Janet Jackson has reached a familiar place: No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. This time, the iconic singer earned the spot with Unbreakable, her latest release, but she’s accomplished the same feat with six of her other albums as well. According to Billboard, Jackson is now one of just three artists who have managed to score a No. 1 album in each of the past four decades.
Unbreakable is Jackson’s first album since 2008’s Discipline, as well as her first to be independently released through her own label, Rhythm Nation, alongside distribution partner BMG. The seven-year span is her longest ever between releases, but clearly she didn’t miss a beat. After dropping on Oct. 2, Unbreakable sold 116,000 equivalent album units during the week ending on Oct. 8, according to Nielsen Music.
The pop diva has been promoting her album through her Unbreakable World Tour, which kicked off on August 31 and includes tour stops across North America, as well as in Asia and Europe. However, as Billboard pointed out, Jackson has been surprisingly quiet when it comes to talking Unbreakable up in the press. When you’re Janet Jackson, though, press interviews aren’t apparently all that necessary. After all, her career speaks for itself.
When Unbreakable‘s lead single, No Sleeep, featuring J.Cole debuted, it became Jackson’s 40th song to hit the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Jackson now also forms an elite group with Barbra Streisand and Bruce Springsteen; the trio are the only artists to have had a No. 1 album in each of the last four decades. With her seven No. 1 albums, only two female artists can claim more than Jackson — Streisand with 10, and Madonna with eight.
Jackson was recently nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s Class of 2016, in recognition of her amazing accomplishments.
