Americana/Folk Albums Explained

Americana/Folk Albums (formerly Folk Albums) is a music chart published weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks the top selling "current releases by traditional folk artists, as well as appropriate titles by acoustic-based singer-songwriters" in the United States.^[1] The chart debuted on the issue dated December 5, 2009, as a 15-position chart with its first number-one title being the Bob Dylan Christmas album Christmas in the Heart.

It has since expanded to a 25-position chart. In May 2016, Billboard renamed the chart to "Americana/Folk Albums", with the increasing popularity of Americana music, giving more recognition to acts which lean more towards Americana than folk.^[2]

Over the chart's fourteen-year history Bob Dylan holds the record for the most number-one albums with eight. Chris Stapleton has spent 190 weeks at the chart's peak with his five number-one albums, including the longest-running number-one in the chart's history Traveller.

On the year-end Billboard charts, Sigh No More by Mumford & Sons was the best performing album of 2010 and 2011, Babel by Mumford & Sons was the best performing album of 2012 and 2013, All the Little Lights by Passenger was the best performing album of 2014, Hozier by Hozier was the best performing album of 2015, and Traveller by Chris Stapleton was the best performing album of 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019.^{[3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]} As of the issue dated August 24, 2024, The Great American Bar Scene by Zach Bryan is the number one album on the chart.^[13]

Folk/Americana chart achievements

Albums with most weeks at number one

Weeks	Album	Artist	Year(s)	Source
131	Traveller		2016-2022	^[14]
66	Sigh No More		2010-2012	^[15]
61	American Heartbreak		2022-2023	^[16]
36	Starting Over	Chris Stapleton	2021-2022	^[17]
32	Babel	Mumford & Sons	2012-2013	^[18]
22	Stick Season		2023-2024	^[19]
21	Hozier		2014-2015	^[20]
18	The Lumineers		2012-2013	^[21]
14	All the Little Lights		2013-2014	^[22]
13		Chris Stapleton	2017-2018	^[23]
12	Zach Bryan	Zach Bryan	2023	^[24]

Artists with most cumulative weeks at number one

Weeks at number one	Artist
190
98	Mumford & Sons
79	Zach Bryan
26	Hozier
23	The Lumineers
22	Noah Kahan
16	Passenger
15	Bob Dylan
15	She & Him

Artists with the most number-one albums

Number of albums	Artist
8
5
5	Chris Stapleton
5
5

See also

• List of Billboard number-one Americana/folk albums of the 2010s
• List of Billboard number-one Americana/folk albums of the 2020s

Notes and References

1. Chart Beat Thursday: John Mayer, Folk Albums, David Guetta. Gary . Trust . November 26, 2009. January 29, 2013 . Billboard.
2. Billboard Introduces Americana/Folk Albums Chart. Billboard Staff. May 17, 2016. September 29, 2016 . Billboard.
3. Americana/Folk Albums - Year-End 2010. Billboard. December 17, 2020.
4. Americana/Folk Albums - Year-End 2011. Billboard. December 17, 2020.
5. Americana/Folk Albums - Year-End 2012. Billboard. December 17, 2020.
6. Americana/Folk Albums - Year-End 2013. Billboard. December 17, 2020.
7. Americana/Folk Albums - Year-End 2014. Billboard. December 17, 2020.
8. Americana/Folk Albums - Year-End 2015. Billboard. December 17, 2020.
9. Americana/Folk Albums - Year-End 2016. Billboard. December 17, 2020.
10. Americana/Folk Albums - Year-End 2017. Billboard. December 17, 2020.
11. Americana/Folk Albums - Year-End 2018. Billboard. December 17, 2020.
12. Americana/Folk Albums - Year-End 2019. Billboard. December 17, 2020.
13. Americana Folk . Billboard. August 20, 2024.
14. Americana/Folk Albums Chart. Billboard.
15. Americana/Folk Albums Chart. Billboard.
16. Americana/Folk Albums Chart. Billboard.
17. Americana/Folk Albums Chart. Billboard.
18. Americana/Folk Albums Chart. Billboard.
19. Americana/Folk Albums Chart. Billboard.
20. Americana/Folk Albums Chart. Billboard.
21. Americana/Folk Albums Chart. Billboard.
22. Americana/Folk Albums Chart. Billboard.
23. Americana/Folk Albums Chart. Billboard.
24. Americana/Folk Albums Chart. Billboard.