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Skrillex is taking the rumble to the Rockies. On Wednesday (March 29) he announced a show at Colorado’s famed Red Rocks Amphitheatre that will happen next month.
The set, going down on Saturday, April 29, will feature Skrillex playing a five-hour set from 7 p.m. until midnight, local time. This format emulates his show last month at Madison Square Garden, where he — along with co-headliners Fred again.. and Four Tet — played for five hours, from 7 p.m. to midnight ET.
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Tickets for the Red Rocks show go on sale this Friday (March 31) at 12 p.m. ET.
This show announcement comes in the wake of the release of a pair of Skrillex albums, Quest For Fire on Feb. 17 and Don’t Get Too Close, which was surprise released the following day, Feb. 18. Skrillex has not announced a full tour behind these albums, instead opting to play prestige venues like MSG and Red Rocks, along with a hefty list of summer festivals: Something In The Water, Hangout, Movement and Elements, plus a series of European events including Primavera in Barcelona and EXIT in Serbia. This Euro run also includes a show at Ibiza’s influential techno mecca DC10.
Quest For Fire is currently sitting at No. 11 on Dance/Electronic albums, where it peaked at No. 2 upon release and is currently its fifth week on the chart. Album singles “Rumble” and RATATATA” are currently at No. 20 and No. 18 on the chart, respectively. Skrillex also appear on this same chart for “Baby again,” his recently released earworm single with Fred again.. and Four Tet.
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Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time notches a third straight week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated April 1). The set earned 209,500 equivalent album units in the United States in the week ending March 23 (down 19%), according to Luminate. It debuted at No. 1 with 501,000 units, then tallied 259,000 in its second frame.
In the last 12 months, only two albums have exceeded 200,000 units in each of their first three weeks: One Thing at a Time and Taylor Swift’s Midnights (which surpassed 200,000 in each of its first four weeks).
The last album by a male act to spend its first three weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 was Drake’s Certified Lover Boy, which also spent its first three frames atop the list (Sept. 18-Oct. 2, 2021-dated charts).
Further, in the last 10 years, only two country albums have clocked at least three weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and both are by Wallen: One Thing at a Time, his last album, Dangerous: The Double Album (10 weeks at No. 1 in 2021). (Country albums are considered those that have hit or are eligible for Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart.)
Also in the top 10 of the new Billboard 200 chart, U2 collects its 13th top 10-charting effort, as Songs of Surrender debuts at No. 5. The retrospective sees U2 revisiting its own catalog, re-recording and re-interpreting familiar hit songs from the band’s career. Among the tracks including on the project: “Where the Streets Have No Name,” “One,” “Pride (In the Name of Love)” and “I Will Follow.”
Plus, U2 becomes only the fourth group with a newly-charting top 10 title on the Billboard 200 albums chart in the 1980s, ‘90s, 2000s, ‘10s and now the ‘20s.
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 April 1, 2023-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on March 28. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
Of One Thing at a Time’s 209,500 equivalent album units earned in the week ending March 23, SEA units comprise 194,000 (down 17%, equaling 256.13 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 36 songs), album sales comprise 12,500 (down 41%) and TEA units comprise 3,000 (down 12%).
SZA’s chart-topping SOS climbs 4-2 on the Billboard 200 with 72,000 equivalent album units earned (though down 5%), while Swift’s former leader Midnights jumps 6-3 with 61,000 units (up 31%) following her Eras Tour launch on March 17. Miley Cyrus’ Endless Summer Vacation falls 3-4 in its second week with 49,000 units (down 59%).
U2’s Songs of Surrender debuts at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 with 46,500 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, album sales comprise 42,000, SEA units comprise 4,000 equaling 4.99 million on-demand official streams of the set’s tracks) and TEA units comprise 500. The retrospective re-records project is available in multiple editions, including a standard 16-track edition, a 20-track deluxe and a 40-track super deluxe (with the latter divided into four 10-track chapters named after each band member: Bono, Adam Clayton, The Edge and Larry Mullen Jr.). Sales were also aided by a dozen vinyl variants of the album, including exclusive editions sold by Amazon, Target and independent retailers.
