The Billboard 200, published in Billboard magazine, is a weekly chart that ranks the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States. Before Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales in 1991, Billboard estimated the sales for the album charts from a representative sampling of record stores nationwide, which was gathered by telephone, fax or messenger service.[1] The data was based on reports from record stores, who ranked the popularity of the best-selling records but did not provide an actual sales figures.[2] [3]
Indicates best performing album of 1981 |
scope=col | Issue date | scope=col | Album | scope=col | Artist(s) | scope=col | Label | scope=col class="unsortable" | |
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Double Fantasy | and Yoko Ono | Geffen | [4] | ||||||
[5] | |||||||||
[6] | |||||||||
[7] | |||||||||
[8] | |||||||||
[9] | |||||||||
[10] | |||||||||
bgcolor=#FFFF99 style="text-align: center;" rowspan="6" | Hi Infidelity | REO Speedwagon | Epic | [11] | |||||
[12] | |||||||||
[13] | |||||||||
[14] | |||||||||
[15] | |||||||||
[16] | |||||||||
Paradise Theatre | Styx | A&M | [17] | ||||||
[18] | |||||||||
bgcolor=#FFFF99 style="text-align: center;" rowspan="3" | Hi Infidelity | REO Speedwagon | Epic | [19] | |||||
[20] | |||||||||
[21] | |||||||||
Paradise Theatre | Styx | A&M | [22] | ||||||
bgcolor=#FFFF99 style="text-align: center;" rowspan="6" | Hi Infidelity | REO Speedwagon | Epic | [23] | |||||
[24] | |||||||||
[25] | |||||||||
[26] | |||||||||
[27] | |||||||||
[28] | |||||||||
Mistaken Identity | EMI America | [29] | |||||||
[30] | |||||||||
[31] | |||||||||
[32] | |||||||||
Long Distance Voyager | The Moody Blues | Threshold | [33] | ||||||
[34] | |||||||||
[35] | |||||||||
Precious Time | Chrysalis | [36] | |||||||
4 | Foreigner | Atlantic | [37] | ||||||
[38] | |||||||||
Bella Donna | Modern | [39] | |||||||
Escape | Journey | Columbia | [40] | ||||||
Tattoo You | The Rolling Stones | Rolling Stones | [41] | ||||||
[42] | |||||||||
[43] | |||||||||
[44] | |||||||||
[45] | |||||||||
[46] | |||||||||
[47] | |||||||||
[48] | |||||||||
[49] | |||||||||
4 | Foreigner | Atlantic | [50] | ||||||
[51] | |||||||||
[52] | |||||||||
[53] | |||||||||
[54] | |||||||||
For Those About to Rock We Salute You | AC/DC | Atlantic | [55] | ||||||