‘Hamilton’ Hits Milestone 500th Week at No. 1 on Billboard’s Cast Albums Chart
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 06: Cast of Hamilton perform at "Hamilton" Broadway Opening Night at Richard Rodgers Theatre on August 6, 2015 in New York City. Neilson Barnard/Getty Images
The original Broadway cast recording of Hamilton: An American Musical hits a milestone 500th week at No. 1 on Billboard’s Cast Albums chart (dated Oct. 17). It’s the only title to reach at least 500 weeks at No. 1 on any currently published Billboard ranking.
Hamilton: An American Musical debuted atop the Cast Albums chart dated Oct. 17, 2015 — exactly 11 years ago. Of the 576 weeks that Hamilton has been on the Cast Albums chart in total, 87% have been at No. 1.
Billboard’s Cast Albums chart launched in January 2006. In the nearly 21 years of the chart’s existence, only four albums have notched even 10 weeks at No. 1. Hamilton leads all with 500, followed by the original Broadway cast recordings of Wicked (355 weeks, with 22 of those coming since Hamilton’s debut, marking the second-most weeks at No. 1 for any album since Hamilton’s arrival), Jersey Boys (75) and The Book of Mormon (15). (Amid the reign of Hamilton, Wicked has the most weeks at No. 1 among other titles in that 11-year span: 22. Wicked, released in 2003, led the inaugural list in 2006.)
The original Broadway cast of Hamilton was led by the show’s creator and star Lin-Manuel Miranda, and featured Daveed Diggs, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Jonathan Groff, Christopher Jackson, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Leslie Odom Jr., Okieriete Onaodowan, Anthony Ramos and Phillipa Soo.
The show, which has run on Broadway since 2015 (with cast changes), has spun off two additional No. 1s on the Cast Albums chart with the best-of set Hamilton: 10 Shots (Highlights From the Original Broadway Cast Recording) and the box set Rise Up! Hamilton: The Anthology (which rounded up all of the songs from the original Broadway cast recording, plus additional spin-off songs and rarities).
Further, there was the inspired-by project The Hamilton Mixtape, for which music stars including Kelly Clarkson, Alicia Keys and Nas covered songs from the show. That 2016 album debuted at No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard 200. As for the original Hamilton on the Billboard 200, it peaked at No. 2 on the July 18, 2020-dated chart, following the Disney+ premiere of the show — making Hamilton the highest-charting cast recording since 1969, when the original Broadway cast recording of Hair spent 13 weeks at No. 1.
Hamilton: An American Musical has spent 575 weeks on the Billboard 200 and is the only cast recording to spend at least 500 weeks on the chart.
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