Plus: Justin Bieber, Loretta Lynn, Jon Batiste, Paul Stanley and Benny the Butcher & Harry Fraud bow in top 10.
Lana Del Rey rules Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart, as her new studio album, Chemtrails Over the Country Club, debuts at No. 1 on the list dated April 3. It’s her third chart-topper on the list, following 2017’s Lust for Life and 2014’s Ultraviolence.
Chemtrails was released March 19 via Polydor/Interscope and starts with 58,000 copies sold in the U.S. in the week ending March 25, according to MRC Data. With Chemtrails’ arrival, Lana Del Rey scores the third-largest sales week for an album released in 2021, and the largest sales week for an album released by a female artist this year. Only the debut frames of Morgan Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album (74,000) and Foo Fighters’ Medicine at Midnight (64,000) were larger.
Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now MRC Data. Pure album sales were the measurement solely utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album units and streaming equivalent album units. The new April 3-dated Top Album Sales chart (where Chemtrails debuts to No. 1) will be posted in full on Billboard’s website on March 30. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
Of Chemtrails’ debut sales of 58,000, physical album sales comprise 48,600 of that figure (CDs: 16,200; vinyl LPs: nearly 31,600 and cassettes: 800) while digital album sales comprise 9,700.
Chemtrails was a spectacular seller on vinyl LP, with nearly 32,000 copies sold – or, 54% of the album’s total first-week sales. Its vinyl fortunes were bolstered by the set’s availability across an array of different LP variants including multiple colored vinyl editions, picture discs and a standard black vinyl LP.
Chemtrails also scores the fourth-largest sales week for a vinyl album since MRC Data began tracking sales in 1991. Ahead of Chemtrails are the debut weeks of Jack White’s Lazaretto (40,000; June 28, 2014-dated chart), Pearl Jam’s Vitalogy (nearly 34,000; Dec. 10, 1994) and Paul McCartney’s McCartney III (32,000; Jan. 2, 2021).
Chemtrails naturally also debuts at No. 1 on the weekly Vinyl Albums chart.
Chemtrails additionally starts at No. 1 on Tastemaker Albums, which ranks the top-selling albums of the week at independent and small chain record stores. The set sold 6,000 copies through those retailers across all formats (CD, vinyl LP, etc.).
Justin Bieber’s Justice opens at No. 2 on Top Album Sales, selling 30,000 copies in its first week. The set concurrently bows atop the Billboard 200, where it marks his eighth leader.
Fleet Foxes’ Shore re-enters Top Album Sales at No. 3 with 18,000 sold (up 8,866%) after its release on physical formats on March 19. The album was released on digital retail and streaming services last year and previously spent two weeks on the tally, debuting and peaking at No. 32 on the Oct. 3, 2020-dated chart from download sales only (3,000 sold in its first week).
Like Shore, Chris Cornell’s No One Sings Like You Anymore, Volume One re-enters Top Album Sales (No. 4; 11,000 – up 5,897%) after its physical release. The covers set by the late artist initially debuted and peaked at No. 71 on the Dec. 26, 2020, chart (5,000 sold) after its digital release.
Loretta Lynn’s 50th studio album Still Woman Enough starts at No. 5 – the country legend’s highest-charting effort in the 29-year history of the Top Album Sales chart. The set, which features Reba McEntire, Margo Price, Tanya Tucker and Carrie Underwood, launches with 10,000 copies sold. Taylor Swift’s former No. 1 Folklore falls 4-6 with 9,800 sold (down 6%).
Jon Batiste earns his best sales week ever and first top 10 on Top Album Sales, as We Are debuts at No. 7 with 9,500 sold. The album includes contributions from PJ Morton, Trombone Shorty and Mavis Staples. Batiste’s previous sales high came in the week ending Dec. 22, 2016, when his Christmas With Jon Batiste album sold 5,700.
Paul Stanley’s Soul Station bows at No. 8 with Now and Then, selling 8,000 copies. The covers collection from the Kiss co-founder and his ensemble band Soul Station includes classics such as “Let’s Stay Together,” “The Tracks of My Tears” and “Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me).” Now and Then marks the first top 10 for Stanley outside of Kiss on Top Album Sales.
Billie Eilish’s former No. 1 When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? falls 6-9 with 7,600 sold (down 10%).
Closing out the new top 10 is Benny the Butcher and Harry Fraud’s new The Plugs I Met 2, bowing with 7,300 copies sold. The hip-hop set boasts guest turns from 2 Chainz, Fat Joe and French Montana, among others.
