their candles may have burned out but
they weren’t ready to fade away come
with welcome to watchmojo.com and today
we’re counting down our picks for the
top 10 posthumous albums
for this list we’re only looking at
albums that were released after the
artist or a member of the band that
created them passed away most of this
material must be previously unreleased
so we’re excluding compilations and live
albums
number ten made in heaven Queen it’s
winter fall let’s guys are clean while
dying of AIDS Freddie Mercury tried to
make the best of his remaining health by
recording as many vocals as he possibly
could with Queen please let me back
inside
after his passing the remaining members
used these demos to complete multiple
tracks and combine them with previously
recorded mercury material to which they
added the Queen stamp
kill you every time the resulting album
made in heaven was a global smash and
included Mercury’s last vocal recordings
on mother love
number nine from a basement on the hill
Elliot Smith the coolest attraction
Domino’s falling the chain reaction by
the time of his death the indie musician
had already recorded heaps of new
material the judges own decisions on fun
nobody gets a reprieve unfortunately few
tracks could be considered completed
products despite this Elliot Smith’s
family wanted the world to hear would he
come up with an ex producer and an
ex-girlfriend collected 15 Tunes opting
to leave them unfinished and mixing only
what had been recorded
final album may not have been what Smith
intended but it did become his highest
charting album ever reaching number 19
on the Billboard 200
number eight sublime sublime the blinds
third effort was supposed to come out
under another name but ended up being
self titled after frontman Bradley
Nowell died of a drug overdose before
its street date was you might get run
over oh you might get shot sublime
became the band’s first major label
release and their mainstream
breakthrough though the success was
obviously bittersweet the staple of 90s
alt rock has sold over six million
copies thanks to the fact that multiple
singles charted within the hot modern
Rock Tracks top five
number seven milk and honey
John Lennon and Yoko Ono as the
follow-up to Double Fantasy the last
album released while John Lennon was
still alive
milk and honey was put on the back
burner after the former Beatle was
assassinated the collaborative effort
has eventually released more than three
years after his death as a Tokioka
Ono that long to return to the project
while she contributed mainly new and
more slickly produced tracks
she left Lennon’s work mostly untouched
and raw
the album went on to chart within the
Billboard 200 s top 20
number six dreaming of you Selena
you
intended as her english-language cross
over dreaming of you only had five songs
in the can before Selena met her
untimely demise
Oh
a murder by the ex-president of her
fanclub prompted label execs to package
these new tracks with some older
material and previously unreleased
Spanish songs
effort made history when it entered the
Billboard charts at number one as Selena
became the first solo act to achieve
this feat posthumously
number five American five a hundred
highways Johnny Cash you can run along
fortunately for us the man in black had
recorded approximately fifty new tracks
prior to his death in 2003 twelve of
those songs became American five a
hundred highways which was also his 93rd
record overall consisting mainly of
covers it includes songs by Ian Tyson
for strong winds that blow long seven
seas that run high and Gordon Lightfoot
if you could read my mind love what a
ten my thoughts good kill as well as a
stripped down version of God’s gonna cut
you down so I’m a gun store
that girl’s gonna
after topping both the pop and country
charts it became Johnny Cash’s first
number-one effort since 1969 til the
Ramblers the gambler the back batter
telling the guards gonna get you down
come on the guns
but you have element God’s gonna cut you
down number four the donk Illuminati
the 7 day theory Makaveli using the
alias Makaveli Tupac Shakur completed
his fifth album a few months before he
was fatally shot in September of 1996 we
might fight amongst each other but I
promise you it will burn this bitch damn
get to live in LA
following producer Suge Knight’s rush
release of the effort that November the
7 day theory went on to sell more than
half a million units in its first week
and it eventually topped the Billboard
charts a considerably darker effort than
his earlier work the records lyrics have
POC dissing other rappers like nas jay-z
