Two of these albums, Rumours and The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, won Grammys for album of the year.
All four of these bands have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. All of them except Fleetwood Mac have received lifetime achievement awards from the Recording Academy — and the mighty Mac received MusiCares’ person of the year accolade in 2018.
Chart flashback: The Beatles’ Abbey Road and Led Zeppelin II, two of the albums on this list, held the top two spots on the Billboard 200 for 15 consecutive weeks from Nov. 22, 1969, to Feb. 28, 1970. The lead in this epic chart battle went back and forth five times. More than 50 years later, these two legendary bands are still dominating Billboard charts and recaps.
Here are all the 40-plus-year-old albums to make the top 10 on the Billboard 200, ranked by the length of their span of top 10 success.
1. The Beatles, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
49 years, 11 months and three weeks
First hit top 10: June 24, 1967
Returned to top 10: June 10 and 17, 2017
2. The Beatles, Abbey Road
49 years, 11 months and two weeks
First hit top 10: Oct. 25, 1969
Returned to top 10: Oct. 12, 2019
3. The Beatles, The Beatles
49 years, 11 months
First hit top 10: Dec. 21, 1968
Returned to top 10: Nov. 24, 2018
4. Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin
45 years, one month
First hit top 10: May 17, 1969
Returned to top 10: June 21, 2014
5. Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin II
44 years, seven months
First hit top 10: Nov. 22, 1969
Returned to top 10: June 21, 2014
6. The Rolling Stones, Sticky Fingers
44 years, one month and two weeks
First hit top 10: May 15, 1971
Returned to top 10: June 27, 2015
7. Fleetwood Mac, Rumours
43 years, eight months
First hit top 10: Feb. 26, 1977
Returned to top 10: Oct. 24, 2010
8. Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin III
43 years, eight months
First hit top 10: Oct. 24, 1970
Returned to top 10: June 21, 2014
9. Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin IV
42 years, 11 months and two weeks
First hit top 10: Dec. 4, 1971
Returned to top 10: Nov. 15, 2014
