CIRCA 1976: (L-R) Bernie Leadon, Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Randy Meisner and Don Felder of the rock … [+]
The Eagles are nearing what appears to be an end date for the band, if not in name, than in practice. The group members have stated in the past that they likely won’t record a new album, and it’s been many years since they last delivered a full-length. They have also made it clear that when their current concert trek, The Long Goodbye Tour, is finished, they won’t tour again.
As fans of the legendary rock band prepare for the group to essentially be no more, they are still listening to the music that made them one of the most successful acts of all time. As millions stream and buy the Eagles’ most famous tracks, one of their most successful releases reaches a special milestone.
Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975 is celebrating making it to a major landmark this frame in America. The compilation has now spent 450 weeks on the Billboard 200, the all-encompassing ranking of the most-consumed albums in the country.
The Eagles have never before seen an album hit that number. Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975 is far and away their longest-charting title to ever appear on the Billboard 200, and even it is still reaching lofty figures.
The group’s second-longest-charting title has lived on the same tally for almost exactly half as long. The Very Best of the Eagles has thus far racked up 223 weeks on the Billboard 200, though it is rarely seen these days.
Typically, when a band has several successful compilations available, all streams and sales attributed to songs that may be featured on more than one collection end up fueling just one on the Billboard charts. Whichever title is performing better–say, between Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975 and The Very Best of the Eagles–earns all the plays and purchases of the singles featured on both of them. That leads one to soar on the weekly tallies, while the other usually disappears.
Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975 was released in 1976, and in the decades since it dropped, it has remained one of the top-performing projects in American history. The compilation has been certified 38-times platinum by the RIAA, which means it has shifted at least 38 million equivalent units in the U.S. The real number is likely much higher, as the title hasn’t earned any new awards from the organization since 2018.
