3 Successful Albums That Were Essentially Solo Projects

Creating an album, every professional musician does it. However, what every professional musician does not do is create one primarily by themselves. We aren’t talking about a musician who simply releases a solo album. Rather, we are talking about a musician who plays every instrument, sings every note, and works on every single track of the album primarily by themselves.

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Creating an album alone almost seems impossible, as it takes the most talented of musicians to know their exact vision and turn it into something tangible with hardly any help. However, and to an extent, it has been done, and frankly, who it has been done by probably won’t surprise you. So, here are three successful albums that were essentially solo projects, given that the musicians who created them had very minimal help.

Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney is a musical savant; we’ve all known this. Hence, it is not at all shocking that Paul McCartney made his 1970 debut solo album almost entirely by himself. He played every instrument and produced every single track, but did include some very minimal vocal collaborations from his wife, Linda McCartney.

Released in 1970, Paul McCartney’s self-titled debut album peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. If you thought that wasn’t enough, McCartney’s debut album also peaked at No. 2 on the charts in the United Kingdom, and other than the little help he had from Linda, he did it all by himself.

Prince

Along with McCartney, Prince is also one of the most revered musical virtuosos of the 20th century. That being so, Prince was able to create his 1978 debut album, For You, mainly all by himself. In addition to composing, producing, and singing every track, Prince reportedly played 27 different instruments on the project.

Following its 1978 release, Prince gained a fair amount of notoriety. Why that happended is because Prince was able to create a body of work that peaked at No. 163 on the Billboard 200 and at No. 21 on the R&B Albums chart. While Prince did create the majority of the album, sound engineer Tommy Vicari was brought on as an executive producer to provide some extra contributions.

Dave Grohl

Following the death of Kurt Cobain, Dave Grohl seemingly sought out a cathartic experience, and he found it by creating the Foo Fighters’ debut self-titled studio album mainly alone. While Grohl did get minimal assistance on producing and some help from a guitarist on the track, “X-Static”, Grohl played every instrument and sang every song on the track.

Grohl released the Foo Fighters’ first full-length LP in the summer of 1995. Shortly after the release, the album peaked at No. 23 on the Billboard 200. Subsequently, it became a commercial success as it received Gold and Platinum certifications.

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