Billboard 200
Like any artist about to launch his music to the world, Bad Bunny was nervous on the eve of the release of his new album, DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS, on January 5. But the Puerto Rican superstar had particular reason to feel on edge this time: He was releasing an album that, unlike any of his previous reggaetón and urban sets, prominently featured Puerto Rican rhythms and genres, including salsa — a major departure in sound and attitude.
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“The day before the album release, I was super anxious,” Bunny (real name Benito Martínez Ocasio) tells Billboard. “I couldn’t sleep, wondering if people would like it, if I did the right thing by including those kinds of songs, [worried about] the things that I said,”
Bad Bunny’s last three albums — El Último Tour Del Mundo (2020), Un Verano Sin Ti (2022) and Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana (2023) — had all debuted at No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart. But DeBÍ was being released on a Sunday, which meant Bunny would miss a full two days of sales tallies, as the chart’s tracking week runs Friday through Thursday.
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The gamble met with mixed results initially. DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS debuted at No 2 on the chart, behind Lil Baby’s WHAM. But instead of retreating, Bunny doubled down, co-hosting The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, busking on New York subway stations, hosting morning shows in San Juan and making impromptu appearances at the studios of well-known Puerto Rican podcasters like Chente Ydrach. Bunny, known for being furtive and press averse, was suddenly ubiquitous.
By now, his strategy has clearly paid off. This week, Debí rises to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 dated Jan. 25, besting Taylor Swift’s reissued Lover: Live From Paris, proof that promotion works — but so does sincerity, as Bunny tells Billboard in an interview following his No. 1 achievement. Here’s how he claimed the top spot, for the fourth time — with a Spanish-language album that specifically honors his Puerto Rican roots.
This is your fourth No. 1 with a Spanish language album on the Billboard 200. What’s the importance of achieving this to you?
Man, obviously I’m thankful with the way the world has embraced this album. The thing is, this project… it isn’t mine. It belongs to many people: everyone who worked with me, it belongs to Puerto Rico, my friends, my family. This project belongs to all of us who feel proud of being from Puerto Rico and being Latin. So, having this project go to No. 1, besting all these other great artists and great projects makes it much more special.
To be very honest with you, and I’ve said it to everyone: I didn’t expect this. The day before the album release, I was super anxious, I couldn’t sleep wondering if people would like it, if I did the right thing by including those kinds of songs, [worried about] the things that I said. The vision had always been to enjoy the creative process and do something special for Puerto Rico. I always thought that in Puerto Rico, people would connect with me and enjoy the album. And Puerto Ricans outside the island too. But I never imagined the whole world would. That’s taken me by surprise.
You’ve never been one to do much promo with an album release. In fact, many of your albums are surprise drops. And yet, this time you were everywhere, doing all kinds of media in the U.S. and in Puerto Rico. And you also posted heavily on social media prior to the release. Why?
I’ve always worked as a team. And for a long time, my team had asked me for presaves, countdown, pre-ads for other albums and I never had the opportunity to do it. This time I promised them I would. I let myself by taken along, as we say. And we wanted to begin paving the way in December and begin giving that vibe, connecting musically. That’s why the singles came out in December: “El Club” on December 6, and on December 26, “Pitorro de Coco.” I wanted people to connect with the album’s vibe. And I liked my team’s strategy of giving clues to fans little by little. It was something different from what we always do.
You’ve released albums on odd dates before, but January 5 felt very random. Aside from the fact that you missed two days of tracking, why choose that date?
This is a very special album, and part of its purpose was to bring together generations in a different way; have grandchildren sharing the music with their parents and grandparents and celebrate their culture in a special way. January 5 was a Sunday, which is the perfect day — and it was also the eve of Three Kings Day, a date where, at least in Puerto Rico, the family gets together. That was the purpose.
I want to be clear that I know the business, and I know releasing an album on a Sunday means losing nearly three days of streams, and that it affects my placement on the charts. But at no time was that of concern to me. My purpose wasn’t to compete with anyone. My purpose wasn’t to release an album that would interfere with someone else’s. My purpose was what I said: Bring an album with the essence of Puerto Rico that would unite generations, awaken love for the country and the culture, and that people would enjoy. That was it.
You did very varied promo, especially the past two weeks. What did you particularly love doing?
I really enjoyed talking with media in Puerto Rico, and going on Jimmy Fallon too. But musically, what most fulfilled me, and where I’m super impressed and happy and proud, too, is that the biggest songs in the album are salsa and plena [a traditional Puerto Rican rhythm]. Obviously, I made those songs with all the love in the world. But, knowing the market, one could have thought reggaetón would shine most and that these songs would go unnoticed.
And to see a plena [in “DtMF”] at No. 1 [on the Global 200], I didn’t expect that. I didn’t see that one coming. This past weekend, I saw everybody in the Fiestas de San Sebastian [an annual Puerto Rican festival that takes place in Old San Juan] singing “CAFé CON RON,” and that made me so happy. In fact, I wrote the chorus to that song a year ago during the festival. So, to see everyone singing it this year, as if it were the official anthem of Calles de San Sebastián, was beautiful.
Truly, of all my albums, this is the one that’s surprised us the most. Every album teaches us something, and this one has taught us a lot.
Like what?
More than taught — that album confirmed that doing things from the heart, without ambitions of position or money, always works in a positive way. It also taught me the importance of the feeling with which you record. Everyone who worked in this album […] put their heart into it, and man, it showed. It’s been one of the most beautiful album releases I’ve seen in a long time.
I also learned people want to hear music. Many people go into the studio thinking they’re going to create the next hit, looking for what’s trending, that’s hot. Everyone wants to do a two-minute song. And that’s not it. People want to hear music that’s real and heartfelt. That’s why a six-minute salsa track, and a four-minute plena are [the album’s two] top songs. This reconfirms to me that I don’t need to be any one way to have a hit. I need to be me, genuine, and do things from the heart.