U2 is the fourth group to achieve a newly-charting top 10 album on the Billboard 200 chart in the 1980s, ‘90s, 2000s, ‘10s and now the ‘20s. The quartet joins AC/DC, Def Leppard and Metallica.
Rounding out the top 10 of the new Billboard 200 are five former No. 1s: Karol G’s Mañana Será Bonito (5-6 with 45,000 equivalent album units earned; down 15%); Dangerous: The Double Album (a non-mover at No. 7 with 42,000; down 2%); Metro Boomin’s Heroes & Villains (holding at No. 8 with 40,000; up 3%); Drake and 21 Savage’s Her Loss (10-9 with 38,000; up 12%); and Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti (9-10 with 37,000; up 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.
As pop choreographers go, Stephen Galloway’s path to major music video collaborator was far from traditional. He spent nearly two decades as a principal dancer with Ballet Frankfurt, under the direction of contemporary ballet legend William Forsythe; began work as a costume designer while at the company, becoming artistic director of Issey Miyake in the ‘90s; spent two decades in an all-around creative advisor role for The Rolling Stones, consulting on movement, clothing, lighting and more for their music videos and tours; worked with other musical artists ranging from Björk to Lady Gaga to Lil Nas X; and still advises on creative movement for high-fashion photo shoots and runway shows.
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That winding path has now led Galloway, 56, to his latest role: creative movement director for Miley Cyrus as she embarks upon her Endless Summer Vacation era. Galloway entered Cyrus’ orbit via a good friend, director Jacob Bixenman. “I did a video for his then-partner, Troye Sivan, for [Sivan’s 2018 single] ‘My My My!’” Galloway recalls. “We’ve always talked about collaborating. So one day [Jacob] texted me and said he had some ideas and he’d like to know if I was interested. And I just went and met Miley.”
Galloway served as creative movement director for the “Flowers” and “River” music videos (directed by Bixenman) as well as for Cyrus’ recent Endless Summer Vacation Backyard Sessions — and he doesn’t see their collaboration ending any time soon. He spoke to Billboard from his Los Angeles home about Cyrus’ singular talents, and why the two don’t even need words to communicate.
Were you seeking out movement direction work with music artists when the opportunity to work with Miley came along?
I never pursued anything. I didn’t even pursue working with the Stones — they got in touch with me first. I was a classical ballet dancer, so being brought into that world … well, maybe some people wake up and say they want to be a choreographer for music videos, but that wasn’t me. My career has just been one step in front of the next. The evolution into this next phase with Miley has just been organic. I’ve been a strong client of my own intuition and my own gut, and it hasn’t steered me astray yet.
What did you know of Miley before starting to work with her?
Of course, I was aware of who she was and what she had done. I had bought her last album. We had a lot of friends in common — that was the common denominator before we started the collaboration. When it works out like that, you know there’s kinda gonna be a vibe. But she was not someone I was actively following or keeping up with their day-to-day moments like I do now. And it’s been wonderful. I know the Miley she is now, and it’s been one of the biggest blessings of my career so far. It’s probably one of the most organic relationships I’ve had in a long time. I think I was waiting for Miley. It’s just been magic.
Many artists need to first work with a choreographer on stage presence — which is something Miley certainly isn’t lacking. What is she bringing to the table as a performer that distinguishes her?
It was just an immediate reaction to first, her as an artist and as a growing and blossoming artist, and of course then the music, how she felt she wanted to physically and through movement portray herself, which requires extreme sophistication. It’s not like we’re doing “choreography” – although you never know what’s coming! For me what’s been the most exciting thing about the project is she basically knows everyone’s job better than they do, because she’s been involved in the industry for so long.
But she honestly remains one of the most curious people I’ve ever come in contact with. She’s constantly questioning, looking at ways of doing things differently. A curiosity in how to express herself physically, without a “5, 6, 7, 8” – understanding a slow turn of a shoulder, a look down and then up. It’s very, very advanced. She understands nuance better than anyone I’ve ever worked with. She’s incredibly bright – and there’s a difference I think between smart and bright. I love bright people. Bright people make the world a better place.
