Bob Marley Tops Billboard’s 2023 ‘Year-End’ Reggae Charts—For Fourth Year In A Row

Legendary Reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers has retained the pole position on the Billboard Year-End Reggae Albums Artists chart, as well as the Year-End Reggae Albums chart with their greatest hits collection Legend: The Best Of Bob Marley & The Wailers—for the fourth year in a row.

Tuff Gong, the label Marley founded in 1970, is No. 1 on the Year-End Reggae Albums Imprints chart, while Universal Music, the major label that markets and distributes his music, is No. 1 on the Year-End Reggae Albums Labels chart and the Year-End Reggae Distributors chart.

Billboard also revealed that Legend, first released on May 8, 1984, holds No. 66 (up from No. 77 last year) on the Year-End Billboard 200 Albums chart, which ranks albums across all genres.

Released today (November 21), the Billboard Year-End 2023 music charts recap aggregated metrics for artists and albums from their weekly charts dated Nov. 20, 2022 through Nov. 12, 2023, based on streaming equivalent album units, airplay, and sales in the United States, as reported by sales tracker Luminate (formerly MRC Data).

Marley’s four-year domination of the Reggae charts is no surprise because, on any given week, the 15x Platinum Legend album continues to sell (and stream) almost as much as the other nine entries on the weekly Billboard Reggae chart, combined.  Billboard had amended its rules in January 2020, allowing the 40-year-old album to dominate the weekly Reggae chart for the last four years, except for the one week in 2022 when it was deposed by Stick Figure’s Wisdom.

Legend is Marley’s highest-charting album in the US, peaking at No. 5 on the Billboard 200.  It is the best-selling reggae album of all time, with over 15 million copies sold in the US, over 4.2 million copies in the UK, and an estimated 33 million copies sold globally. As of November 16, 2023. Legend has spent 1108 weeks in the top 100 of the UK Albums Chart—the second-longest run in that chart’s history, and 809 weeks on the US Billboard 200 weekly chart—the second album after Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon (984 weeks), to hit over 15 years on that chart.

Year-End Reggae Albums chart

Meanwhile, back on the Year-End Reggae Albums chart, which covers metrics from the top 15 individual Reggae and Dancehall albums, Best Of Shaggy: The Boombastic Collection by Shaggy was at No. 2, followed by Dutty Classics Collection by Sean Paul at No. 3 and Wisdom by Stick Figure at No. 4.

Greatest Hits by UB40 is at No. 5, followed by World On Fire by Stick Figure at No. 6, and Set In Stone at No. 7, No Love by Byron Messia at No. 8, Sean Paul’s Dutty Rock at No. 9 and Live At Red Rocks by Rebelution at No. 10.

Gifted by Koffee is at No. 11, followed by Great Is He by Popcaan at No. 12, Backyard Sessions: Malibu Edition by Iration at No. 13, Endless Summer by The Elovaters at No. 14, and Outside by Burna Boy at No. 15.

Year-End Reggae Albums Artists chart

On the Year-End Reggae Albums Artists chart, which covers metrics from all albums released by each artist during the period, Stick Figure, Shaggy, and Sean Paul occupy the No. 2, 3, and 4 spots, respectively.

UB-40, Byron Messia, and Rebelution are at No. 5, 6, and 7, respectively, while Koffee, Popcaan, and Iration are at No. 8, 9, and 10, respectively.

Year-End Reggae Albums Imprints

Island Records, Stick Figure’s Ruffwood, Geffen and Hip-O are at No. 2 through 5 on the Year-End Reggae Albums Imprints chart, respectively.

Year-End Reggae Albums Labels

Ruffwood, Rhino, Ineffable Records, and Prince Swanny’s Ztekk Records are at No. 2 through 5 on the Year-End Reggae Albums Labels chart, respectively.

Year-End Reggae Albums Distributors

Independents, WMX and Sony Music are at No. 2 through 4 on the Year-End Reggae Albums Distributors chart, respectively.