30 Jan 2025

‘90s Breakthrough Acts That Notched Their First No. 1 Albums in the 21st Century

The 1990s brought a host of new names to the Billboard 200, as acts in pop, rock, R&B/hip-hop, country and dance made their marks with attention-getting albums.

Still, not all artists lead the list on their first try, as they continue to build a following – making an initial No. 1 that much sweeter.

In the first quarter of the 21st century, notable acts notched their first Billboard 200 No. 1s between the start of 2000 and the end of 2024. For this spotlight, we’re looking at eight artists that: 1, First hit the chart in the ‘90s; 2, Led for the first time between Jan. 1, 2000, and Dec. 31, 2024; 3, First reigned at least 10 years after a first entry; and 4, Charted at least five albums before reaching No. 1.

As Billboard celebrates the top-performing artists, albums and songs of the first 25 years of the century since 2000, browse below, listed chronologically by their first leaders, acts that broke through in the ‘90s and went on to score their first Billboard 200 No. 1s after Y2K.

Plus, check out Billboard’s Top Hot 100 Songs of the 21st Century chart, Top Artists of the 21st Century chart and Top Billboard 200 Albums of the 21st Century chart, as well as all coverage of Billboard’s 21st Century charts here.

Billboard’s Top Artists, Top Billboard 200 Albums and Top Hot 100 Songs of the 21st Century recaps reflect performance on weekly charts dated Jan. 1, 2000, through Dec. 28, 2024. The Top Artists category ranks the best-performing acts in that span based on activity on the Billboard 200 and Billboard Hot 100. (Titles released prior to mid-1999 are excluded, although such entries that appeared on the Billboard 200 or Hot 100 in that span contribute to the calculation of the Top Artists chart.)

Green Day

Image Credit: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic for Nickelodeon Magazine

First No. 1 Billboard 200 album: American Idiot
Date album hit No. 1: Oct. 9, 2004
First appearance on the chart: Feb. 19, 1994

When American Idiot premiered at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, it was a little more than a decade since the trio first dented the chart, with Dookie. That set reached No. 2, as did its follow-up, 1995’s Insomniac. The band topped the list for the first time with American Idiot, a “punk-rock opera” that spent three weeks at No. 1 and launched the act’s highest-charting hit on the Billboard Hot 100, the No. 2-peaking “Boulevard of Broken Dreams.” The album also garnered the band its first nomination for album of the year at the Grammy Awards, and was the basis for the 2010 Tony Award-winning musical of the same name.

In 2024, frontman Billie Joe Armstrong recalled a fan approaching him at London’s BRIT Awards. “They go, ‘American Idiot changed my life.’ And I said, ‘It changed my life, too!’ ” he said with a laugh. “It changed everything for me. It really made me feel like I can spread my wings. It proved to me that, if you have the guts to do it, then you can make it happen. When you have a hunch that it’s time to make a big statement, musically, and it gets acknowledged, it’s the best feeling ever.”
Busta Rhymes

Image Credit: Stephen Lovekin/WireImage

First No. 1 Billboard 200 album: The Big Bang
Date album hit No. 1: July 1, 2006
First appearance on the chart: April 13, 1996

In the late 90’s and early 2000s, Busta Rhymes was a steady hitmaker on both the Billboard 200 and Hot 100. He notched five top 40 albums on the Billboard 200 in 1996-2001, along with top 10 Hot 100 hits such as “Woo-Hah!! Got You All in Check,” “Dangerous” and “Turn It Up [Remix]”/“Fire It Up.” It wasn’t until his 2006 album The Big Bang, however, that he reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200. The rapper made his debut on the chart more than 10 years earlier, when The Coming entered and peaked at No. 6.
Foo Fighters

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First No. 1 Billboard 200 album: Wasting Light
Date album hit No. 1: April 30, 2011
First appearance on the chart: July 22, 1995

The Dave Grohl-led Foo Fighters made their Billboard 200 bow with their self-titled album, which opened and peaked at No. 23. The band would chart seven more albums, with five reaching the top 10, before hitting No. 1 with 2011’s Wasting Light. The LP became the first of two leaders for the group in the first 25 years of the 21st century, ahead of 2017’s Concrete and Gold.

