SZA has hit another chart milestone. The singer-songwriter’s SOS has tied with Michael Jackson’s Thriller, notching 79 total, nonconsecutive weeks each in the top 10 on the Billboard 200. According to Luminate, no other Black artist has as many, or more, weeks in the top 10 for an album.
“My album tying MJ’s ‘Thriller’ record … Got me speechless,” a shocked SZA told TMZ Hip Hop following her appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Tuesday evening (March 11). In his own social media post on X, Top Dawg Entertainment president and SZA manager Terrence “Punch” Henderson succinctly described the momentous occasion with one word: “Insane,” followed by two praying hands emoji.
SOS reached its 79th week in the top 10 on the latest chart, dated March 15, when it held steady at No. 4. MJ’s Thriller claimed its 79th week in the top 10 when it jumped 115-7 on the Dec. 2, 2022-dated chart following its 40th anniversary reissue. For those wondering, the record for most weeks in the top 10 reached by any album is the original cast album to My Fair Lady, with 173 weeks in the top 10 of the Billboard 200.
SZA’s latest chart achievement comes in the wake of other good news this week. “Luther,” her duet with soon-to-be tour mate Kendrick Lamar, is celebrating its third week at No. 1 on the Hot 100. That feat also finds Lamar tying his prior longest Hot 100 reigns: three nonconsecutive weeks with “Not Like Us” between last May and this February and three weeks in a row last April with “Like That” alongside Future and Metro Boomin.
Lamar and SZA’s highly anticipated Grand National Tour kicks off on April 19 in Minneapolis.
