Lady Gaga’s ‘MAYHEM’ Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Chart

Lady Gaga’s MAYHEM moves in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, as the set debuts atop the tally dated March 22. It’s the seventh leader for the superstar. The set — her seventh studio album — launches with 219,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending March 13, according to Luminate — the biggest week of the year for an album by a woman. It also scores Gaga her largest streaming week ever.

Gaga previously led the Billboard 200 with Chromatica (2020), the soundtrack to A Star Is Born (with Bradley Cooper, 2018), Joanne (2016), Cheek to Cheek (with Tony Bennett), ARTPOP (2013) and Born This Way (2011). In total, MAYHEM is Gaga’s 11th top 10-charting effort, stretching back to her debut project, The Fame, which reached No. 2 in 2010, after bowing on the list in 2008.

Also in the top 10 of the latest Billboard 200, JENNIE’s debut solo album, Ruby, bows at No. 7 on the Billboard 200. She’s the third member of the chart-topping quartet BLACKPINK to notch a solo top 10 – and all three have come in the last three months.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new March 22, 2025-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on March 18. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.

Of MAYHEM’s 219,000 first-week equivalent album units, album sales comprise 136,000 (it’s the top-selling album of the week and debuts at No. 1 on Top Album Sales), SEA units comprise 80,500 (equaling 108.05 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs; Gaga’s biggest streaming week ever, and it debuts at No. 1 on the Top Streaming Albums chart) and TEA units comprise 2,500.

With MAYHEM’s bow of 219,000 equivalent album units, the set earns the biggest week for a woman in 2025, and the largest debut by a woman in over six months. The last larger bow by a woman was Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet, which started with 362,000 atop the Sept. 7, 2024-dated list.

MAYHEM was officially announced on Jan. 27 and went up for pre-order that same day. The set was released on March 7 and was preceded by a trio of top 40-charting titles on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart: “Disease” (reaching No. 27 in November 2024), “Die With a Smile” (No. 1 for five weeks beginning in January; a duet with Bruno Mars), and “Abracadabra” (No. 13 in February).

Gaga ushered in the album’s release with an interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe (March 5), participated in a livestreamed Little Monsters Press Conference presented by Spotify (March 6), and did double duty as the host and musical guest on NBC’s Saturday Night Live (March 8, performing “Abracadabra” and the new album’s “Killah”). Gaga also popped up and/or performed on numerous other programs in the lead up to the album’s release, including the livestreamed FireAid benefit concert (Jan. 30), CBS’ broadcast of the Grammy Awards (Feb. 2), First We Feast’s Hot Ones (Feb. 13), NBC and Peacock’s Saturday Night Live 50th Anniversary Homecoming Concert (Feb. 16), and Vanity Fair’s lie detector test series (Feb. 19).

MAYHEM’s first-week sales were bolstered by its availability across a gaggle of editions: 14 vinyl variants (some signed, and some include the bonus track “Can’t Stop the High,” while Target’s exclusive vinyl has the extra track “Kill for Love”), four CD editions (one signed, Target’s exclusive CD adds “Kill” while Gaga’s webstore carried a CD with the bonus track “Can’t Stop the High”), a cassette tape, a deluxe CD box set with a branded T-shirt and poster, and two widely available download albums (the standard 14-song album, and then a deluxe version exclusive to iTunes with the three music videos for “Disease,” “Die With a Smile” and “Abracadabra”).

Of MAYHEM’s opening-week sales, vinyl purchases comprise 74,000 — Gaga’s biggest week on vinyl ever.

Gaga will soon hit the road for a series of major concerts, beginning with her headlining turn at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (April 11 and 18), two shows in Mexico City (April 26-27), a free show on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro (May 3) and four shows in Singapore (May 18, 19, 21 and 24).

Kendrick Lamar’s GNX falls to No. 2 on the latest Billboard 200 with a little more than 81,000 equivalent album units earned (down 10%), while five more former leaders round out the top six. PARTYNEXTDOOR and Drake’s $ome $exy $ongs 4 U dips 2-3 (79,000; down 13%), SZA’s SOS is steady at No. 4 (69,000; down 7%), Tate McRae’s So Close To What descends 3-5 (63,000; down 27%), and Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet falls 5-6 (61,000; down 5%).

JENNIE’s first solo studio album, Ruby, arrives at No. 7 on the new Billboard 200, marking the BLACKPINK member’s first chart entry. The set launches with 56,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, SEA units comprise 29,000 (equaling 39.93 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs; it debuts at No. 13 on Top Streaming Albums), album sales comprise 26,500 (it debuts at No. 2 on Top Album Sales) and TEA units comprise 500.

Ruby was preceded by three charting titles on the Hot 100 songs chart: “Mantra,” “Love Hangover” (with Dominic Fike) and “ExtraL” (with Doechii).

Ruby was available in its first week as a nine-track widely available digital download album, and then an expanded 15-song physical set and a 15-track download and streaming edition. While the standard and physical albums have only one guest star (FKJ, on “JANE”), the 15-track download and streaming edition adds further special guests on a few tracks, including Doechii, Dua Lipa, Dominic Fike, Childish Gambino and Kali Uchis.

Ruby’s first-week sales were aided by its availability across four CD variants (all containing collectible paper ephemera, some randomized), five deluxe CD boxed set editions (each containing a piece of branded clothing, a signed insert and a copy of the album) and two download editions (a widely available standard version with nine tracks and an expanded 15-song edition).

JENNIE is a member of the Billboard 200-topping quartet BLACKPINK, who saw its last album, BORN PINK, debut atop the chart dated Oct. 1, 2022, after the act’s The Album became its first top 10 (No. 2, 2020). JENNIE is the third member of the group to notch a top 10-charting solo effort on the Billboard 200, following LISA, whose Alter Ego debuted at No. 7 a week ago (March 15 chart), and ROSÉ, whose rosie debuted and peaked at No. 3 on the Dec. 21, 2024, chart.

Rounding out the top 10 of the latest Billboard 200, Bad Bunny’s chart-topping Debí Tirar Más Fotos falls 6-8 (52,000 equivalent album units; down 8%), Morgan Wallen’s former leader One Thing at a Time is a non-mover at No. 9 (43,000; up 3%), and Chappell Roan’s The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess dips 8-10 (42,000; down 1%).

Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.

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