Only five albums reached number one in 1984 and the list might surprise you
By Joel Wagler
22 weeks - Purple Rain, Prince and the Revolution
From The Boss to His Royal Highness! Prince's brilliant soundtrack to his (maybe) semi-autobiographical movie Purple Rain spent the last 22 weeks of 1984 and the first two weeks of 1985 firmly entrenched at the top of the Billboard album chart.
The album produced two number-one singles, and amazingly enough, neither was the incredible title track which peaked at number two. "When Doves Cry" and "Let's Go Crazy" both topped the charts and " I Would Die 4 U" landed at number eight.
Despite all of the great songs on this record and all of the great songs this genius produced in his career, the title track may be his most lasting legacy, despite falling short of the top chart spot. It is undoubtedly one of the best songs from a soundtrack ever. In 2021, Rolling Stone named "Purple Rain" the 18th greatest song ever.
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Prince is absolutely one of the greatest musicians of all time, and he would have many more hits after this album, but Purple Rain was his most personal work, and it still stands today as a terrific compilation of music.
Just five albums hit number one in 1984, and one of those was just for a week. It was a year dominated by Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, and Prince, but there was a lot of great music that year. Out of the five albums, how many did you guess correctly?
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