# List of Billboard 200 number-one albums of 1985

The Billboard 200, published in Billboard magazine, is a weekly chart that ranks the highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States. Before Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales in 1991, Billboard estimated sales from a representative sampling of record stores nationwide, using telephone, fax or messenger service. Data were based on rankings made by the record stores of the best-selling records, not on actual sales figures.
There were fourteen number-one albums on this chart in 1985, including two releases by Prince and The Revolution: Purple Rain, which stayed at the top for two weeks in 1985, and twenty-two weeks in 1984; and Around the World in a Day, which spent three weeks at number one in June. Bruce Springsteen's Born in the U.S.A., which spent four weeks at number one in 1984, topped the chart again for three weeks, ending at the top of the 1985 year-end chart, helped by the success of his Born in the U.S.A. Tour that visited North America, Europe and Australia. Recording artist Madonna released her second studio album Like a Virgin in November 1984, reaching the top of the chart for three weeks in February 1985. The dance-pop oriented album adapted some of the sound elements of the 1970s disco group Chic, and included "Material Girl" and "Like a Virgin", the two songs that made her an icon and an international celebrity. In May, the album sold four and a half million copies, and by the end of the year it was certified six times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
British pop duo Wham! released Make It Big in 1984, spawning three number-one singles in the U.S, "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go", "Careless Whisper" and "Everything She Wants", and selling four million copies by the end of the year. Rock singer John Fogerty released Centerfield, his first album since 1975, peaking at number one for one week in March. No Jacket Required, the third solo album by British singer-songwriter Phil Collins, spent seven non-consecutive weeks at the top, was certified quadruple platinum at the end of the year by the RIAA, and won the Album of the Year award at the 28th Grammy Awards. In 1985 a supergroup of popular musicians billed as USA for Africa or United Support of Artists for Africa, released a charity recording for famine relief efforts in Ethiopia. We Are the World, which included the title track, written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie and performed by forty-five vocalists, including Jackson, Ritchie, Ray Charles, Bob Dylan, Billy Joel, Cyndi Lauper, Diana Ross, Bruce Springsteen, Tina Turner and Stevie Wonder, was certified triple platinum by the RIAA, and won four awards at the 28th Grammy Awards.
British pop band Tears for Fears released their second album Songs from the Big Chair, which rocketed to the top of the charts on the strength of the singles "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" and "Shout", which both hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Canadian rock singer Bryan Adams released his fourth album Reckless in 1984, peaking at number one for two weeks in 1985, selling four million copies by January 1986, and earning Adams his first two Grammy nominations. Two soundtracks reached the top of the chart in 1985, the first one was the soundtrack for the action-comedy film Beverly Hills Cop, which won the Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture. The second was the soundtrack for the television series Miami Vice, which spent eight non-consecutive weeks at number one, and was certified quadruple platinum by the RIAA in 1986. Released in May 1985, Brothers in Arms was Dire Straits' breakthrough album. Supported by the groundbreaking computer-animated video of "Money for Nothing", the album spent nine weeks at the top, and sold over three million copies by the end of the year. Rock band Heart released a self-titled album that sold more than two million copies in 1985, and contained four top ten songs, including the number-one single "These Dreams".

## Chart history

Key :
| † | Indicates best performing album of 1985 |
| Issue date | Album | Artist(s) | Label |
| January 5 | Purple Rain | Prince and the Revolution / Soundtrack | Warner Bros. |
| January 12 | Purple Rain | Prince and the Revolution / Soundtrack | Warner Bros. |
| January 19 | Born in the U.S.A. | Bruce Springsteen | Columbia |
| January 26 | Born in the U.S.A. | Bruce Springsteen | Columbia |
| February 2 | Born in the U.S.A. | Bruce Springsteen | Columbia |
| February 9 | Like a Virgin | Madonna | Sire |
| February 16 | Like a Virgin | Madonna | Sire |
| February 23 | Like a Virgin | Madonna | Sire |
| March 2 | Make It Big | Wham! | Columbia |
| March 9 | Make It Big | Wham! | Columbia |
| March 16 | Make It Big | Wham! | Columbia |
| March 23 | Centerfield | John Fogerty | Warner Bros. |
| March 30 | No Jacket Required | Phil Collins | Atlantic |
| April 6 | No Jacket Required | Phil Collins | Atlantic |
| April 13 | No Jacket Required | Phil Collins | Atlantic |
| April 20 | No Jacket Required | Phil Collins | Atlantic |
| April 27 | We Are the World | USA for Africa | Columbia |
| May 4 | We Are the World | USA for Africa | Columbia |
| May 11 | We Are the World | USA for Africa | Columbia |
| May 18 | No Jacket Required | Phil Collins | Atlantic |
| May 25 | No Jacket Required | Phil Collins | Atlantic |
| June 1 | Around the World in a Day | Prince and the Revolution | Paisley Park |
| June 8 | Around the World in a Day | Prince and the Revolution | Paisley Park |
| June 15 | Around the World in a Day | Prince and the Revolution | Paisley Park |
| June 22 | Beverly Hills Cop | Soundtrack | MCA |
| June 29 | Beverly Hills Cop | Soundtrack | MCA |
| July 6 | No Jacket Required | Phil Collins | Atlantic |
| July 13 | Songs from the Big Chair | Tears for Fears | Mercury |
| July 20 | Songs from the Big Chair | Tears for Fears | Mercury |
| July 27 | Songs from the Big Chair | Tears for Fears | Mercury |
| August 3 | Songs from the Big Chair | Tears for Fears | Mercury |
| August 10 | Reckless | Bryan Adams | A&M |
| August 17 | Reckless | Bryan Adams | A&M |
| August 24 | Songs from the Big Chair | Tears for Fears | Mercury |
| August 31 | Brothers in Arms | Dire Straits | Warner Bros. |
| September 7 | Brothers in Arms | Dire Straits | Warner Bros. |
| September 14 | Brothers in Arms | Dire Straits | Warner Bros. |
| September 21 | Brothers in Arms | Dire Straits | Warner Bros. |
| September 28 | Brothers in Arms | Dire Straits | Warner Bros. |
| October 5 | Brothers in Arms | Dire Straits | Warner Bros. |
| October 12 | Brothers in Arms | Dire Straits | Warner Bros. |
| October 19 | Brothers in Arms | Dire Straits | Warner Bros. |
| October 26 | Brothers in Arms | Dire Straits | Warner Bros. |
| November 2 | Miami Vice | Soundtrack | MCA |
| November 9 | Miami Vice | Soundtrack | MCA |
| November 16 | Miami Vice | Soundtrack | MCA |
| November 23 | Miami Vice | Soundtrack | MCA |
| November 30 | Miami Vice | Soundtrack | MCA |
| December 7 | Miami Vice | Soundtrack | MCA |
| December 14 | Miami Vice | Soundtrack | MCA |
| December 21 | Heart | Heart | Capitol |
| December 28 | Miami Vice | Soundtrack | MCA |