‘Hit’ Record: Billie Eilish Reigns on Top Rock & Alternative Charts
Written by djfrosty on May 28, 2024
Billie Eilish crowns Billboard’s Top Rock & Alternative Albums and Top Rock & Alternative Songs charts dated June 1 with her new album, Hit Me Hard and Soft, and its lead single “Lunch.”
Hit Me Hard and Soft becomes Eilish’s first No. 1 on Top Rock & Alternative Albums, reigning as her first LP since the chart shifted in 2022 to include alternative-leaning titles outside the rock genre.
The set is also Eilish’s fourth leader on Top Alternative Albums, following Happier Than Ever (2021), When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (2019) and Dont Smile at Me (2019, after it first appeared on the list in 2017).
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In the week ending May 23, Hit Me Hard and Soft, released May 17, earned 339,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. – Eilish’s best career week by that metric – according to Luminate. The sum includes 191,000 album sales and 146,000 streaming-equivalent units.
The 10-song collection is the first release to reach six digits in units on Top Rock & Alternative Albums since Dolly Parton’s Rockstar (128,000; Dec. 2, 2023) and the first on Top Alternative Albums since blink-182’s One More Time… (125,000; Nov. 4, 2023).
The 339,000-unit total is the highest for a title on Top Rock & Alternative Albums in a decade, since the 383,000 units amassed by Coldplay’s Ghost Stories (June 7, 2014; it’s the top count since Top Rock & Alternative Albums shifted to a consumption-based methodology in 2016).
On Top Alternative Albums, Hit Me Hard and Soft has the biggest week since the all-time leader: Taylor Swift’s Folklore (846,000; Aug. 8, 2020), with Eilish’s new LP the second-biggest in a single week since the 2016 shift to a consumption-based formula.
Concurrently, Hit Me Hard and Soft debuts at No. 2 on the all-genre Billboard 200 and crowns the Vinyl Albums chart, with 90,000 vinyl copies sold, as previously reported.
“Lunch,” the album’s lead single, bows at No. 1 on the Hot Rock & Alternative Songs and Hot Alternative Songs surveys. “Lunch” is Eilish’s fourth No. 1 on the former, which became inclusive of alternative-leaning songs not categorized within the rock genre in 2020, following commands for “What Was I Made For?” in 2023, “Happier Than Ever” in 2021 and “My Future” in 2020. Of those, “Happier Than Ever” also debuted at No. 1.
On Hot Alternative Songs, which began in 2020, “Lunch” is also Eilish’s fourth leader, likewise following “What Was I Made For?,” “Happier Than Ever” and “My Future.”
“Lunch” starts with 32.8 million official U.S. streams, 20.2 million radio audience impressions and 3,000 downloads sold May 17-23.
The entirety of Hit Me Hard and Soft’s 10-song tracklist reaches Hot Rock & Alternative Songs, with eight titles debuting in the top 10 and all 10 in the top 12. Only Zach Bryan, with nine of the top 10 on the Sept. 9, 2023, tally, has claimed more in the top 10 in a single frame.
The LP’s top-charting song after “Lunch” is “Chihiro,” which bows at No. 3 with 27.2 million streams and 1,000 sold.
“Lunch” concurrently debuts at No. 17 on Pop Airplay, No. 21 on Alternative Airplay and No. 24 on Adult Pop Airplay, as well as No. 26 on the all-format Radio Songs list.
The track also arrives at No. 1 on Alternative Streaming Songs, marking Eilish’s eighth leader since the ranking began in 2020. On the all-genre Streaming Songs chart, it starts at No. 5.
All Billboard charts dated June 1 will update on Billboard.com on Wednesday, May 29, a day later than usual due to the May 26 Memorial Day holiday in the U.S.