Puff Daddy and the notorious b.i.g
so everybody now give a warm round of
applause for the notorious BGI
number three life after death the
notorious b.i.g level in this book was
me I like that when I was young I
absolutely following a delay of a couple
of months life after death ultimately
dropped two weeks after biggie was
murdered in a drive-by shooting in
addition to critical acclaim
the album sold 10 million units and
topped both the Billboard 200 and the
top R&B hip-hop albums chart
meanwhile hypnotize and Mo Money mo
problems made him the first artist to
score two posthumous number-one hits for
roadies in the sky please lyrically UC
Vig be flossing jig on a couple of
Fortune five below number two purl Janis
Joplin Oh Lord won’t you buy me a
Mercedes Benz my friends it was her
on-again off-again relationship with
alcohol and hard drugs that eventually
led to Janis Joplin’s fatal overdose in
1970 no help from my friends so our Lord
won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz and
when this occurred she was in the midst
of recording sessions for her second
solo album luckily enough material was
captured to fashion an album out of this
fusion of blues country and funk rock
and I said baby don’t you realize you
looking for your laughs over the honey
why don’t we all obvious your life’s
waiting like a goddamn fool right girl
landed atop the Billboard charts for
nine weeks
you
the album is also known for including
her only number-one single a cover of
Kris Kristofferson’s me and Bobby McGee
good enough for me in my Bobby
before we unveil our top pick here are a
few honorable mentions
New York
20,000
number one closer Joy Division released
two months after the suicide of frontman
Ian Curtis Joy Division sophomore outing
is considered by many to be the group’s
finest hour
produced by Martin Hannett at Pink
Floyd’s Britannia row studio closer is
chock-full of hypnotic drumbeats hooky
baselines and curtis’s own dune meets
bloom vocals
the album also sets the template for
what would become gothic rock and paved
the way for the remaining band members
to regroup and form new order do you
agree with our list what’s your favorite
posthumous album
for more entertaining top 10s published
every day be sure to subscribe to
watchmojo.com
you
they weren’t ready to fade away come
with welcome to watchmojo.com and today
we’re counting down our picks for the
top 10 posthumous albums
for this list we’re only looking at
albums that were released after the
artist or a member of the band that
created them passed away most of this
material must be previously unreleased
so we’re excluding compilations and live
albums
number ten made in heaven Queen it’s
winter fall let’s guys are clean while
dying of AIDS Freddie Mercury tried to
make the best of his remaining health by
recording as many vocals as he possibly
could with Queen please let me back
inside
after his passing the remaining members
used these demos to complete multiple
tracks and combine them with previously
recorded mercury material to which they
added the Queen stamp
kill you every time the resulting album
made in heaven was a global smash and
included Mercury’s last vocal recordings
on mother love
number nine from a basement on the hill
Elliot Smith the coolest attraction
Domino’s falling the chain reaction by
the time of his death the indie musician
had already recorded heaps of new
material the judges own decisions on fun
nobody gets a reprieve unfortunately few
tracks could be considered completed
products despite this Elliot Smith’s
family wanted the world to hear would he
come up with an ex producer and an
ex-girlfriend collected 15 Tunes opting
to leave them unfinished and mixing only
what had been recorded
final album may not have been what Smith
intended but it did become his highest
charting album ever reaching number 19
on the Billboard 200
number eight sublime sublime the blinds
third effort was supposed to come out
under another name but ended up being
self titled after frontman Bradley
Nowell died of a drug overdose before
its street date was you might get run
over oh you might get shot sublime
became the band’s first major label
release and their mainstream
breakthrough though the success was
obviously bittersweet the staple of 90s
alt rock has sold over six million
copies thanks to the fact that multiple
singles charted within the hot modern
Rock Tracks top five
number seven milk and honey
John Lennon and Yoko Ono as the
follow-up to Double Fantasy the last
album released while John Lennon was
still alive
milk and honey was put on the back