In 2018, Foo Fighters were crowned the top act in the history of Billboard’s Alternative Airplay chart. “You have to write great songs. That’s it,” Grohl told Billboard. “To me, the challenge was always trying to craft a song that was simple in a way that people would connect to it emotionally. Even just a melody … that’s a funny thing. A lyric is one thing, but there’s something that a melody can do … just the sound of a minor scale, or a major scale rising in a chorus. The notes will twist your heart. That’s the Rubik’s Cube, trying to find a melody and lyric will braid together and create four minutes of memory that you’ll have for the rest of your life.”
Matchbox Twenty

Image Credit: Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images

First No. 1 Billboard 200 album: North
Date album hit No. 1: Sept. 22, 2012
First appearance on the chart: March 22, 1997

You might be surprised that Matchbox Twenty missed No. 1 on the Billboard 200 during the heyday of such hit singles as “Push,” “3 AM,” “Bent,” “If You’re Gone” and “Unwell,” all of which hit the top five on the Radio Songs chart in 1997-2003. The band charted five albums from Yourself or Someone Like You through 2007’s Exile on Mainstream, with four reaching the top 10. But it wasn’t until 2012’s aptly titled North that the group reached the chart’s top spot.

Before the band’s first Billboard 200 No. 1, frontman Rob Thomas led as a soloist with …Something To Be in 2005.
Gary Allan

Image Credit: Jeff Golden/WireImage

First No. 1 Billboard 200 album: Set You Free
Date album hit No. 1: Feb. 9, 2013
First appearance on the chart: Nov. 9, 1996

Sixteen years after country singer Gary Allan made his Billboard 200 entrance with Used Heart for Sale, he led for the first time with Set You Free, which arrived with his largest sales week for an album: 106,000, according to Luminate. The count was helped by the single “Every Storm (Runs Out of Rain),” which hit No. 1 on Country Airplay, becoming his first chart-topper since 2004. The song led the week that its parent album topped the Billboard 200. Prior to Set You Free, Allan charted 10 collections, with four reaching the top 10 in 2005-10.
Daft Punk

Image Credit: Jamie McCarthy/GI

First No. 1 Billboard 200 album: Random Access Memories
Date album hit No. 1: June 8, 2013
First appearance on the chart: July 26, 1997

Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 nearly 16 years after the French dance/electronic duo made its first visit to the chart, with Homework. Random Access Memories was led by the smash Pharrell Williams-featuring single “Get Lucky,” which spent five weeks at No. 2 on the Hot 100. Daft Punk (Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo) would ride the reach of Random Access Memories to a memorable night at the 2014 Grammy Awards, when the pair won four trophies, including album of the year for the set and record of the year for “Get Lucky.”

Random Access Memories served as Daft Punk’s final album before the duo disbanded in 2021.
Tyrese

Image Credit: Paul Zimmerman/Getty Images

First No. 1 Billboard 200 album: Black Rose
Date album hit No. 1: Aug. 1, 2015
First appearance on the chart: Nov. 14, 1998

Almost 17 years after singer-actor Tyrese first reached the Billboard 200 with his self-titled album, he claimed his first No. 1 upon the debut of Black Rose. The set arrived only a few months after the release of the action blockbuster Furious 7, in which Tyrese co-starred. It closed 2015 as the fifth-highest-grossing film at the U.S. and Canada box office.
Andrea Bocelli

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First No. 1 Billboard 200 album: Sì
Date album hit No. 1: Nov. 10, 2018
First appearance on the chart: Dec. 20, 1997

The 26th time was the charm for Andrea Bocelli, as Sì became his first Billboard 200 leader, more than 20 years after the classical superstar made his debut with Romanza. Sì also gave Bocelli his ninth top 10. He had come close to No. 1 twice before, with My Christmas (five weeks at No. 2 in 2009) and Passione (one week at No. 2, 2013).

Sì includes duets with Ed Sheeran, Dua Lipa and Josh Groban, as well as Aida Garifullina and Matteo Bocelli, Andrea’s son. “Ed is a young artist full of talent. He’s sensitive and prepared, besides being affable,” Bocelli mused to Billboard in 2018. Of Dua Lipa, he said, “The voice of this very young British singer is unique, recognizable, expressive and as brilliant as her interpretative intelligence. Singing with her, I can attest to her charisma and versatility.”

Plus, “I have an authentic weak spot for Josh,” Bocelli said of Groban. “Almost 20 years have passed since Josh, at the age of 17, replaced me when, due to an impediment, I could not perform in a duet with my friend, Celine Dion. So, as I always say with a touch of pride, I feel somewhat responsible for his debut as an artist who would soon go on to a deserved, brilliant career.”