There’s been talk for several years that salsa is going to make a comeback, but it hasn’t quite come to fruition. Do you think the success of this album, plus the success of Rauw Alejandro’s album late last year, can change that?
What I see with this album, and specifically with the song “Baile Inolvidable,” is that not only has salsa gone viral, but people [are] taking salsa lessons. I think the entire world wants to dance salsa. I’ve never been one of those people who says salsa is dead. Music doesn’t die; maybe it’s not done as much or it’s not as popular. But music stays for ever. Songs by Hector Lavoe, Frankie Ruiz, Ismael Rivera, they’re there forever. I’ve seen urban acts flirt with salsa since last year, and there’s a new generation of salsa artists who’ve been doing their thing for a long time.
But I think this song, more than giving salsa a push, will give a push to making more authentic music and will push artists to perhaps be more honest in their songs, make music from the heart and redefine what “modern salsa” means. This song has a classic essence, but at the same time it sounds new.
No one would have thought a six-mintue salsa songs [“Baile Inolvidable’] could be playing so much around the world right now. I think a lot of people would have said, ‘Let’s record a two-minute salsa so it’s a hit.” Papi, no. What’s good is good. For example, this song has a piano solo. A trumpet solo. I hadn’t heard a salsa with a solo in the longest time. It has an essence that resuces the beauty of old salsa. So, it’s aout motivating young musicians and showing that Sí se puede. It motivates people to do music from the heart again, regardless of numbers or going viral. Go into the studio and have fun. Create. Tell a story.
You spoke about salsa lessons, a theme in the “Baile Inolvidable” video. Are you a good salsa dancer?
The worst. But after two drinks I’m the best.
What can you tell us about your upcoming residency in Puerto Rico this summer?
Los Sobrinos will be playing with me. We’re trying to have as many [of the musicians in the album] as possible. The first shows are only for residents of Puerto Rico, so we want them to take away that experience of what Puerto Rico is, our culture, our music. We want to transmit the feeling, the energy of the album onto the live show. We want it to be magic.
Following its first full week of activity, Bad Bunny’s Debí Tirar Más Fotos climbs 2-1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated Jan. 25), scoring the superstar his fourth leader on the list. Bunny’s album was released on an off-cycle Sunday (Jan. 5), and, thus, it arrived on the chart a week ago with only five days of activity (as the chart’s tracking week runs Friday through Thursday).
In the tracking week ending Jan. 16, Debí Tirar Más Fotos earned 203,500 equivalent album units (up 67%) in the U.S., according to Luminate — largely driven by streaming activity. The set was only available as a standard 17-song streaming album, and as a digital download for purchase (widely through all digital retailers, as well as Bunny’s official webstore). Traditional album sales drove just under 8,000 of the album’s activity for the week.
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Bunny previously led the Billboard 200 with Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana (in 2023), Un Verano Sin Ti (2022) and El Último Tour del Mundo (2020).
At No. 2 on the Billboard 200, Taylor Swift’s 2023 album Lover: Live From Paris reenters, with 202,500 equivalent album units earned, all from album sales, following its reissue on vinyl (161,000 sold for the week), as well as its first release as a digital download album. The album was exclusively available only to purchase as either a vinyl LP or download in Swift’s webstore. It marks the 18th top 10-charting effort for Swift and the highest-charting live album in over five years. It’s the top-selling album of the week, and also scores the single-largest sales week for a live album on vinyl since Luminate began tracking sales in 1991.
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 Jan. 25, 2025-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Jan. 22 (one day later than usual, owed to the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday in the U.S. on Jan. 20). For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.
Of Debí Tirar Más Fotos’ 203,500 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Jan. 16, SEA units comprise 195,000 (up 72%, equaling 264.03 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs; it holds at No. 1 on the Top Streaming Albums chart for a second week), traditional album sales comprise 7,500 (down 3%, falling 6-8 on Top Album Sales) and TEA units comprise 1,000 (up 123%).
The 264.03 million streams of the album’s songs mark the largest streaming week for any album since Kendrick Lamar’s GNX arrived with 379.72 million (Dec. 7, 2024 chart), and the largest for any Latin music album since Bunny’s own Un Verano Sin Ti debuted with 356.55 million (May 21, 2022 chart).
Like in its opening chart week, Debí Tirar Más Fotos was sale priced for $4.99 in the iTunes Store, as well as in Bunny’s webstore.
As Debí Tirar Más Fotos is mostly in the Spanish language, it is the 28th mostly non-English-language album to hit No. 1, and the first of 2025. Four mostly non-English titles topped the list in 2024, and all were Korean-language efforts. Of the 28 mostly non-English-language albums to reach No. 1, 18 are mostly Korean, six mostly (or all) Spanish, one mostly Italian, one entirely French and two mostly a blend of Spanish, Italian and French.
Taylor Swift’s Lover: Live From Paris returns to the Billboard 200, reentering at No. 2 with 202,500 equivalent album units earned (up from nothing the week previous). The eight-song set was recorded in 2019 and had a limited release on vinyl in 2023 (exclusively through Swift’s webstore), and spent one week on the Billboard 200 that March, at No. 58.
Lover: Live From Paris is the highest-charting live album on the Billboard 200 in over five years, since Lionel Richie’s Hello From Las Vegas debuted and peaked at No. 2 on the Aug. 31, 2019-dated chart. Further, as Lover: Live From Paris marks Swift’s 18th top 10-charting set, she ties with Mariah Carey for the third-most top 10s among women in the history of the Billboard 200. Only Madonna (with 23) and Barbra Streisand (34) have more among women. (Meanwhile, all 20 of Swift’s Billboard 200 chart entries, dating to her 2006 debut, have now peaked in the top 20.)