In the videos so far, as you said, we don’t see really formal dance steps happening, but Miley’s movements feel very intentional — from the angle of a leg to the way she moves her hands, there’s clearly thought there.
Right. What I do with her isn’t really choreography. Years ago, I kind of came up with the title of “creative movement director” because it really feels closer to what we’re actually trying to do: working out a way of creatively moving, figuring out a specific creative vocabulary that allows her to express her feelings. You look at some of the videos where she’s basically standing still, but there’s a feeling of understanding nuance and creative movement. And she got it immediately, from the first day. It was almost hilarious. After literally 15 minutes I felt like I’d been working with her, and she with me, for our entire careers.
Do you have a particular philosophy about what choreography should accomplish in a music video?
With certain music videos, sometimes we like them because they represent something we recognize and know and can be familiar with. We all love a Janet Jackson breakdown, you know what I mean? It’s become such a part of us, we can relate to it immediately. I’m very much a child of MTV. So I’ve always been in love with the art of these small movies that great artists were able to tell their story through. I’m very much a visual person like that. I always bring an element of music video into [my work], because it’s about storytelling. And if you find someone who understands that, it’s heaven. It doesn’t always have to be fireworks and costumes and all this stuff. It can be very, very simple.
The “River” video in particular feels like proof of the power of simplicity in a music video context. It was giving me classic Madonna vibes.
Yeah, yeah, yeah! The treatments are very simple, they’re not super complex. The fact that we’re able to get so much out of something so simple is a true testament to all the creative people involved. We are a very tight team. What’s crazy is we kind of don’t even talk. It’s a small set always – with “River” there were maybe more people involved, but there’s so little communication that happens. We all just understand where we’re going to go. Miley is in the middle of it all, and in the front and the back, but how she maneuvers her way through all these things is spectacular to watch.
Did you have particular conversations with Miley before “Flowers” about what she wanted to communicate through her physicality in this era?
Nothing was spoken! We didn’t really communicate about any of that. I wish I had a more complex story, but it’s not. I wasn’t aware of all these [personal] backstories going on, because I didn’t really know her. I don’t think I was even following her on Instagram. She doesn’t talk to me about what she wants to do, we just do it. She plays me the music, and then we figure it out. It’s not, “I want to communicate this by doing that.” It’s completely nonverbal. What people want to interpret about the videos, that’s not from us – it’s all in the music and the words. There’s not a plan. It’s just trying to make really great art.
Are you able to give us any clues as to what else might be on the horizon visually for the album next?
No, not really. [Laughs.] You know, we’re gonna continue to work together for as long as we can, I think. I’m always there for her. But there’s good stuff coming! I’ll leave a little tease there for ya.
TWICE claim their third No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart (dated March 25) as Ready to Be: 12th Mini Album debuts atop the list with the act’s best sales week ever. The nine-member South Korean pop act previously led the list with Between 1&2: 11th Mini Album (2022) and Taste of Love: The 10th Mini Album (2021).
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Ready to Be launches with 145,500 copies sold in the United States in the week ending March 16, according to Luminate. That sum also marks the second-largest sales week of 2023 for any act, following the debut week of TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s The Name Chapter: Temptation (153,000; chart dated Feb. 11).
Ready to Be also logs a big week in vinyl album sales (nearly 18,000) – the largest for any all-female group since Luminate began electronically tracking sales in 1991.
Also in the top 10 on the new Top Album Sales chart, Miley Cyrus achieves her biggest sales week in nearly a decade – and 14th top 10 – as Endless Summer Vacation enters at No. 2 with 55,000 copies sold. Endless also collects Cyrus’ biggest ever sales week on vinyl. Plus, rock band Periphery nets its third top 10 – all consecutive – as Periphery V: Djent Is Not a Genre debuts at No. 10.
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 Luminate. Pure album sales were the sole measurement 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. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
Of Ready to Be’s 145,500 copies sold, physical sales comprise 143,000 (125,000 on CD and nearly 18,000 on vinyl) and digital downloads comprise 2,500.
