Forty five years after his first music was released, the iconic James Taylor scored his first-ever number one album on the Billboard 200 chart. Taylor released Before This World last week, on June 16th, surprisingly climbing to the top of the charts to reach the #1 spot.
Taylor filmed a brief clip thanking his fans for the album’s success. In the video, he says, “I thank you and your support and your enthusiasm and your interest.” It’s heart-warming to see Taylor so taken aback by the support of his fanbase.
Taylor’s first album, Sweet Baby James, was released in 1968. Considered by many to be his best effort, that album peaked at No. 3 at the time. This album, however, only sold 96,000 copies in its first week. So how did it reach No. 1?
Citing examples like Tom Petty, Tony Bennett, Weird Al, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and now James Taylor – all older artists who have hit #1 in recent years – The Atlantic posited an interesting theory about the way albums are being consumed today. They cite demographic data that shows who’s buying albums the most: older, richer, whiter males. These older artists (aside from James Taylor’s 45 years, the longest gap between having an album chart and having an album hit #1 was Tony Bennett – a 54 year gap) are familiar to older consumers, who are the ones predominantly purchasing albums. You can read more about that theory here.
Despite all that, with his new #1 album, Taylor’s going to have a little more than Carolina on his mind.
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