James Taylor Lands His First Number One [Video]

It's been 45 years since James Taylor debuted on the Billboard chart with 'Sweet Baby James,' and now he finally has a number one album.

The singer’s latest record 'Before This World' debuted on top the Billboard Hot 200 this week, selling the equivalent of 97,000 records, 96,000 of that in pure album sales. Although it’s Taylor’s first number one, it isn’t his best debut ever.

That came with his last album, 'October Road' which sold 154,000 copies and debuted at number four. Overall Taylor has had 11 Top Ten albums in his career.

The new number one means Taylor had the second longest wait for a number one album, surpassing Black Sabbath whose '13' debuted at number one in 2013, 43 years after their self-titled debut entered the chart in 1970. Tony Bennett still holds the record for the longest wait, at 54 years. (His debut 'Tony' was released in 1957, and his first number one, 'Duets II,' came in 2011.)

Elsewhere on the chart, Taylor Swift’s '1989' is spending another week at number two, followed by Adam Lambert’s latest, 'The Original High' which debuts at number three, moving 47,000 copies. Ed Sheeran’s 'x' climbs from six to four this week, followed by Hilary Duff’s latest 'Breath in. Breathe Out' which debuts at five.

Rounding out the Top Ten are: country singer Sam Hunt’s 'Montevallo' at six, Nate Ruess’ solo debut 'Grand Romantic' at seven, Meghan Trainor’s 'Title' at eight, Maroon 5’s 'V' at nine and Mumford & Sons’'Wilder Mind' at 10.

Here's a track from 'Before This World', a tribute to Taylor's favorite baseball team, the Red Sox, called 'Angels of Fenway'.