Lover: Live From Paris is Swift’s second top 10-charting live set, following Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions (No. 3 in May 2023).
Of Lover: Live From Paris’ 202,500 units earned in the tracking week ending Jan. 16, album sales comprise the entire number (it reenters at No. 1 on Top Album Sales), with vinyl sales accounting for 161,000 (the largest sales week for a live album on vinyl since Luminate began tracking sales in 1991) and digital download sales accounting for the remaining sales. The set has no SEA or TEA units powering its reentry, since the album was not available on streaming services (thus, customers could not stream songs from the album directly), or through digital retailers such as iTunes, so customers couldn’t purchase songs from the album directly.
The Lover: Live From Paris album commemorates Swift’s The City of Lover live show on Sept. 9, 2019, at the Olympia in Paris. It was the only concert that Swift held to promote the 2019 album Lover, after her planned 2020 Lover Fest trek was cancelled due to COVID-19. Swift didn’t return to live shows until the career-spanning The Eras Tour kicked off in March 2023.
The City of Lover live gig was turned into an ABC-TV special on May 17, 2020 (titled Taylor Swift: City of Lover), and included only the eight songs that are also on the Lover: Live From Paris album. The album was initially released as a double-vinyl set, on heart-shaped color vinyl, in early 2023, exclusively through Swift’s webstore. The limited-pressing sold 13,500 copies in its one and only week of availability, and debuted and then-peaked at No. 58 on the Billboard 200 (March 4, 2023-dated chart).
Earlier in January 2025, Lover: Live From Paris was restocked on Swift’s webstore, for a limited time, on the same double-vinyl set, on heart-shaped color vinyl. At the time, customers were informed that the set would ship on or before Jan. 20.
In addition to the vinyl release, Lover: Live From Paris saw its debut as a digital download album, exclusively through Swift’s webstore, for a limited time. On Jan. 16, the final day of the latest chart’s tracking week, the set was made available in Swift’s store across four variants for six hours only, each priced at $4.99. One was the standard eight-song album, and the other three each contained the standard eight songs plus one unique live bonus track of a Lover album cut performed during The Eras Tour (“False God,” “I Think He Knows” and “Paper Rings”).
No version of the Lover: Live From Paris album was available during the tracking week on streaming services, nor through any digital retailer outside of Swift’s webstore. The album’s core eight songs were released as stand-alone tracks in May 2020 (the same week as the premiere of Taylor Swift: City of Lover TV special) widely through digital retailers and streamers.
As for the rest of the top 10 on the latest Billboard 200 chart, four former No. 1s are at Nos. 3-6. SZA’s SOS is steady at No. 3 (102,000 equivalent album units earned; down 10%), Kendrick Lamar’s GNX is a non-mover at No. 4 (64,000; down 4%), Lil Baby’s WHAM falls 1-5 in its second week (55,000; down 60%) and Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet slips 5-6 (48,000; down 6%).
Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft is stationary at No. 7 (40,000 equivalent album units earned; down 7%), the Wicked film soundtrack falls 6-8 (39,000; down 15%), Morgan Wallen’s chart-topping One Thing at a Time dips 8-9 (nearly 39,000; down 4%) and Gracie Abrams’ The Secret of Us descends 9-10 (36,000; down 4%).
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.
Lil Baby collects his fourth No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart, all tallied consecutively, as WHAM opens atop the chart dated Jan. 18. The set earned 140,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending Jan. 9, according to Luminate. The rapper previously topped the list with his last three releases: It’s Only Me (2022), The Voice of the Heroes (with Lil Durk, 2021) and My Turn (2020).
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In total, WHAM marks Lil Baby’s seventh top 10 on the Billboard 200, stretching back to 2019’s Harder Than Ever (No. 3 peak).
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WHAM’s Friday (Jan. 3) release was announced by Lil Baby in late December.
Also in the top 10: Bad Bunny’s DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS debuts at No. 2, securing the superstar his seventh top 10-charting set. Bunny’s album was released on an off-cycle Sunday (Jan. 5) and, thus, it arrives on the chart with only five days of activity (as the chart’s tracking week runs Friday through Thursday). The album’s release date was announced on Dec. 25.
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 Jan. 18, 2025-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Tuesday (Jan. 14). For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X and Instagram.
Of WHAM’s 140,000 first-week equivalent album units, SEA units comprise 90,000 (equaling 119.77 million on-demand official streams of the streaming version of the album’s songs; the set debuts at No. 3 on the Top Streaming Albums chart), album sales comprise 50,000 (it debuts at No. 1 on Top Album Sales) and TEA units comprise a negligible sum.
WHAM was available to purchase as a 15-song standard digital download album and a standard CD (the latter exclusively sold via the artist’s official webstore). On Jan. 7, an extended edition of WHAM — with four additional songs — was released exclusively via Lil Baby’s label webstore for purchase. The extended edition was later issued widely through streaming services and digital retailers on Friday (Jan. 10). Both digital versions of the album were discounted to $4.99 in the webstores of the artist and his label (Motown), along with in the iTunes Store.
The standard version of WHAM features guest turns from 21 Savage, Future, GloRilla, Rylo Rodriguez, Travis Scott, Young Thug and Rod Wave.
Bad Bunny’s DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS starts at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 with 122,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, SEA units comprise 113,500 (equaling 152.16 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 17 songs; it debuts at No. 1 on Top Streaming Albums), album sales comprise 8,000 and TEA units comprise 500. The album was only available as a standard 17-song set via streaming services and to purchase as a digital download (also discounted to $4.99 in Bad Bunny’s official webstore and the iTunes Store).
DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS was preceded by a pair of entries from the album on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart: “EL CLúB” and “PIToRRO DE COCO.”
