Chart Beat
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Drake’s “First Person Shooter,” featuring J. Cole, launches at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart. The collaboration, from Drake’s LP For All the Dogs – which concurrently debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart – is his 13th Hot 100 leader, tying him with Michael Jackson for the most in the list’s history among solo males, and the fourth-most among all acts.
J. Cole achieves his first Hot 100 No. 1.
Drake, meanwhile, charts seven songs in the Hot 100’s top 10, including six debuts, upping his record total to 76 career top 10 hits.
The Hot 100 blends all-genre U.S. streaming (official audio and official video), radio airplay and sales data, the lattermost metric reflecting purchases of physical singles and digital tracks from full-service digital music retailers; digital singles sales from direct-to-consumer (D2C) sites are excluded from chart calculations. All charts (dated Oct. 21, 2023) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow (Oct. 17). For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.
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Here’s a look at the coronation of “First Person Shooter,” the 1,157th single to top the Hot 100 over the chart’s 65-year history, and the 72nd to debut at No. 1.
Streams, airplay & sales: Released Oct. 6 at 6 a.m. ET on For All the Dogs, on OVO Sound/Republic Records, “First Person Shooter” drew 42.2 million streams and 4.3 million radio airplay audience impressions and sold 4,000 downloads in the tracking week ending Oct. 12, according to Luminate.
The single also debuts at No. 1 on the Streaming Songs chart and No. 7 on Digital Song Sales.
Drake ties MJ with 13th Hot 100 No. 1: “I’m one away from Michael,” chart-watcher Drake notes in “First Person Shooter,” while also shouting out Jackson’s classic 1983 Hot 100 No. 1 “Beat It.” Upon the former song’s debut, the lyric is outdated, as Drake now ties Jackson for the most leaders among solo males: 13 each.
Drake and Jackson tie for the fourth-most Hot 100 No. 1s among all acts, dating to the chart’s Aug. 4, 1958, inception.
Most Billboard Hot 100 No. 1s:
20, The Beatles
19, Mariah Carey
14, Rihanna
13, Drake
13, Michael Jackson
12, Madonna
12, The Supremes
11, Whitney Houston
10, Janet Jackson
10, Stevie Wonder
Here’s a recap of Drake’s 13 Hot 100 No. 1s:
“First Person Shooter,” Drake feat. J. Cole (one week to-date, Oct. 21, 2023)
“Slime You Out,” Drake feat. SZA (one week, Sept. 30, 2023)
“Jimmy Cooks,” Drake feat. 21 Savage (one week, July 2, 2022)
“Wait for U,” Future feat. Drake & Tems (one week, May 14, 2022)
“Way 2 Sexy,” Drake feat. Future and Young Thug (one week, Sept. 18, 2021)
“What’s Next,” Drake (one week, March 20, 2021)
“Toosie Slide,” Drake (one week, April 18, 2020)
“In My Feelings,” Drake (10 weeks, beginning July 21, 2018)
“Nice for What,” Drake (eight weeks, beginning April 21, 2018)
“God’s Plan,” Drake (11 weeks, beginning Feb. 3, 2018)
“One Dance,” Drake feat. WizKid & Kyla (10 weeks, beginning May 21, 2016)
“Work,” Rihanna feat. Drake (nine weeks, beginning March 5, 2016)
“What’s My Name?,” Rihanna feat. Drake (one week at No. 1, beginning Nov. 20, 2010)
J. Cole’s first No. 1: J. Cole earns his first Hot 100 No. 1, with his 72nd entry on the chart. He previously reached No. 2 twice, as featured on Lil Durk’s “All My Life” (this May) and with “my.life,” with 21 Savage and Morray (May 2021). As “First Person Shooter” debuts, he now totals 12 career top 10s.
Drake’s record ninth No. 1 debut: “First Person Shooter” is Drake’s record-extending ninth song to debut at No. 1 on the Hot 100. He previously started at the top with “Slime You Out,” “Jimmy Cooks,” “Wait for U,” “Way 2 Sexy,” “What’s Next,” “Toosie Slide,” “Nice for What” and “God’s Plan.”
Drake passes BTS for most No. 1s in the ‘20s: Drake ups his haul to seven Hot 100 No. 1s in the 2020s – pushing him past BTS for the most so far this decade. Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift follow with four each in that span.
Drake earned six Hot 100 No. 1s in the ‘10s, the fourth-best sum, after Rihanna (nine), Katy Perry (eight) and Bruno Mars (seven).
