The Rolling Stones' 'Blue & Lonesome' Made Them the First Band with No. 1 Albums in Five Different Decades

The year was 2016. On December 10, their covers album Blue & Lonesome debuted at No. 1 in both the UK and US, making the Rolling Stones the first band to score a chart-topping album in five different decades: the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2010s. (They missed the 2000s — A Bigger Bang peaked at No. 3 in the US and No. 2 in the UK.)

The record itself was a raw, blues-only affair recorded in just three days in Paris, a deliberate return to the music that sparked the band. Critics praised its ragged authenticity, and the achievement cemented a legacy statistic that even the Beatles never matched — the Fab Four only reached No. 1 in four decades (1960s–2000s).