Like many K-pop releases, Ready to Be was issued in collectible physical format packages (11 different CDs [including exclusives for Barnes & Noble, Target and the group’s official webstore] and two vinyl LPs [one exclusive to Target and one exclusive to the act’s webstore). CD variants of Ready contain a standard set of items and randomized elements (such as a postcards, photo cards, etc.).
Unusually, Ready to Be had a vinyl version of the album available on the same wide release date as the CD edition of the album, as most major K-pop titles in the past were initially available only as a physical album on CD and on no other physical formats (like vinyl or cassette). The vinyl editions of the album did not include randomized items, but were packaged with a lenticular postcard, poster and slipmat. Target’s exclusive LP is marbled orchid-colored, while the act’s webstore exclusive is an ultra-clear vinyl edition.
Ready to Be’s nearly 18,000 vinyl sales marks the largest week for a vinyl album by a female group since Luminate began electronically tracking sales in 1991. It’s also the second-largest sales week on vinyl for any K-pop album, following the debut week of BTS’ Love Yourself: Her earlier in 2023 (18,000; chart dated Jan. 21). Unlike Ready to Be, the Love Yourself: Her vinyl LP arrived to market more than five years after the album’s original release on CD and digital download in 2017.
Beyond the physical editions of the album, TWICE’s U.S. webstore also issued four alternative digital album downloads of Ready to Be – each with a different cover, digital replicas of individual group members’ signatures, and a bonus track (a voice memo from different group members).
Miley Cyrus’ Endless Summer Vacation debuts at No. 2 on Top Album Sales with her biggest sales week in nearly a decade, as it bows with 55,000 copies sold. Cyrus last had a larger sales week when Bangerz sold a little more than 63,000 during Christmas week of 2013 (reflected on the Top Album Sales chart dated Jan. 11, 2014). Bangerz earlier debuted at No. 1 on Top Album Sales with 270,500 copies sold (Oct. 26, 2013 chart).
Of Endless Summer Vacation’s 55,000 copies sold, physical sales comprise 37,500 (12,500 on CD and 25,000 on vinyl) and digital downloads comprise 17,500. Endless logs Cyrus’ largest sales week for a vinyl album since Luminate began electronically tracking music sales in 1991. On the Vinyl Albums chart, Endless debuts at No. 1 – her second leader on the list following Plastic Hearts in 2021.
Endless was released in four vinyl variants: standard black vinyl, a white-colored edition exclusive to Target and two color editions exclusive to Cyrus’ webstore (red and silver). All vinyl LPs came packaged with a poster.
CD sales were also aided by two deluxe boxed sets (one with a puzzle and a CD, the other with a beach towel and a CD) sold exclusively through her webstore.
Endless is Cyrus’ 14th top 10-charting effort on Top Album Sales, including those albums credited to her Disney Channel character Hannah Montana.
A trio of former No. 1s is next on Top Album Sales: Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time (1-3 in its second week with 21,000; down 81%), TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s The Name Chapter: Temptation (6-4 with 11,000; up 5%) and Taylor Swift’s Midnights (7-5 with 10,000; up 3%).
NCT 127’s Ay-Yo: The 4th Album Repackage falls 2-6 on Top Album Sales (9,500; down 67%), P!nk’s former leader Trustfall rises 9-7 (8,500; down 5%), Gorillaz’s chart-topping Cracker Island is a non-mover at No. 8 (6,000; down 37%) and Stray Kids’ former No. 1 MAXIDENT climbs 13-9 (6,000; up 17%).
Closing out the top 10 is rock band Periphery, which scores its third top 10 – all consecutive – as Periphery V: Djent Is Not a Genre debuts at No. 10 with nearly 6,000 sold. 55% of the sales came from the vinyl edition of the set.
In the week ending March 16, there were 1.961 million albums sold in the U.S. (down 0.9% compared to the previous week). Of that sum, physical albums (CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, etc.) comprised 1.605 million (up 5.3%) and digital albums comprised 355,000 (down 21.9%).
