Queen has been a household name in rock for years, with songs in the Official Singles Chart Top 100 for the past six consecutive decades. In fact, Queen briefly overtook The Beatles as the U.K.’s most successful chart act in 2005.
Led by front-man Freddie Mercury, the British rock band emerged in 1970. Guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor originally made up the band Smile, but the addition of Mercury and bassist John Deacon brought Queen into the world. The talented band was propelled to stardom, and eventually inspired the Mercury biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody.” (These are the best movies about music icons.)
To identify Queen’s top charting albums, 24/7 Tempo reviewed performance data on the Billboard 200 album charts. Albums were ranked based on an inverse point system, wherein a week at No. 1 is worth 200 points, a week at No. 2 worth 199 points, and so on, up to a week at No. 200 worth one point. Only studio albums were considered, and Billboard data is current through the week of August 20, 2022.
Among Queen’s top charting albums on the Billboard 200, No. 2, “The Game,” held the No. 1 position for the longest amount of time, five weeks. The album also contained the hit “Another One Bites the Dust,” which was nominated for a Grammy. (These are the biggest pop hits by Queen.)
The top five Queen albums on this list were all released between 1974 and 1980. This six-year span in history saw the likes of rock giants Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, and the Rolling Stones, but Queen’s iconic music stood out within the genre. In 2001, Queen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. (These are the most popular rock bands of all time.)
Click here to see Queen’s best albums according to Billboard
Britain and America differed on their Queen album preferences. Some of the highest-grossing Queen albums in America never reached the same sales status in Britain, and vice versa. According to the Recording Industry Association of America, No. 1, “A Night at the Opera,” No 2, “The Game,” and No. 3, “News of the World,” all went multi-platinum, selling multiple millions of copies. Conversely, the British Phonographic Industry placed our No. 15, “Made in Heaven,” and No. 13, “A Kind of Magic,” as the group’s highest-grossing albums in Britain.
15. Made In Heaven (1995)
> Peak position on Billboard 200: #58 (for 1 week)
> Total weeks on Billboard 200: 11
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14. Queen (1973)
> Peak position on Billboard 200: #83 (for 1 week)
> Total weeks on Billboard 200: 22
13. Queen II (1974)
> Peak position on Billboard 200: #49 (for 1 week)
> Total weeks on Billboard 200: 13
12. A Kind Of Magic (1986)
> Peak position on Billboard 200: #46 (for 3 weeks)
> Total weeks on Billboard 200: 13
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11. The Miracle (1989)
> Peak position on Billboard 200: #24 (for 1 week)
> Total weeks on Billboard 200: 14
10. Flash Gordon (1980)
> Peak position on Billboard 200: #23 (for 2 weeks)
> Total weeks on Billboard 200: 15
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9. Innuendo (1991)
> Peak position on Billboard 200: #30 (for 1 week)
> Total weeks on Billboard 200: 17
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8. Hot Space (1982)
> Peak position on Billboard 200: #22 (for 3 weeks)
> Total weeks on Billboard 200: 21
7. The Works (1984)
> Peak position on Billboard 200: #23 (for 1 week)
> Total weeks on Billboard 200: 20
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6. A Day At The Races (1977)
> Peak position on Billboard 200: #5 (for 1 week)
> Total weeks on Billboard 200: 19
5. Jazz (1978)
> Peak position on Billboard 200: #6 (for 2 weeks)
> Total weeks on Billboard 200: 18
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4. Sheer Heart Attack (1974)
> Peak position on Billboard 200: #12 (for 2 weeks)
> Total weeks on Billboard 200: 32
3. News Of The World (1977)
> Peak position on Billboard 200: #3 (for 2 weeks)
> Total weeks on Billboard 200: 37
2. The Game (1980)
> Peak position on Billboard 200: #1 (for 5 weeks)
> Total weeks on Billboard 200: 43
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1. A Night At The Opera (1975)
> Peak position on Billboard 200: #4 (for 3 weeks)
> Total weeks on Billboard 200: 57
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