List of Billboard Best-Selling Popular Record Albums number ones of 1946
The "Billboard" magazine publishes a weekly chart that ranks the best-selling albums in the United States. In 1946, twelve albums by eleven artists topped the chart. At the time, the chart was titled Best-Selling Popular Record Albums and was "based on reports received from more than 200 dealers" throughout the United States. The first album atop the chart in 1946 was "Merry Christmas", a Christmas compilation album by Bing Crosby, released by Decca. It reached the top in December 1945 and peaked for two more weeks  in January 1946, for a total of six consecutive weeks at number one. It again reached the top in late November for an additional five weeks, making it the longest reigning album of the year. The album was certified gold 25 years after its release by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of 500,000 or more units. Crosby placed a second album atop the listing with the soundtrack to the movie "The Bells of St. Mary's" in March, bringing his total weeks spent at number one to ten. Following numerous single releases in the early 1940s , Frank Sinatra released his debut studio album "The Voice of Frank Sinatra" in March 1946. The album topped the chart for seven consecutive weeks in April and May—the second-longest reigning album in 1946. The second longest-reigning album of the previous year, "Glenn Miller", recorded by Glenn Miller & His Orchestra, again reached the top for an additional five weeks. The album was later crowned as the best-selling album of the year and certified gold by the RIAA in 1968. The Ink Spots' eponymous album reached the top in late September and topped the chart without interruption until  mid-November, making it the second-longest reigning album of the year, alongside Sinatra's.