There were 733,000 CD albums sold in the week ending March 16 (up 10% week-over-week) and 862,000 vinyl albums sold (up 1.8%). Year-to-date CD album sales stand at 6.925 million (up 2.5% compared to the same time frame a year ago) and year-to-date vinyl album sales total 9.678 million (up 25.4%).
Overall year-to-date album sales total 20.609 million (up 8.1% compared to the same year-to-date time frame a year ago). Year-to-date physical album sales stand at 16.705 million (up 14.7%) and digital album sales total 3.904 million (down 13%).
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Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time spends a second week atop the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated March 25), as the set earned 259,000 equivalent album units in the United States in the week ending March 16, according to Luminate. That’s down 48% compared to its debut week sum of 501,000 units a week ago.
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One Thing at a Time logs the largest second-week for an album since Taylor Swift’s Midnights collected 342,000 units in the week ending Nov. 3, 2022 (chart dated Nov. 12), after debuting a week earlier with 1.578 million units.
One Thing at a Time’s second week is nearly as large as the opening week of Wallen’s last album, Dangerous: The Double Album, which launched with 265,000 units (week ending Jan. 14, 2021, chart dated Jan. 23).
One Thing at a Time is the first album by a male act to spend its first two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 since Harry Styles’ Harry’s House tallied its first two weeks atop the list on the charts dated June 4 and 11, 2022. It’s also the first country album to log its first two weeks at No. 1 since Dangerous spent its first 10 weeks at No. 1 (Jan. 21-March 27, 2021 charts). (Country albums are considered those that have hit or are eligible for Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart.)
Also in the top 10 of the new Billboard 200 albums chart, TWICE and Miley Cyrus debut at Nos. 2 and 3, respectively, with their latest efforts, Ready to Be and Endless Summer Vacation. Both acts earn their largest weeks by units earned since the chart began measuring by units in December 2014.
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 25, 2023-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on March 21. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
Of One Thing at a Time’s 259,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending March 16, SEA units comprise 234,000 (down 39%, equaling 308.06 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 36 songs), album sales comprise 21,000 (down 81%) and TEA units comprise 4,000 (down 53%). Notably, the album’s haul of 308.06 million streams for its songs tallies the second-biggest streaming week ever for a country album, after the set’s debut frame (498.28 million).
TWICE scores a career-high placing on the Billboard 200, as the pop ensemble’s new album Ready to Be debuts at No. 2 with 153,000 equivalent album units earned – the act’s biggest week ever. It’s the fourth top 10-charting effort for the South Korean group. Previously, the act went as high as No. 3 with its last two charting sets, Between 1&2: 11th Mini Album and Formula of Love: O+T=
On Friday night (Mar. 17), Taylor Swift kicked off her Eras tour in eye-popping fashion at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.: not only did the pop superstar perform for 3 hours and 15 minutes, she spent that time playing songs from all 10 of her studio albums for a thrilling career retrospective.
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Going through each era one by one, Swift was able to showcase the four new albums that she recorded since her last tour five years ago, as well as perform beloved hits that she’s played hundreds of times, from “You Belong With Me” to “Shake It Off.” As a result, the setlist required 44 songs, with new projects like Folklore and Midnights getting deep dives in order to make up for lost time, and a special acoustic track tucked away near the end of the setlist.
Thinking about catching the Eras tour soon? Get prepared for what Taylor Swift might play by checking out the first night’s setlist in full, and read more about the best moments of the opener.
Miss Americana & The Heartbreak PrinceCruel SummerThe ManYou Need To Calm DownLoverThe ArcherFearlessYou Belong With MeLove Story‘Tis The Damn SeasonWillowMarjorieChampagne ProblemsTolerate It…Ready For It?DelicateDon’t Blame MeLook What You Made Me DoEnchanted22We Are Never Ever Getting Back TogetherI Knew You Were TroubleAll Too Well (10 Minute Version)Invisible StringBettyThe Last Great American DynastyAugustIllicit AffairsMy Tears RicochetCardiganStyleBlank SpaceShake It OffWildest DreamsBad BloodMirrorball (acoustic)Tim McGrawLavender HazeAnti-HeroMidnight RainVigilante ShitBejeweledMastermindKarma
NCT 127 notch their fifth top 10-charting set on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart (dated March 18) as Ay-Yo: The 4th Album Repackage debuts at No. 2. It’s the fifth total, and consecutive, top 10-charting effort for the pop ensemble. All five have peaked within the top two positions of the chart.