Three former No. 1s follow on the Billboard 200: SZA’s SOS falls 1-3 on the (113,000 equivalent album units earned; down 13%), Kendrick Lamar’s GNX moves 2-4 (67,000; down 4%) and Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet slips 3-5 (51,000; down 9%).
The Wicked film soundtrack dips 4-6 (45,000 equivalent album units; down 7%); Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft falls 5-7 (43,000; down 5%); Morgan Wallen’s chart-topping One Thing at a Time is a non-mover at No. 8 (40,000; down 1%); Gracie Abrams’ The Secret of Us is steady at No. 9 (38,000; down 5%); and Tyler, The Creator’s former leader CHROMAKOPIA is stationary at No. 10 (37,000; down 3%).
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.
Frank Sinatra returns to the top 10 of the Billboard 200 albums chart for the first time in over a decade, as his holiday compilation Ultimate Christmas climbs 17-10 on the Jan. 4, 2025-dated chart. The title, which previously peaked at No. 12, reaches the top 10 in its 52nd week on the chart — […]
After 22 months, SZA’s chart-topping SOS returns No. 1 on the Billboard 200, as the set jumps 15-1 on the Jan. 4-dated chart. It bolts back to the top thanks largely from activity generated by the album’s deluxe reissue on Dec. 20 (dubbed SOS Deluxe: LANA) that added 15 additional songs to the album. The set was originally released on Dec. 9, 2022, with 23 tracks. All versions of the album, old and new, are combined for tracking and charting purposes and continue to chart under the title SOS.
SOS surges to No. 1 with 178,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Dec. 26 (up 297%), according to Luminate. With its return to No. 1, the set collects an 11th nonconsecutive week atop the list, and its first since the March 4, 2023-dated chart. That 22-month gap between weeks at No. 1 is the longest for any album since the Billboard 200 began publishing on a regular, weekly basis in March 1956.
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Notably, had the 15 new songs on the LANA deluxe edition of the album been released as a new stand-alone album, its track activity alone would have been enough for that stand-alone set to debut atop the list. (The 15 new songs generated 105,000 in SEA and TEA units. The No. 2 title this week, Michael Bublé’s former leader Christmas, earned 100,000 units from SEA, TEA and traditional album sales combined.)
SOS debuted atop the Billboard 200 dated Dec. 24, 2022, and logged 10 nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 on the list through the March 4, 2023-dated chart. It has never left the weekly top 20 of the chart during the 107 consecutive weeks that it has spent on the list. SOS closed 2024 at No. 6 on the year-end Billboard 200 Albums chart, after it was No. 3 on the year-end list in 2023.
Also in the top 10 of the latest Billboard 200 chart, Frank Sinatra scores his first top 10-charting in over a decade, as his holiday compilation Ultimate Christmas vaults 17-10.
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 Jan. 4, 2025-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Tuesday (Dec. 31). For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.
Of SOS’ 178,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Dec. 26, SEA units comprise 167,000 (up 341%, equaling 220.22 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs; it hits No. 1 on the year-old Top Streaming Albums chart for the first time), traditional album sales comprise 10,000 (up 44%, rising 39-23 on Top Album Sales) and TEA units comprise 1,000 (up 1,744%).
A deluxe reissue of SOS had been in the works since at least February of 2023, and SZA first mentioned LANA as the name of the expansion in September 2023. The deluxe reissue was preceded by the Billboard Hot 100-charting hit “Saturn” (one of the 15 added tracks), which debuted and peaked at No. 6 in March.
The last R&B/hip-hop album with at least 11 weeks atop the Billboard 200 was Drake’s Views, which notched 13 nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 in 2016 (May 21-Oct. 8). SOS has the most weeks at No. 1 for an R&B/hip-hop album by a woman, or an R&B album by a woman, since Mariah Carey’s self-titled debut spent 11 weeks, all consecutively, at No. 1 in 1991. (Honorable mention to the Whitney Houston-led soundtrack to The Bodyguard, which logged 20 nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 in 1992-93. The 12-track album has six songs by Houston and six songs by other artists.) SOS has the most weeks at No. 1 for any R&B album since The Bodyguard’s 20-week reign. (R&B/hip-hop and R&B albums are defined as those that have hit or are eligible for Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and Top R&B Albums charts, respectively.)
At No. 2 on the latest Billboard 200, Michael Bublé’s former leader Christmas jingles 5-2 with 100,000 equivalent album units earned (up 47%). The set spent a total of five weeks atop the list in late 2011 and early 2012, following its release in October of 2011. It has climbed to No. 2 in four of the last six holiday seasons. With 100,000 units earned, Christmas tallies its largest week, by units, since the Billboard 200 began ranking by units in December 2014.
The Jan. 4-dated Billboard 200 is set to be the last chart of the holiday season to showcase high-ranking Christmas efforts, as the tracking week for the chart closed on Dec. 26, the day after the Christmas Day holiday.
Bing Crosby’s Ultimate Christmas rallies 6-3 on the new Billboard 200, marking the late entertainer’s highest-charting effort since the Jan. 5, 1959-dated chart, when his former No. 1 Merry Christmas ranked at No. 2. Merry Christmas had previously spent a week at No. 1 on Jan. 6, 1958-dated chart.
Nat King Cole’s The Christmas Song moves 11-4, matching its peak, with 84,000 equivalent album units earned (up 56%). Kendrick Lamar’s chart-topping GNX falls 2-5 (76,000; down 24%), Mariah Carey’s Merry Christmas rises 10-6 (nearly 76,000; up 36%), and Taylor Swift’s former No. 1 The Tortured Poets Department dips 3-7 (74,000; down 13%).