burner after the former Beatle was
assassinated the collaborative effort
has eventually released more than three
years after his death as a Tokioka
Ono that long to return to the project
while she contributed mainly new and
more slickly produced tracks
she left Lennon’s work mostly untouched
and raw
the album went on to chart within the
Billboard 200 s top 20
number six dreaming of you Selena
you
intended as her english-language cross
over dreaming of you only had five songs
in the can before Selena met her
untimely demise
Oh
a murder by the ex-president of her
fanclub prompted label execs to package
these new tracks with some older
material and previously unreleased
Spanish songs
effort made history when it entered the
Billboard charts at number one as Selena
became the first solo act to achieve
this feat posthumously
number five American five a hundred
highways Johnny Cash you can run along
fortunately for us the man in black had
recorded approximately fifty new tracks
prior to his death in 2003 twelve of
those songs became American five a
hundred highways which was also his 93rd
record overall consisting mainly of
covers it includes songs by Ian Tyson
for strong winds that blow long seven
seas that run high and Gordon Lightfoot
if you could read my mind love what a
ten my thoughts good kill as well as a
stripped down version of God’s gonna cut
you down so I’m a gun store
that girl’s gonna
after topping both the pop and country
charts it became Johnny Cash’s first
number-one effort since 1969 til the
Ramblers the gambler the back batter
telling the guards gonna get you down
come on the guns
but you have element God’s gonna cut you
down number four the donk Illuminati
the 7 day theory Makaveli using the
alias Makaveli Tupac Shakur completed
his fifth album a few months before he
was fatally shot in September of 1996 we
might fight amongst each other but I
promise you it will burn this bitch damn
get to live in LA
following producer Suge Knight’s rush
release of the effort that November the
7 day theory went on to sell more than
half a million units in its first week
and it eventually topped the Billboard
charts a considerably darker effort than
his earlier work the records lyrics have
POC dissing other rappers like nas jay-z
Puff Daddy and the notorious b.i.g
so everybody now give a warm round of
applause for the notorious BGI
number three life after death the
notorious b.i.g level in this book was
me I like that when I was young I
absolutely following a delay of a couple
of months life after death ultimately
dropped two weeks after biggie was
murdered in a drive-by shooting in
addition to critical acclaim
the album sold 10 million units and
topped both the Billboard 200 and the
top R&B hip-hop albums chart
meanwhile hypnotize and Mo Money mo
problems made him the first artist to
score two posthumous number-one hits for
roadies in the sky please lyrically UC
Vig be flossing jig on a couple of
Fortune five below number two purl Janis
Joplin Oh Lord won’t you buy me a
Mercedes Benz my friends it was her
on-again off-again relationship with
alcohol and hard drugs that eventually
led to Janis Joplin’s fatal overdose in
1970 no help from my friends so our Lord
won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz and
when this occurred she was in the midst
of recording sessions for her second
solo album luckily enough material was
captured to fashion an album out of this
fusion of blues country and funk rock
and I said baby don’t you realize you
looking for your laughs over the honey
why don’t we all obvious your life’s
waiting like a goddamn fool right girl
landed atop the Billboard charts for
nine weeks
you
the album is also known for including
her only number-one single a cover of
Kris Kristofferson’s me and Bobby McGee
good enough for me in my Bobby
before we unveil our top pick here are a
few honorable mentions
New York
20,000
number one closer Joy Division released
two months after the suicide of frontman
Ian Curtis Joy Division sophomore outing
is considered by many to be the group’s
finest hour
produced by Martin Hannett at Pink
Floyd’s Britannia row studio closer is
chock-full of hypnotic drumbeats hooky
baselines and curtis’s own dune meets
bloom vocals
the album also sets the template for
what would become gothic rock and paved
the way for the remaining band members
to regroup and form new order do you
agree with our list what’s your favorite
posthumous album
for more entertaining top 10s published
every day be sure to subscribe to
watchmojo.com
you
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