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NCT 127 last debuted on Top Album Sales with their fourth album, 2 Baddies, last year. That set was later repackaged, had three new bonus tracks added, and retitled as Ay-Yo. It initially reached streamers and digital retailers in January, but its CD release didn’t happen until March 3.
Ay-Yo sold 29,000 copies in the U.S. in the week ending March 9, according to Luminate. CDs comprise effectively all of Ay-Yo’s sales for the week. Like many K-pop releases, the CD configuration of Ay-Yo was issued in collectible deluxe packages, each with a standard set of items and randomized elements (covers, photocards, posters, stickers). The album was not available in any other physical format.
Also in the top 10 of the new Top Album Sales chart, Morgan Wallen, Kali Uchis, De La Soul, Macklemore and Daisy Jones & The Six all debut albums in the region.
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 Luminate. Pure album sales were the sole measurement 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. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
At No. 1 on Top Album Sales, Morgan Wallen lands his second leader, and best sales week yet, as One Thing at a Time bows with 111,500 copies sold. That sum easily outpaces his previous highest sales frame when his last album, the chart-topping Dangerous: The Double Album, launched with 74,000 copies sold in January of 2021.
Kali Uchis logs her first top 10 and biggest sales week as her new studio set Red Moon in Venus enters at No. 3 with 28,000 sold. Of that sum, nearly 14,000 comprise vinyl sales – enabling the set to debut at No. 1 on the Vinyl Albums chart.
De La Soul’s debut album 3 Feet High and Rising, released in 1989, enters Top Album Sales at No. 4 after the long-out-of-print set was reissued on physical formats and made its digital retail debut on March 3. The album sold 21,000 copies in the week ending March 9, with almost 14,000 of that sum from vinyl LP sales (it bows at No. 2 on the Vinyl Albums chart). On the Billboard 200, 3 Feet High and Rising originally peaked at No. 24 in 1989 but hits a new high on the March 18-dated chart, where the set re-enters at No. 15, its first week in the top 20.
Macklemore’s new album Ben bows at No. 5 on Top Album Sales, selling 14,000 copies in its first week. It’s his second solo top 10-charting set, following Gemini in 2017, which peaked at No. 2. As one-half of Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, the duo visited the top 10 twice, with This Unruly Mess I’ve Made (No. 3 in 2016) and The Heist (No. 2 in 2012).
Four former No. 1s are next on Top Album Sales, as TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s The Name Chapter: Temptation falls 4-6 (11,000; down 23%), Taylor Swift’s Midnights dips 5-7 (10,000; down 8%), Gorillaz’s Cracker Island drops 1-8 in its second week (nearly 10,000; down 80%), and P!nk’s Trustfall slips 3-9 (9,000; down 47%).
Rounding out the top 10 is Daisy Jones & The Six’s Aurora, debuting at No. 10 with 8,000 sold. The album doubles as the soundtrack to the Amazon Prime Video series Daisy Jones & the Six, about the fictional rock band of the same name. The series stars Riley Keough (as the character Daisy Jones) and Sam Claflin (The Six member Billy Dunne), who sing lead vocals on the Aurora album.
In the week ending March 9, there were 1.979 million albums sold in the U.S. (up 6.9% compared to the previous week). Of that sum, physical albums (CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, etc.) comprised 1.524 million (up 3.4%) and digital albums comprised 455,000 (up 20.4%).
There were 667,000 CD albums sold in the week ending March 9 (up 9.9% week-over-week) and 847,000 vinyl albums sold (down 1%). Year-to-date CD album sales stand at 6.192 million (up 1.3% compared to the same time frame a year ago) and year-to-date vinyl album sales total 8.815 million (up 25.6%).