The Wicked film soundtrack falls 7-8 on the Billboard 200 with 71,000 equivalent album units earned (up 9%) and the festive compilation A Christmas Gift for You From Phil Spector climbs 16-9 with 70,000 units (up 60%).
Rounding out the top 10 is Frank Sinatra’s Ultimate Christmas, climbing 17-10 with 63,000 equivalent album units earned (up 55%). The title — which previously peaked at No. 12 and reaches the top 10 in its 52nd week on the chart, dating to its December 2017 debut — is the late legend’s first visit to the top 10 since August 2012, when his 2008 hits package Nothing Best the Best returned to the top 10 (re-entering at No. 3 on the Aug. 25, 2012-dated list after sale pricing and promotion). Nothing had previously debuted and peaked at No. 2 on the May 31, 2008-dated chart.
Ultimate Christmas becomes Sinatra’s 33rd top 10-charting effort, the most among solo males. The Rolling Stones have the most top 10s, with 38. They are followed by Barbra Streisand (with 34), Sinatra and The Beatles, whom he passes (32).
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.
As Stray Kids’ new album HOP debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart (dated Dec. 28), they become the first act to debut at No. 1 with their first six charting albums. The Billboard 200 began publishing on a regular, weekly basis in March of 1956. Stray Kids previously debuted atop the chart […]
Stray Kids score their sixth No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart as HOP debuts atop the list dated Dec. 28. It’s the sixth leader for the group, making the pop ensemble the first act to debut at No. 1 with its first six chart entries in the nearly 69-year history of the chart. The Billboard 200 began publishing on a regular, weekly basis in March 1956.
Stray Kids previously opened atop the chart with ODDINARY and MAXIDENT (both in 2022), ROCK-STAR and 5-STAR (both in 2023) and ATE (earlier in 2024).
Further, with a sixth No. 1, Stray Kids tie BTS, Linkin Park and Dave Matthews Band for the most No. 1s among groups on the Billboard 200 in this century (since 2000).
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HOP arrives with 187,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Dec. 19, according to Luminate, largely driven by traditional album sales.
Also in the top 10 of the latest Billboard 200, Mariah Carey’s Merry Christmas jingles back to the top 10 for a seventh consecutive holiday season, as the 1994 release climbs 14-10. The set, which contains the Billboard Hot 100-topping “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” peaked at No. 3 in 1994.
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 Dec. 28, 2024-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Tuesday, Dec. 24. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.
Of HOP’s 187,000 first-week equivalent album units, album sales comprise 176,000 (it debuts at No. 1 on the Top Album Sales chart), SEA units comprise 10,000 (equaling 14.83 million on-demand official streams of the sets songs) and TEA units comprise 1,000.
HOP’s album sales were bolstered by its availability across seven different CD variants, all containing collectible items such as photocards, posters, stickers and trading cards (including some randomized items), with variants exclusive to Barnes & Noble, Target, Walmart and the act’s official webstore. Of the album’s 176,000 album sales, CD sales comprise 171,000, while digital download albums comprise 5,000.
Previously, Stray Kids were tied with late rapper DMX as the only acts to see their first five chart entries debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. DMX did it in 1998-2003 with It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot (1998), Flesh of My Flesh Blood of My Blood (1999), …And Then There Was X (2000), The Great Depression (2001) and Grand Champ (2003).
As HOP is mostly in the Korean language, it is the 27th mostly non-English-language album to hit No. 1, and the fourth of 2024. Three other mostly-Korean-language sets topped the chart earlier this year, all by also debuting at No. 1: On the Nov. 30-dated list, ATEEZ landed its second leader with Golden Hour: Part.2; on the Aug. 3 chart, Stray Kids’ ATE arrived; and on the March 9 chart, TWICE notched its first leader in With YOU-th. Of the 27 mostly non-English-language albums to reach No. 1, 18 are mostly Korean, five mostly (or all) Spanish, one mostly Italian, one entirely French and two mostly a blend of Spanish, Italian and French. Of the 27 mostly non-English-language albums to reach No. 1, 23 have topped the chart since 2018 (the year that K-pop superstars BTS scored their first of six No. 1s, the chart’s first Korean-language leaders).
The rest of the Billboard 200’s top five comprises former No. 1s: Kendrick Lamar’s GNX is a non-mover at No. 2 (100,000 equivalent album units earned; down 20%), Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department falls 1-3 (85,000; down 65%), Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet steps 5-4 (69,000; down 9%) and Michael Bublé’s Christmas climbs 7-5 (68,000; up 10%).
The most recently released holiday album in the top 10 is Bing Crosby’s Ultimate Christmas compilation, which ascends two spots to a new peak at No. 6 (65,000 equivalent album units; up 15%). The Wicked film soundtrack falls 6-7 (nearly 65,000; down 13%), Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft rises 9-8 (62,000; up 11%) and Chappell Roan’s The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess climbs 11-9 (56,000; up 12%).
Closing out the top 10 is Mariah Carey’s Merry Christmas, rising 14-10 with 56,000 equivalent album units earned (up 22% with a 10,000 unit gain — the largest unit increase on the chart). The set returns to the top 10 for a seventh consecutive holiday season. It peaked at No. 3 during its initial chart run in 1994, shortly following its release that year.
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.
Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department notches a 17th week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated Dec. 21), as the set holds atop the list after rushing back to No. 1 a week ago after its deluxe Anthology edition was released on CD and vinyl exclusively at Target. In the tracking week ending Dec. 12, the album earned 240,000 equivalent album units (down 41%) in the U.S., according to Luminate, with over 80% of that sum driven by physical album sales.
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Also in the top 10 of the new Billboard 200 chart, ROSÉ’s debut solo album rosie bows at No. 3, TWICE’s Strategy enters at No. 4 and Sabrina Carpenter’s holiday set Fruitcake reenters the chart at No. 10 for its first week in the top 10, after its wide physical release.
