According to Paul Haney on BSN who also works at Record Research (the publisher of the more comprehensive Billboard books), these are his words: My boss, dear friend and professional mentor Joel Whitburn passed away peacefully overnight at the age of 82. He had been in failing health in recent weeks, but we were not expecting him to go this quickly. I last saw him on Sunday and we had a nice visit. Arrangements are pending.
Sad news. From an early age I was obsessed with the music charts, and Billboard in particular. His books were like candy to me.
Damn. I loved digesting several of his books when I was a kid. R.I.P. Now I wonder, what becomes of his massive collection?
A man who through Record Research started the modern systematic recording of chart histories, realizing people needed a reference for cataloguing their records and a tool for producing oldies shows with countdowns and interesting facts Joel will be missed. I first found his guides and found them invaluable. R.i.p. Joel.
Huge "rabbit hole" books. You open them intending to look up one thing, which leads to another, and to another...
The Whitburn books were indispensable in the era before the Internet/Discogs/etc, and even now, offered a far more curated (and therefore often far more useful) resource. RIP.
I never had the chance to thank Mr. Whitburn for his valuable books in my longtime record collecting habit, but for years I would have been seriously lost without them. RIP Joel
As most others have already said Joel's books are indispensable. Mr. Whitburn set the standard for all "chart" related books thanks to his high bar of accuracy and completeness. RIP indeed.
In many ways, Mr. Whitburn was like me, viz his long relationship with Billboard. I had developed something of a relationship with Sony Music's archives when I commenced my research on a singles discography book on Columbia Records from 1939 to 1974. In so compiling the vast info on that long-running series, I uncovered a few 45's that I had in my collection (not only on Columbia, but also on Epic) but were not in their card files - and when finding out the necessary info, filled everything up and cross-filed them where they all should be. (One such 45, which apparently came out in Hawaii only, was an Ed Kenney single from 1960, "Numba One Day Of Christmas" / "Kaalalea.") One of the Forumites, 'DMortenson', in his work on what sessions were held at their fabled 30th Street studios and when, had me work with him one day five years ago on a laptop to input various dates (he could tell you I inputted more entries for one year than he did for another year in that same stretch). In that final visit, thanks to 45cat and Discogs, I alerted the archives to yet another Columbia 45 (by a group called Wool) that they did not have in any of their card files by single, artist, matrix numbers, etc. - and, being as I am, I took care of that. As the archivist was filing away the cards I gave him, he then came back after he finished and said, "Oh, I know your handwriting all right . . . " But there was also a downside, which to Mr. Whitburn's credit, in his last years, he sought to redress with books on chart histories of Billboard's competitors and books on chart comparisons amongst them. Namely, up to then, his books basically established Billboard as the "official" U.S. chart, relegating its competitors Cash Box, Record World (known until 1964 as Music Vendor) and (after 1973) Radio & Records to the sidelines, and a hardening of attitude that "if it didn't make #1 in Billboard, it didn't make #1 at all" regardless of whether such a record topped CB, RW and/or R&R. It was his first books on Billboard's charts, in fact, that led the creators of American Top 40, at the start, to use Billboard as the go-to chart for their weekly countdowns when that show was first launched on Independence Day 1970. But there is no doubt his comprehensiveness in what he did blazed a trail for all those that followed - including Paul Gambaccini and Guinness with books on UK charts.
So sorry to read this. As so many have posted, his books are absolutely indispensable to me. I get lost in them. He wrote so often of his family, and I wish them much peace and comfort. His work meant a lot to us.
Very saddened at Joel Whitburn's passing. A major chart historian, and legendary. A very sad loss in the world of music history.
I’m sad to hear of his passing. I’ve been collecting his books since I was in high school, and this was a way I discovered a number of artists and songs. It all started with my dad’s copy of Pop Annual 1955-1986 when I was 15, and I still have it to this day. His time and dedication have allowed many of us to understand and further appreciate the industry.
