List of Billboard 200 number-one independent albums
The following is a list of independently distributed records to achieve the #1 spot on the Billboard 200 chart since 1991, when Nielsen Soundscan began recording album sales data.
Though not clearly defined, an independent record label is generally considered to be any label that is not part of the big three record companies, which consist of Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, and Universal Music Group. Billboard considers Disney Music Group to be an independent label despite being part of The Walt Disney Company, the largest media and entertainment conglomerate in the world.
Some of the independently released albums to have topped the Billboard 200, such as the Eagles' Long Road Out of Eden, Radiohead's In Rainbows, Pearl Jam's Backspacer, and Frank Ocean's Blonde are from former major label acts who had developed strong and established fanbases from their time being signed to a major label.Albums
- N.W.A – Niggaz4Life, 1991
- Ice Cube – The Predator, 1992
- Various Artists – The Lion King Soundtrack, 1994
- Various Artists – Friday Soundtrack, 1995
- Various Artists – Pocahontas Soundtrack, 1995
- Bone Thugs-N-Harmony – E 1999 Eternal, 1995
- Tha Dogg Pound – Dogg Food, 1995
- Bone Thugs-N-Harmony – The Art of War, 1997
- Eagles – Long Road out of Eden, 2007
- Radiohead – In Rainbows, 2008
- Pearl Jam – Backspacer, 2009
- Vampire Weekend – Contra, 2010
- Various Artists – Hope for Haiti Now, 2010
- Arcade Fire – The Suburbs, 2010
- Cake – Showroom of Compassion, 2011
- Mac Miller – Blue Slide Park, 2011
- Jack White – Blunderbuss, 2012
- Mumford & Sons – Babel, 2012
- Jason Aldean – Night Train, 2012
- Vampire Weekend – Modern Vampires of the City, 2013
- Queens of the Stone Age - ...Like Clockwork, 2013
- Pearl Jam – Lightning Bolt, 2013
- Arcade Fire – Reflektor, 2013
- Jack White – Lazaretto, 2014
- Lecrae – Anomaly, 2014
- Alabama Shakes – Sound & Color, 2015
- Mumford & Sons – Wilder Mind, 2015
- Tyrese – Black Rose, 2015
- Janet Jackson – Unbreakable, 2015
- The Lumineers – Cleopatra, 2016
- Blink-182 – California, 2016
- Frank Ocean – Blonde, 2016
- Jason Aldean – They Don't Know, 2016
- Metallica – Hardwired... to Self-Destruct, 2016
- Brand New – Science Fiction, 2017
- Jack White - Boarding House Reach, 2018
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