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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 Dec. 21, 2024-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Tuesday (Dec. 17). For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.
Of The Tortured Poets Department’s 240,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Dec. 12, traditional album sales comprise 201,000 (down 45%, it holds at No. 1 on Top Album Sales for a 10th nonconsecutive week), SEA units comprise 39,000 (up 6%; equaling 51.04 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs; it falls 9-10 on Top Streaming Albums) and TEA units comprise a negligible sum (up 27%).
TTPD was initially released on April 19 as a standard 16-song digital download album, as well as in an array of 17-song physical configurations. Two hours after the album dropped, Swift issued an expanded 31-song edition of the album, dubbed The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology, which added 15 additional songs. However, the Anthology edition was only available as a digital download and streaming set until Nov. 29, when its CD and vinyl editions became available for purchase exclusively through Target. The Target CD and vinyl additionally boast four bonus acoustic tracks (which were previously released in other alternative versions of the album).
Since the Billboard 200 began publishing on a regular, weekly basis in March 1956, Poets is only the 18th album to have spent at least 17 weeks at No. 1, of more than 1,200 leaders. The last album to spend at least 17 weeks at No. 1 was Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time, which logged 19 nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 between March 2023 and this March. The last album by a woman to spend at least 17 weeks at No. 1 prior to Poets was Adele’s 21, which earned 24 nonconsecutive weeks on top in 2011-12.
Kendrick Lamar’s former leader GNX is a non-mover at No. 2 on the latest Billboard 200 with 125,000 equivalent album units earned (down 24%). It remains at No. 1 on Top Streaming Albums for a third straight week.
ROSÉ’s solo debut album, rosie, launches at No. 3 with 102,000 equivalent album units earned. Pop group BLACKPINK, of which she is a member, has logged a pair of top 10s, including the chart-topping BORN PINK in 2022.
Of the 102,000 equivalent album units earned by rosie in its opening week, album sales comprise 70,000 (it debuts at No. 3 on Top Album Sales), SEA units comprise 31,000 (equaling 43.85 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs; it debuts at No. 17 on Top Streaming Albums) and TEA units comprise 1,000. The set’s first-week sales were bolstered by its availability across more than 15 physical variants of the album across CD and vinyl editions, many including collectible ephemera (some randomized).
The album was led by the single “APT.” with Bruno Mars, which debuted and peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100. It debuted and peaked at No. 2 on the Streaming Songs chart, and has reached the top 30 on Pop Airplay, Adult Pop Airplay and the all-format Radio Songs charts.
TWICE captures its sixth total and consecutive top 10-charting set on the Billboard 200 as STRATEGY debuts at No. 4 with 88,000 equivalent album units earned. It’s the second top 10 for the group in 2024, following their first chart-topper, With YOU-th (March 9-dated chart). Of the new set’s first-week units, album sales comprise 81,000 (it debuts at No. 2 on Top Album Sales), SEA units comprise 6,500 (equaling 8.86 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs) and TEA units comprise less than 500 units. The album’s first-week sales were aided by its availability across more than 15 CD and vinyl editions, all inclusive of collectible paper ephemera (some randomized).
Sabrina Carpenter’s chart-topping Short n’ Sweet is steady at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 (75,000 equivalent album units earned; up 10%); the Wicked film soundtrack falls 3-6 (74,000; down 31%); Michael Bublé’s former leader Christmas is a non-mover at No. 7 (62,000; up 10%); Bing Crosby’s Ultimate Christmas hits a new peak, rising 9-8 (56,000; up 13%); and Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft slips 6-9 (56,000; down 6%).
Carpenter captures a second album in the top 10, and the second top 10 of her career, as her holiday effort Fruitcake re-enters the chart at No. 10 (a new peak) following its wide physical release on CD, vinyl and cassette on Dec. 6. In the tracking week ending Dec. 12, Fruitcake earned 54,000 equivalent album units (up 1,040%), with album sales comprising 39,000 (up 27,326%; it debuts at No. 4 on Top Album Sales) and SEA units comprising 15,000 (up 210%, equaling 19.65 million on-demand official streams of set’s songs).
Fruitcake was initially released in November 2023 as a digital download album for purchase and through streaming services. It had a limited vinyl release, exclusively through Carpenter’s official webstore in December 2023. On Dec. 6, the album became widely available on CD, cassette and three vinyl variants (including one exclusive to Target).
Carpenter is the sixth artist in 2024 to have at least two albums in the top 10 at the same time. Previously this year, Zach Bryan, Future, Metro Boomin, Taylor Swift and Morgan Wallen all notched multiple projects in the top 10 concurrently.
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.
Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department returns to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart for a 16th nonconsecutive week, as the set vaults 8-1 on the chart dated Dec. 14, following the first physical release of the album’s deluxe Anthology edition, exclusively at Target in the U.S. The set earned 405,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending Dec. 5 — up 839% — according to Luminate, largely driven by physical album sales. It’s the biggest week for any album since Poets’ second week, when it tallied 439,000 units.
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TTPD was initially released on April 19 as a standard 16-song digital download album, as well as an in array of 17-song physical configurations. Two hours after the album dropped, Swift issued an expanded 31-song edition of the album, dubbed The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology, which added 15 additional songs. However, the Anthology edition was only available as a digital download and streaming set until Nov. 29, when its CD and vinyl editions became available for purchase exclusively through Target. The Target CD and vinyl additionally boasted four bonus acoustic tracks (which were previously released in other alternative versions of the album).
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The announcement of Poets’ return to No. 1 comes on the same day (Dec. 8) that Swift closes her globe-trotting, stadium-filling The Eras Tour in Vancouver, after 149 dates. The retrospective trek launched in March 2023 and visited 21 countries across five continents.
