978: Bee Gees – Saturday Night Fever soundtrack
1979: Billy Joel – 52nd Street
1980: AC/DC – Back in Black
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Ronald Reagan (1981 – 1988)
1981: REO Speedwagon – Hi Infidelity
1982: Toto – Toto IV
1983 and 1984: Michael Jackson – Thriller
1985: Bruce Springsteen – Born in the U.S.A.
1986: Whitney Houston – Whitney Houston
1987: Bon Jovi – Slippery When Wet
1988: George Michael – Faith
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George H. W. Bush (1989 – 1992)
1989: Bobby Brown – Don’t Be Cruel
1990: Janet Jackson – Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814
1991: Mariah Carey – Mariah Carey
1992: Billy Ray Cyrus – Some Gave All
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Bill Clinton (1993 – 2000)
1993: Whitney Houston – The Bodyguard soundtrack
1994: Elton John – The Lion King soundtrack
1995: Hootie and the Blowfish – Cracked Rear View
1996: Alanis Morissette – Jagged Little Pill
1997: Spice Girls – Spice
1998: James Horner and Celine Dion – Titanic soundtrack
1999: Backstreet Boys – Millennium
2000: *NSYNC – No Strings Attached
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George W. Bush (2001 – 2008)
2001: Linkin Park – Hybrid Theory
2002: Eminem – The Eminem Show
2003: 50 Cent – Get Rich or Die Tryin’
2004: Usher – Confessions
2005: Mariah Carey – The Emancipation of Mimi
2006: High School Musical soundtrack
2007: Josh Groban – Noel
2008: Lil Wayne – Tha Carter III
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Barack Obama (2009 – current)
2009: Taylor Swift – Fearless
2010: Eminem – Recovery
2011 and 2012: Adele – 21
2013: Justin Timberlake – The 20/20 Experience
2014: Taylor Swift – 1989
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