Paramore, Pierce the Veil Reign on Billboard Rock Albums Charts
Written by djfrosty on February 24, 2023
Paramore and Pierce the Veil lead Billboard’s rock albums charts dated Feb. 25 with new releases This Is Why and The Jaws of Life, respectively.
Paramore’s sixth studio album and first since 2017’s After Laughter bows atop the Top Rock & Alternative Albums, Top Rock Albums and Top Alternative Albums tallies with 64,000 equivalent album units earned Feb. 10-16, according to Luminate. That sum includes 47,000 units via album sales.
The set is Paramore’s fourth straight No. 1 on Top Rock & Alternative Albums, dating to 2009, when Brand New Eyes ruled for a week. Its successors Paramore (2013) and the aforementioned Laughter also led for one frame each.
With four No. 1s, Paramore is tied with Florence + the Machine for the most rulers by a woman or woman-led act since the chart began in 2006. Concurrently, as previously reported, Why starts at No. 2 on the all-genre Billboard 200, the band’s best rank since Paramore debuted at No. 1 in 2013.
All 10 of the new album’s tracks appear on the multi-metric Hot Rock & Alternative Songs survey, paced by “Running Out of Time,” which debuts at No. 18 with 3.3 million official U.S. streams in the tracking week. The album’s title track and lead single (which ranks at No. 19 on the latest Hot Rock & Alternative Songs list, after rising to No. 15 in October) became the band’s first Alternative Airplay No. 1 when it reigned for one week in February.
Carlos de la Garza, who produced the album, concurrently debuts at No. 1 on Billboard’s Rock & Alternative Producers chart for the first time. De la Garza is the sole producer behind all 10 of Paramore’s chart entries on Hot Rock & Alternative Songs. De la Garza dethrones Steve Lacy on Rock & Alternative Producers after leading for 30 consecutive weeks (dating to July 30, 2022).
Meanwhile, Pierce the Veil’s Jaws bows at No. 1 on Top Hard Rock Albums with 27,000 units earned. It’s the band’s third Top Hard Rock Albums leader (and third in a row), following 2012’s Collide With the Sky and 2016’s Misadventures. The new LP also launches at No. 2 on Top Alternative Albums and No. 3 on both Top Rock & Alternative Albums and Top Rock Albums.
On the Billboard 200, Jaws starts at No. 14. Multiple songs from the set appear on Hot Hard Rock Songs, paced by “Death of an Executioner,” which premieres at No. 7 (1.8 million streams). The album’s lead single, “Pass the Nirvana,” appeared on Mainstream Rock Airplay for three weeks, peaking at No. 39 in December. Follow-up “Emergency Contact” climbs 27-24 on Alternative Airplay.