Also in the top 10 of the new Billboard 200, Juice WRLD’s The Party Never Ends debuts at No. 4, securing the late rapper his sixth top five-charting set. Plus, the top 10 is getting festive, as the region welcomes its first holiday titles this season: Michael Bublé’s former No. 1 Christmas jingles 12-7 and Bing Crosby’s new compilation Ultimate Christmas dashes 18-9. With the latter, Crosby claims his first top 10 album in nearly 64 years.
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 Dec. 14, 2024-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Tuesday (Dec. 10). For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.
Of The Tortured Poets Department’s 405,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Dec. 5, traditional album sales comprise 368,000 (up 4,377%; it surges 17-1 on Top Album Sales for a ninth nonconsecutive week on top), SEA units comprise 37,000 (up 6%; equaling 48.19 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs; it holds at No. 9 on Top Streaming Albums) and TEA units comprise a negligible sum (down 21%).
Of TTPD’s 368,000 album sales for the week, vinyl sales comprise 191,000 (up 3,284%) and CD sales comprise 177,000 (up 7,738%), largely driven by sales from the exclusive editions sold at Target. (Digital download and cassette sales comprise a negligible sum for the week.)
Poets spent its first 12 weeks on the Billboard 200 at No. 1 (charts dated May 4-July 20), fell to No. 4 for two weeks, returned to No. 1 for three more weeks (Aug. 10-Aug. 24 charts) and then departed the top slot until the latest chart.
With a 16th week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, The Tortured Poets Department now solely has the third-most weeks at No. 1 among albums by women (since the list began publishing on a regular, weekly basis in March 1956). It steps past Carole King’s Tapestry, which registered 15 weeks at No. 1 in 1971. Only Adele’s 21 (24 weeks in 2011-12) and the Whitney Houston-led soundtrack to The Bodyguard (20 weeks in 1992-93) have more weeks at No. 1 among women.
The last album to spend at least 16 weeks at No. 1 was Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time, which logged 19 nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 between March 2023 and this March. The last album by a woman to spend at least 16 weeks at No. 1 was Adele’s 21, which earned 24 nonconsecutive weeks on top in 2011-12.
With Poets — Swift’s longest-leading album on the Billboard 200 — she adds her 85th career week at No. 1 on the chart, extending her record among soloists. (Elvis Presley has the second-most among soloists, with 67.) The total encompasses her 14 No. 1 albums. (She’s tied with Jay-Z for the most No. 1s among soloists.)
Kendrick Lamar’s GNX falls 1-2 on the Billboard 200 in its second week with 165,000 equivalent album units earned (down 48%). The Wicked film soundtrack dips 2-3 in its second frame, with 108,000 units earned (down 22%).
The late Juice WRLD collects his sixth top five (and top 10) charting effort — the entirety of his charting releases — as The Party Never Ends debuts at No. 4. The set bows with 86,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, SEA units comprise 84,000 (equaling 123.43 million on-demand official streams of the set’s tracks; it debuts at No. 2 on Top Streaming Albums), album sales comprise 2,000 and TEA units comprise a negligible sum.
The new album was preceded by the Billboard Hot 100 chart hit “AGATS2 (Insecure)” (with Nicki Minaj), which reached No. 68 on the Nov. 30-dated chart. On the Hot Rap Songs chart, it debuted and peaked at No. 11.
The Party Never Ends is the third posthumously released charting effort for Juice WRLD, who died on Dec. 8, 2019. Since his passing, he’s notched Billboard 200 entries with Legends Never Die (two weeks at No. 1 in 2020), Fighting Demons (No. 2 in 2021) and now The Party Never Ends.
Sabrina Carpenter’s chart-topping Short n’ Sweet falls 3-5 on the Billboard 200 with 68,000 equivalent album units earned (down 1%), while Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft slips 5-6 with 59,000 units (though up 18%).
Bublé’s chart-topping Christmas returns to the Billboard 200’s top 10, jumping 12-7 with 56,000 equivalent album units earned (up 53%). The set, first released in 2011, spent five weeks at No. 1 in December 2011 and early January 2012 and has returned to the top 10 in every following holiday season. In the latest tracking week, of its 56,000 units, SEA units comprise 48,000 (up 59%; equaling 63.79 million on-demand official streams of its songs; it climbs 13-5 on Top Streaming Albums), album sales comprise 8,000 (up 23%; it falls 27-30 on Top Album Sales) and TEA units comprise a negligible sum.
Chappell Roan’s The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess rises 10-8 on the Billboard 200 with 52,000 equivalent album units earned (up 23%).
The legendary Crosby is back in the top 10 on the Billboard 200 for the first time in nearly 64 years, as his new holiday compilation Ultimate Christmas climbs 18-9. The set earned 50,000 equivalent album units in the week ending Dec. 5 (up 59%). Of that sum, SEA units comprise 46,000 (up 62%; equaling 61.37 million on-demand official streams of the set’s tracks; it jumps 16-6 on Top Streaming Albums).
Crosby, who died in 1977, was last in the top 10 on the Billboard 200 with his classic Merry Christmas album, which ranked at No. 9 on the Dec. 31, 1960-dated chart. It had previously spent a week at No. 1 on Jan. 6, 1958-dated chart.
Merry Christmas became the second holiday album to top the Billboard 200, following its launch as a regularly published weekly chart in March 1956. Elvis Presley’s Elvis Christmas Album was the first chart-topping holiday set, as it topped the chart for three weeks in December 1957, moved aside for Crosby for a week and then returned to No. 1 for one more week in January 1958.
