When the Billboard chart rules are changed, some artists benefit from those adjustments and accomplish feats that were previously impossible. That was exactly the case for the late Whitney Houston who has earned the distinction of being the first female artist to simultaneously land 3 top 10 albums in the history of the Billboard 200.

Houston’s ‘The Greatest Hits’, ‘The Bodyguard’ soundtrack and her self-titled debut album all ranked in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 this week and landed her a spot in the history books as the first woman to achieve that feat. The diva, who passed away earlier this month, managed that act as a result of a Billboard rule change in December 2009 that allowed catalogue albums and current releases to chart simultaneously on the Billboard 200. Before that alteration, that same note prevented 3 of Michael Jackson’s albums to place in the top 10 after his death in June 2009.

Since her passing on February 11th, Houston has sold over 668K albums and 2.76 million singles. She has become the first act to concurrently log 3 top 10 albums on the Billboard 200 since Simon & Garfunkel in 1968.

Meanwhile, as usual, Adele’s ’21’ has notched yet another week atop the Billboard 200. With 22 weeks at the chart’s pole position, the LP has become the longest-running #1 since Prince & the Revolution’s ‘Purple Rain’ in 1985. The latter record held the top slot on the Billboard 200 for 24 weeks.

See the leading releases in the top 10 of both Billboard 200 and the Hot 100 below:

Billboard 200

1. Adele – ’21′ – 297K (total: 7.65 M)

2. Whitney Houston – ‘The Greatest Hits’ – 174K (2.15 M)

3. fun. – ‘Some Nights’ – 70K (debut)

4. Tyga – ‘Careless World: Rise of the Last King’ – 61K (debut)

5. Various Artists – ‘Now 41′ – 54K (total: 290K)

6. Whitney Houston – ‘The Bodyguard’ – 47K (total: 11.90 M)

7. Adele – ’19′ – 39K (total: 1.99 M)

8. Chiddy Bang – ‘Breakfast’ – 31K (debut)

9. Whitney Houston – ‘Whitney Houston’ – 30K (total: 11.43 M)

10. Various Artists – ‘2012 Grammy Nominees’ – 29K (total: 251K)

Billboard Hot 100

1. Kelly Clarkson – ‘Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)’

2. Adele – ‘Set Fire to the Rain’

3. fun. – ‘We are Young (Ft. Janelle Monae)’

4. Katy Perry  – ‘Part of Me’

5. The Wanted – ‘Glad You Came’

6. Rihanna – ‘We Found Love (Ft. Calvin Harris)’

7. Flo Rida – ‘Good Feeling’

8. David Guetta – ‘Turn Me On (Ft. Nicki Minaj)’

9. Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa – ‘ Young, Wild & Free (Ft. Bruno Mars)’

10. Nicki Minaj – ‘Starships’

Watch the video for Houston’s 11 #1 singles on the Hot 100, ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’, below:

Thoughts?