From pastime to passion to profitable enterprise, the growth of Record Research has been the outgrowth of Joel Whitburn’s hobby.
Joel began collecting records as a teenager in the 1950s. As his collection grew, he began to sort, categorize and file each record according to the highest position it reached on Billboard magazine’s charts.
Since 1970, Joel Whitburn’s Record Research has published 174 books, and Joel has authored 19 books published by Billboard Books and Hal Leonard.
Joel’s passion for music, old and new, and his penchant for accurate detail was lifelong. He spent his final day in this life at his desk researching, as sharp as ever. Joel’s beloved employees share his heart for the charts and are maintaining his legacy with ongoing research and new projects on the horizon. Stay tuned, there’s more to come.
‘A Kid From Menomonee Falls Doing the Billboard Charts … How’d That Happen?’
In 2016, the legendary chronicler of Billboard charts chatted with Billboard’s Gary Trust about his hobby that led to a partnership that dates back 50 years.