Ultimate Christmas is available as 14-song standard album, an expanded 28-song edition, and a deluxe 58-song version. All versions of the album contain such classic Holiday 100-charting tunes from Crosby as “White Christmas” (featuring The Ken Darby Singers and John Scott Trotter and His Orchestra), “It’s Beginning To Look a Lot Like Christmas,” “Do You Hear What I Hear?,” “Mele Kalikimaka” (with The Andrews Sisters) and “Silent Night” (featuring John Scott Trotter and His Orchestra and Max Terr’s Mixed Chorus).
Rounding out the top 10 of the latest Billboard 200 is Tyler, The Creator’s chart-topping CHROMAKOPIA, falling 4-10 with 49,000 equivalent album units earned (down 19%).
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.
Kendrick Lamar’s surprise album GNX debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart (dated Dec. 7), marking his fifth chart-topper, all earned consecutively. It launches with 319,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Nov. 28, according to Luminate — the year’s sixth-largest debut frame. The set’s opening week was largely driven by streaming activity, and the 12-song effort launches with 2024’s third-biggest streaming week for any album. GNX arrived with no warning on Nov. 22 around noon ET.
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Also in the top 10 of the latest Billboard 200, the Wicked film soundtrack enters at No. 2, notching the highest debut for a big-screen adaptation of a stage musical ever. The new Wicked film, starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, is based on the long-running stage musical of the same name, which has played on Broadway in New York since 2003.
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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 Dec. 7, 2024-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Tuesday (Dec. 3). For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.
Of GNX’s 319,000 first-week equivalent album units, SEA units comprise 285,000 (equaling 379.72 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 12 songs; it debuts at No. 1 on Top Streaming Albums), album sales comprise 32,000 (it was only available as a widely available standard digital download, in both a clean and explicit edition; it debuts at No. 2 on Top Album Sales), and TEA units comprise 2,000.
GNX scores 2024’s sixth-largest opening week, by equivalent album units, among all albums. Further, with 379.72 million on-demand official streams generated by its songs, the album yields the year’s biggest streaming week for any R&B/hip-hop album. Further, among all albums, it logs the year’s second-biggest debut streaming week, and the year’s third-largest streaming week overall. (The year’s two bigger streaming weeks were the first and second weeks of Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department, with 891.37 and 428.54 million, respectively.)
Lamar previously led the Billboard 200 with Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers (2022), DAMN. (2017), Untitled Unmastered (2016) and To Pimp a Butterfly (2015). Earlier in 2024, he nabbed a pair of No. 1s on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart with his solo cut “Not Like Us” (in May), shortly after he led the list with the co-billed collaboration “Like That” (in April) with Future and Metro Boomin. Neither song is included on GNX.
GNX precedes Lamar headlining turn at the upcoming Super Bowl halftime show on Feb. 9, 2025, in New Orleans. He was announced as the star act of the festivities on Sept. 8. It will mark his second appearance at the halftime show, following the all-star 2022 hip-hop showcase with Dr. Dre at the helm.
The Wicked film soundtrack takes a bow at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, the highest debut ever by a big-screen adaptation of a stage musical.
The last time a stage-to-screen musical soundtrack debuted in the top five was when Chicago danced in at No. 4 — over 21 years ago, on the Feb. 1, 2003 chart — on its way to a No. 2 peak a week later. Setting aside debut ranks, the last stage-to-screen movie musical soundtrack to reach the top two was Les Miserables, which spent a week at No. 1 on the Jan. 19, 2013-dated chart. (It debuted at No. 33, and then moved to No. 2 and No. 1 in its second and third weeks.)
Among all soundtracks in 2024, Wicked is the second soundtrack to reach the top 10 for the first time this year, and the highest charting, following Twisters (No. 7 peak) in August.
Wicked launches with 139,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Nov. 28 — the biggest week for a full-length theatrical film soundtrack since Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s A Star Is Born earned 143,000 units in its second week (Oct. 17, 2018, chart; down from its 162,000 bow). Wicked also logs the biggest week for any stage-to-screen musical soundtrack since the Billboard 200 began ranking titles by equivalent album units in December 2014.
Of Wicked’s opening-week sum, album sales comprise 85,000 (it’s No. 1 on Top Album Sales, SEA units comprise 52,000 (equaling 67.66 million on-demand official streams of the album’s tracks; it’s No. 4 on Top Streaming Albums) and TEA units comprise 2,000. With 67.66 million streams generated by its songs, Wicked has 2024’s biggest streaming week for any soundtrack, and the largest streaming week ever for a stage-to-screen musical film soundtrack.
Wicked’s first-week album sales score the largest sales week for a full-length theatrical film soundtrack since A Star Is Born’s second week (86,000). Wicked has the largest debut sales week for a stage-to-screen musical film since Dreamgirls opened with 92,000 (Dec. 23, 2006 chart). The last time a stage-to-screen musical film soundtrack sold more than Wicked this past week was when Les Miserables reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 93,000 in its third chart week (Jan. 19, 2013, chart).
Wicked’s opening week sales were bolstered by its availability across six vinyl variants (including a signed edition, autographed by Erivo and Grande), four CD variants (including a signed edition) and a standard digital download album.
Sabrina Carpenter‘s chart-topping Short n’ Sweet rises 5-3 on the Billboard 200 (69,000 equivalent album units; down 4%); Tyler, The Creator’s former No. 1 CHROMAKOPIA falls 3-4 (61,000; down 24%) and Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft rounds out the top five, rising 9-5 with 50,000 (up 2%).
Gracie Abrams’ The Secret of Us steps 8-6 (48,000 equivalent album units; down 5%); Rauw Alejandro’s Cosa Nuestra falls 6-7 (44,000; down 35% in its second week); Swift’s former leader The Tortured Poets Department climbs 11-8 (43,000; up 1%); Morgan Wallen’s chart-topping One Thing at a Time ascends 12-9 (42,000; up 2%); and Chappell Roan’s The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess is a non-mover at No. 10 (42,000; down 2%).
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.