Here’s a recap of the artists with the most Hot 100 leaders in each decade:
‘20s, to date: Drake, seven
‘10s: Rihanna, nine
‘00s: Usher, seven
‘90s: Mariah Carey, 14
‘80s: Michael Jackson, nine
‘70s: Bee Gees, nine
‘60s: The Beatles, 18
(Frankie Avalon and The Fleetwoods tied for the most Hot 100 No. 1s, two each, over 1958-59.)
Drake claims 7 of top 10: Drake tallies seven songs overall in the latest Hot 100’s top 10. He infuses the entire top three for a third time (after he tripled up on the Sept. 18, 2021, and March 20, 2021, charts). He and The Beatles (five weeks, 1964) are the only acts with multiple such weeks, while Grande and Swift have monopolized the top three once each.
Here’s a rundown of Drake’s tracks in the latest Hot 100’s top 10 (all of which are debuts except for No. 6):
No. 1, “First Person Shooter,” feat. J. Cole
No. 2, “IDGAF,” feat. Yeat
No. 3, “Virginia Beach”
No. 5, “Calling for You,” feat. 21 Savage
No. 6, “Slime You Out,” feat. SZA (up from No. 18; debuted at No. 1 on the Sept. 30 chart)
No. 8, “Daylight”
No. 10, “Fear of Heights”
As J. Cole lands his first Hot 100 No. 1, and 12th top 10, Yeat earns his first top 10 and 21 Savage, his 15th (and 10th in collaboration with Drake).
Drake’s records in top 2, 5 & 10: “First Person Shooter” also contributes to Drake’s marks for the most top two, top five and top 10 Hot 100 hits.
Here’s an updated look at Drake’s leading ranks among acts with the most hits in those tiers:
Top 2: Now with 23 top two Hot 100 hits, Drake ties The Beatles and Mariah Carey for the most. (The Beatles boast 20 No. 1s, the most among all acts, and three top two hits; Carey has 19 and four, respectively; and Drake now has 13 and a record 10, respectively.)
Top 5: Now with 41 top five Hot 100 hits, Drake moves further ahead of runners-up The Beatles (29). Madonna follows with 28.
Top 10: Now with 76 top 10 Hot 100 hits, Drake surges further past Swift, in second place with 42. Madonna is next with 38.
No. 1 on Streaming Songs, R&B/hip-hop charts: As “First Person Shooter” concurrently crowns the Streaming Songs chart, Drake adds his record-extending 19th No. 1. (Justin Bieber and Swift rank next with six each.) J. Cole notches his second No. 1, after “Interlude” led for a week in May 2021.
“First Person Shooter” likewise premieres atop the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs charts, which use the same multi-metric methodology as the Hot 100. Drake claims his record-padding 30th Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs No. 1, further distancing himself from legends Aretha Franklin and Stevie Wonder, each with 20. J. Cole collects his third Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs No. 1, after “All My Life” ruled for seven weeks and “my.life,” for one frame. On Hot Rap Songs, Drake and J. Cole also swell their No. 1 totals to a record-extending 30 and three, respectively.
Plus, on the multi-metric Hot R&B Songs chart, “Slime You Out” rebounds for a second week at No. 1.
‘First’ things first: Last but not least, “First Person Shooter” is the fifth Hot 100 No. 1 with the word “first” in its title. Here’s an updated firsthand look:
“First Person Shooter,” Drake feat. J. Cole, one week at No. 1, beginning Oct. 21, 2023
“First Class,” Jack Harlow, three weeks, beginning April 23, 2022
“The First Night,” Monica, five weeks, beginning Oct. 3, 1998
“The First Time,” Surface, two weeks, beginning Jan. 26, 1991
“The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” Roberta Flack, six weeks, beginning April 15, 1972
Elsewhere, three songs not by Drake make the latest Hot 100’s top 10, led by Doja Cat’s “Paint the Town Red,” which falls to No. 4 following three nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1.
SZA’s “Snooze” retreats to No. 7 on the Hot 100 from its No. 2 high. It rules the Radio Songs chart for a second week (77.9 million in audience, up 3%).
Plus, Swift’s “Cruel Summer” slips to No. 9 on the Hot 100 from its No. 3 peak.
Again, for all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram and all charts (dated Oct. 21), including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh on Billboard.com tomorrow (Oct. 17).
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.
Drake does it again, as For All The Dogs debuts at No. 1 in the U.K.
For All The Dogs (via OVO/Republic Records) marks Drizzy’s sixth U.K. leader and second in just over a year.
