Meet the 8 female artists with the most No 1 albums

Lady Gaga: Lady Gaga’s new album ‘Chromatica’ has gone to No 1, making it her sixth album to achieve such success. Gaga even broke the record for the fastest accumulation of six No 1 albums on the Billboard charts. Now, the ‘Poker Face’ pop star is part of a small group of female artists — eight, to be exact — who have managed to get more than five albums to No 1 in America — and she’s only the fifth female artist to currently have six No 1 albums to her name. Gaga’s previous No 1 albums are ‘Born This Way’ (2011), ‘Artpop’ (2013), ‘Cheek to Cheek’ (2014), ‘Joanne’ (2016) and ‘A Star Is Born’ (2018).

Mariah Carey: The singer also has six albums on the Billboard 200, out of a total of 15 albums she’s released since her self-titled debut 20 years ago. Her No 1 albums are: ‘Mariah Carey’ (1990), ‘Music Box’ (1993), ‘Daydream’ (1995), ‘Butterfly’ (1997), ‘The Emancipation of Mimi’ (2005) and ‘E=MC²’ (2008).

Beyonce: All of Beyonce’s albums have topped the Billboard 200, making her the first act in history to have six consecutive No 1 albums in America. The albums are: ‘Dangerously In Love’ (2003), ‘B’Day’ (2006), ‘I Am… Sasha Fierce’ (2008), ‘4’ (2011), ‘Beyonce’ (2013) and ‘Lemonade’ (2016).

Taylor Swift: Her self-titled debut album did not reach No 1, peaking at No 5 on the Billboard 200, but her six subsequent albums all went to No 1 in America. Her No 1 albums are: ‘Fearless’ (2008), ‘Speak Now’ (2010), ‘Red’ (2012), ‘1989’ (2014), ‘Reputation’ (2017) and ‘Lover’ (2019). Though ‘Taylor Swift’ (2006) failed to reach No 1, it was the longest-charting album of the 2000s decade in America, staying on the charts for a total of 275 weeks.

Britney Spears: The singer has nine albums, six of which went to No 1 in America. Her No 1 albums start with her debut ‘…Baby One More Time’ (1999) and include ‘Oops!… I Did It Again’ (2000), ‘Britney’ (2001), ‘In the Zone’ (2003), ‘Circus’ (2008), ‘Femme Fatale’ (2011). Spears is one of the few acts to have a No 1 single and studio album in each of the three decades of their career; in Spears’ case, this is the ‘90s, 2000s and 2010s.

Janet Jackson: She has seven No 1 albums on the Billboard 200. Her first two albums, ‘Janet Jackson’ (1982) and ‘Dream Street’ (1984), peaked at No 63 and No 147. But she made a massive jump on her third album, ‘Control’ (1986), which reached No 1. Her other six chart-topping albums are: ‘Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814’ (1989), ‘janet.’ (1993), ‘The Velvet Rope’ (1997), ‘All for You’ (2001), ‘Discipline’ (2008) and ‘Unbreakable’ (2015).

Madonna: The singer has nine No 1 albums out of a total of 14 released. She is the world’s best-selling female act of all time. Her chart-topping albums are: ‘Like A Virgin’ (1984), ‘True Blue’ (1986), ‘Like A Prayer’ (1989), ‘Music’ (2000), ‘American Life’ (2003), ‘Confessions on a Dance Floor’ (2005), ‘Hard Candy’ (2008), ‘MDMA’ (2012) and ‘Madame X’ (2019).

Barbra Streisand: Barbra Streisand has the most No 1 albums of any female artist in history — 11 albums. She is tied with Bruce Springsteen for third place when counting both male and female artists. Above them is Jay Z, with 14 chart-topping albums, and The Beatles, with 19 No 1 albums.