History. It’s hard to point to a more influential and important record released in the 21st century than Chris Stapleton’s Traveller. While, of course, there have been some legendary records released in the same time frame, with Sturgill Simpson’s Metamodern Sounds in Country Music, Tyler Childers‘ Purgatory and Eric Church’s Chief all having a huge impact on a wide variety of subgenres and artists, it’s hard to argue against Traveller in terms both influence and success. Since its release on May 5, 2015, Traveller has secured Stapleton a plethora of different awards, accomplishments and records over the past decade. Beyond the simple fact that it, along with his cover of David Allan Coe’s “Tennessee Whiskey,” put him on the map in the mind’s of the general public after year’s of quality work in Nashville as a songwriter, Traveller would score the Kentucky native Country Album of the Year at the Grammys, along with Album of the Year wins at both the 49th CMA Awards and 51st ACM Awards. With all of that being said, however, it’s the sheer longevity of Traveller that’s arguably the most shocking and ultimately most notable in terms of its legacy in the genre. Notably, Traveller was named Billboard’s Top Country Album of the Century earlier this year, despite only being released 15 years into the 25-year tracking period. This, of course, was due to its mammoth 29 weeks spent at #1 on the Top Country Albums chart and the long-lasting success of “Tennessee Whiskey,” which spent two weeks on the Hot Country Songs chart and would later procure over a billion streams on Spotify. Other standout tracks, such as the title track, “Either Way” and “Parachute,” all of which notched Stapleton Top 20 hits on the aforementioned Hot Country Songs chart, also aided Traveller’s #1 spot. In addition to Traveller cementing itself in country music history as the #1 album of the 21st century back in May, Stapleton and the album recently just passed another long-standing record held by none other than Willie Nelson this week. As of December 2, 2025, Traveller has now spent a record 552 weeks on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart, surpassing Willie Nelson’s iconic 1978 record, Stardust, which held the record at 551 weeks, staying on the chart from the time of its release in June 1978 to 1988. Given the fact that Traveller has currently been comfortably sitting inside the Top 50 on the Top Country Albums chart for over a decade at this point, it’s safe to assume that it will extend its lead over Stardust in the following years to come. Traveller Stardust As of today, Traveller has spent a staggering 10.59 years on the chart straight. To put its mammoth run into perspective, other popular albums released in the 2010s such as Eric Church’s Chief, Taylor Swift’s Fearless, Florida Georgia Line’s Here’s to the Good Times and Luke Bryan’s Crash My Party, all of which received Top 10 placement on Billboard’s Top Country Albums of the 21st century list, all failed to hit even 400 concurrent weeks on the chart. For nearly four decades, Nelson’s record seemed nearly impossible to pass given its sheer longevity. With that being said, however, Stapleton did the unthinkable. Given the current trajectory it’s on, it will be years until the record is broken again, with the only possible artist/album with the potential to break it (in theory given his popularity) currently being Morgan Wallen’s If I Know Me, which recently spent its 391st week on the chart. “Tennessee Whiskey” The post Chris Stapleton’s “Traveller” Officially Passes Willie Nelson’s “Stardust” As The Longest-Running Record Of All Time On Billboard’s Top Country Albums Chart first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

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