The leader at the halfway point, For All The Dogs finishes the week at the summit, joining his other best-sellers Views (from 2016), Scorpion (2018), Dark Lane Demo Tapes (2020), Certified Lover Boy (2021) and Her Loss with 21 Savage (2022).
Drake’s delayed eighth LP outpaces another hip-hop recording, Crop Circle 3 (Zino) by London rapper Nines. It’s new at No. 2, equaling the peak of Crop Circle 2 from earlier this year. Crop Circle 3 is Nines’ fifth consecutive top 5 album in the U.K., a list that includes all three titles in the Crop Circle series, 2017’s One Foot Out (No. 4), and 2020’s No. 1 release Crabs In A Bucket.
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Roger Waters’ redux of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon crashes the chart at No. 3. The original, from 1973, is recognized as one of the most-successful British albums of all time, and has logged 560 weeks on the national tally.
Pink Floyd has six U.K. No. 1 albums, however Dark Side isn’t one of them; it originally peaked at No. 2.Waters, the founding singer, songwriter and bass player with Pink Floyd, now boasts five U.K. top 10 LPs.
Meanwhile, Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts (Geffen) completes the top 3 on the Official Albums Chart, published Oct. 13, dipping 2-3 in its fifth week.
DJ Joel Corry snags his first U.K. top 10 with Another Friday Night (Atlantic), his debut album. It’s new at No. 5.
Veteran U.S. artist Sufjan Stevens earns a second U.K. top 10, and first in eight years with Javelin (Asthmatic Kitty), which flies in at No. 7. To date, Stevens’s chart peak in the U.K. is No. 5 for 2015’s Carrie & Lowell.
Also new to the national albums survey is London rapper Slim’s Still Working 2 (No 22 via Warner Records), British indie folk group Stornoway’s Dig the Mountain (No. 49 via Cooking Vinyl) while U.S. singer and songwriter Noah Kahan’s Stick Season improves 48-28 (Island), following Olivia Rodrigo’s performance of its title track for her BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge session.
Kenya Grace bags her first No. 1 on the U.K. singles chart with “Strangers,” and, at the same time, earns a piece of history.
The South Africa-born, U.K.-raised artist completes her coronation with “Strangers” (via FFRR), a drum ‘n’ bass special, which reaches the top in its sixth week on the chart.
In doing so, she becomes just the second female artist to reach the summit with a song performed, written and produced entirely solo. The first to do it was, of course, Kate Bush, whose 1985 number “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” completed a remarkable chart-topping turn in 2022, powered by Stranger Things’ fourth season.
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According to the Official Charts Company, U.S. artist Tori Amos came close with her 1997 club monster “Professional Widow (It’s Got To Be Big),” which reached No. 1 but was boosted by a remix from DJ Armand Van Helden.
The leader at the midweek stage, “Strangers” becomes the first chart debut by a British female artist to reach No. 1 in almost a decade, since Ella Henderson’s 2014 release “Ghost.”
As predicted, “Strangers” ends Doja Cat’s five-week reign with “Paint the Town Red” (Ministry of Sound) which tumbles 1-12.
Coming in at No. 2 on the Official U.K. Singles Chart, published Friday, Oct. 13, is Casso, RAYE, D-Block Europe’s “Prada” (Ministry of Sound), up two places for a new peak position, while Tate McRae’s “Greedy” (Ministry of Sound) holds at No. 3, its peak spot.
Thanks to the release of his chart-leading new album For All The Dogs (via OVO/Republic Records), Drake bags the highest entry on the latest singles chart. Actually, the Canadian hip-hop star secures the three top debuts with “First Person Shooter” featuring J Cole (at No. 4), “IDGAF” featuring Yeat (No. 5) and “Virginia Beach” (No. 6), boosting his total of U.K. top 10 hits to 44.
Finally, South African Afrobeats star Tyla rushes up the climb with “Water” (RCA), lifting 10-7, and Sonny Fodera, MK and Clementine Douglas crack the top 10 for the first time with “Asking” (Solotoko) up 11-10.
Drake earns his 13th No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated Oct. 21), as his new studio effort For All the Dogs debuts atop the list. The set earned 402,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending Oct. 12, according to Luminate. That marks the fourth-largest week of the year for an album, by units earned.
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For All the Dogs’ opening frame was almost entirely driven by the streaming activity of its 23 songs. In total, 97% of Dogs’ debut was owed to song streams — adding up to 514.01 million on-demand official streams of those songs in its first week. That results in the largest streaming week of 2023 for any album, and the fourth-largest ever. Strikingly, of the top five biggest streaming weeks four of them were generated by a Drake album.