Overall year-to-date album sales total 18.65 million (up 7.8% compared to the same year-to-date time frame a year ago). Year-to-date physical album sales stand at 15.1 million (up 14.3%) and digital album sales total 3.549 million (down 13.1%).
DJ/producer John Summit and singer Hayla jump onto Billboard‘s Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart (dated March 18) at No. 9 with “Where You Are.” The first top 10 for both acts, “Where” starts with 1.9 million streams and 1,000 in download sales in the United States March 3-9, according to Luminate.
The collab amounts to Summit’s eighth total appearance, a run that began with “Deep End” (No. 26 peak, December 2020). Until now, that song and “Human,” featuring Echoes (March 2022), were tied as Summit’s highest-peaking tracks.
“Where” brings the second appearance for Hayla, the featured vocalist on Kx5’s “Escape” (No. 11, last June).
Concurrently, “Where” enters at No. 4 on the Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales chart, matching the high of “Escape” last year. Summit scores his second and top-charting top 10, following “La Danza” (No. 10, March 2022).
On Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, “Where” debuts between two other newly-arriving collabs: Marshmello and Manuel Turizo‘s “El Merengue” (No. 6) and Oliver Tree and David Guetta‘s “Here We Go Again” (No. 10). The former, as previously reported, marks Marshmello’s first entry on a Billboard Latin chart.
“Here” is Oliver Tree’s second top 10, following “Miss You,” with Robin Schulz (No. 4, November). “Here” is Guetta’s landmark 20th top 10, the fourth-most among all acts since the chart premiered in January 2013; Kygo leads with 24, followed by The Chainsmokers (22) and Calvin Harris (21).
The track also extends Guetta’s record for the most Hot Dance/Electronic Songs hits overall to 75 (ahead of Kygo, with 61). “Here” bows with 1.8 million U.S. streams.
Further on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, a fourth notable team-up, Martin Garrix and JVKE‘s “Hero,” leaps 33-17. The track earns top Streaming Gainer honors with 872,000 streams, up 48%, in the wake of the March 3 release of new remixes by DubVision and Space Ducks. The rank is the closest that “Hero” has been to its No. 13 best in two months.
Boosted by its high-energy performance on the Academy Awards (March 12), best original song winner “Naatu Naatu” scored a 260% increase in on-demand official streams in the United States, according to initial reports to data tracking firm Luminate (whose information powers Billboard’s weekly charts).
On March 12 and 13 combined, “Naatu Naatu,” performed by vocalists Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava, garnered 176,000 official on-demand streams in the U.S. – up 260% from the 49,000 that the track collected in the two previous days (March 10 and 11).
In terms of digital song sales, the song sold a little over 1,000 on March 12-13 – up from a negligible sum in the two days prior.
The best original song Oscar is awarded to the writers of the song. “Naatu Naatu” was written by M.M. Keeravaani and Chandrabose, who both accepted the Oscar onstage during the live ABC-TV broadcast.
“Naatu Naatu” had the third-most streams of the five nominees for original song, all of which were performed on the Oscars, which aired live on ABC. Here’s a recap of the other four nominees and their streams on March 12-13, versus March 10-11: Rihanna’s “Lift Me Up” (1.447 million vs. 1.446 million; up less than 1%), Lady Gaga’s “Hold My Hand” (580,000 vs. 389,000; up 49%), “This Is a Life” (84,000 vs. 38,000; up 121%) and Sofia Carson’s “Applause” (37,000 vs. 5,000; up 593%).
In addition, Lenny Kravitz’s “Calling All Angels,” which he performed for the In Memoriam portion of the broadcast, collected 35,000 streams on March 12-13 – a gain of 3,449% compared to the 1,000 streams that it garnered on March 10-11.
Collectively, the six performances helped generate 2.359 million on-demand official streams in the U.S. on March 12-13 – a gain of 22% compared to the 1.929 million on March 10-11.
News of further significant streaming and sales gains will be reported in the coming days on Billboard.com. Streaming, sales and airplay activity generated in the week ending March 16 will be reflected on the weekly Billboard charts dated March 25.
