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I noticed that Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers finally hit number one last year in the US with Hypnotic Eye, their 13th studio album. Is this a record? If not, which artist has released the most original studio albums (i.e. not live albums, compilations or reissues), in any given country, before finally getting their first number 1 album (in that same country)?

  • Do you mean a US number one or a Worldwide number one ? – Pat Dobson Mar 05 '15 at 10:44
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    Could be anywhere. (related discussion : http://meta.musicfans.stackexchange.com/questions/52/should-we-come-up-with-a-sensible-default-definition-of-chart) –  Mar 05 '15 at 10:55
  • I think this question needs some clarifying, because a few Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers albums before Hypnotic Eye went number one in New Zealand. So, for further clarification, is it how many studio albums did they release before one went number one on any chart, or on a specific chart? If the latter, did all the previous studio albums have to chart on that chart? Did all the previous studio albums need to be released in the country in which that chart is based? – Joe Kennedy Dec 30 '15 at 22:53
  • @JoeKennedy let's say... the 'number' to be measured is the number of albums in a given national chart before the number one is scored on that given chart, but I'm interested in the maximum number across all national charts. So if an artist has released 20 albums that peaked at number 2 in Turkmenistan before finally getting a number 1 in Turkmenistan with their 21st album, that still 'counts', even if they went straight in at no1 with their third album in Liechtenstein. –  Dec 30 '15 at 23:12
  • So, just to confirm, for an individual studio album to count towards the total, it needs to actually appear on that chart. In other words, if a band's first 20 albums peak at number 2 on the Turkmenistan charts, their 21st studio album doesn't chart at all on the Turkmenistan charts, and their 22nd studio album hits number one in Turkmenistan, then their total would still be 21, same as the artist in your example. Is that correct? – Joe Kennedy Dec 30 '15 at 23:38
  • @JoeKennedy As per the title, it's number of releases that are of interest - so an album still counts in the 'non #1 run' for a chart as long as it was released in the market relevant to that chart. –  Dec 30 '15 at 23:53
  • @JoeKennedy added what is (hopefully) a clarification to the question text. Will be interesting to see if anyone can beat Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers! –  Dec 30 '15 at 23:57
  • I'll mention Cliff Richard again. First album in 1959 - still hasn't had a no1 in the US charts. (or anywhere apart from the UK) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliff_Richard_discography – Pat Dobson Jan 18 '16 at 16:07

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I believe I've found an answer to this that should be very hard to counter: David Bowie. The last release in his lifetime, Blackstar, was put out on January 8, 2016, two days before his death. It was his 25th studio album, and his first to hit #1 in the United States, bringing the number to beat up to 25.

Joe Kennedy
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    As you say, that's a big number - big enough to 'accept' for now I think! Blackstar seems to have hit #1 pretty much everywhere. R.I.P. David. –  Jan 18 '16 at 14:52