For All the Dogs was released at 6 a.m. ET on Friday, Oct. 6 — slightly off-cycle, as most new albums are released at 12 a.m. ET every Friday. The album was first teased in June, and then on Sept. 6, he announced the album was due to be released on Sept. 22. By Sept. 15, he had pushed that release date back to Oct. 6.
Dogs is Drake’s fourth album in less than two years, and third since June of 2022. He released the collaborative Her Loss with 21 Savage in November of 2022, and the solo sets Honestly, Nevermind in June of 2022 and Certified Lover Boy in Sept. 2021.
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 Oct. 21, 2023-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Tuesday (Oct. 17). For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
Of For All the Dogs’ 402,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Oct. 12, SEA units comprise 391,000 (equaling 514.01 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 23 songs), album sales comprise 10,000 (it was only available to purchase as a digital download album) and TEA units comprise a little over 1,000.
In terms of total on-demand official streams earned by the album’s songs in its first week, the 514.01 million figure marks the fourth-largest streaming week ever, and biggest of 2023. Here are the top five biggest streaming weeks for an album, by total on-demand streams earned by a set’s collected songs: Drake’s Scorpion (745.92 million in its debut, in 2018), Drake’s Certified Lover Boy (743.67 million in its debut, 2021), Taylor Swift’s Midnights (549.26 million in its debut, 2022), For All the Dogs (514.01 million) and Drake and 21 Savage’s Her Loss (513.56 million in its debut, 2022).
With a 13th No. 1 album on the Billboard 200, Drake breaks out of a tie with Swift to solely have the third-most No. 1s on the chart. The Beatles continue to have a record 19 No. 1s, followed by Jay-Z with 14, Drake with 13, and Swift with 12. (Swift’s next album, the re-recorded 1989 [Taylor’s Version], is due to be released on Oct. 27. All 12 of Swift’s full-length studio albums and re-recorded projects from 2008’s Fearless through 2023’s Speak Now [Taylor’s Version] have debuted at No. 1.)
The Nos. 2 through 7 albums on the new Billboard 200 are all former No. 1s. Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time dips 1-2 with 72,000 equivalent album units earned (down 3%), Rod Wave’s Nostalgia falls 2-3 (59,000; down 16%), Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts descends 3-4 (nearly 59,000; down 12%), Zach Bryan’s self-titled album is a non-mover at No. 5 (53,000; down 9%), SZA’s SOS is stationary at No. 6 (50,000; down 4%), Swift’s Midnights climbs 8-7 (42,000; down 2%) an Travis Scott’s Utopia dips 7-8 (40,000; down 12%).
Noah Kahan’s Stick Season is back in the top 10 for the first time since June, as it climbs 13-9 with 39,000 equivalent album units (up 26%). The set benefits from activity generated by a recently released remix of the album’s “She Calls Me Back” with Kacey Musgraves. Kahan also additionally gained exposure thanks to Rodrigo’s recent cover of the album’s title track on BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge.
Rounding out the new top 10 of the Billboard 200 is Swift’s former No. 1 Lover, which rises 11-10 with nearly 39,000 equivalent album units earned (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.
Dylan Scott earns his fifth top 10 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart, as “Can’t Have Mine” rises from No. 11 to No. 9 in its 56th week on the ranking (dated Oct. 21). It increased by 8% to 19.8 million audience impressions during the Oct. 6-12 tracking week, according to Luminate. Scott co-authored the song […]
Joe Hisaishi and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra’s A Symphonic Celebration: Music From the Studio Ghibli Films of Hayao Miyazaki makes a splash on Billboard’s album charts, and sets a modern-era single-week U.S. sales record for a classical album on vinyl.
First released on June 30 via digital download, CD and through streaming services, the album was issued on vinyl on Sept. 29. In the week ending Oct. 5, the album sold a total of 12,500 copies in the U.S. according to data tracking firm Luminate, with 12,000 of that sum on vinyl. The latter figure marks the single biggest sales week for a classical album on vinyl since Luminate began electronically tracking music sales in 1991.
The Symphonic album’s vinyl sales were bolstered by its availability across five different vinyl variants. All were double-LP sets – a standard black vinyl, a picture disc set, and three color variants: clear, yellow and sky blue.
In total in the week ending Oct. 5, Symphonic earned 13,000 in equivalent album units*, of which 12,500 were in traditional album sales. That marks the second-largest week for a classical album released in 2023, in both units earned and pure album sales, following the debut frame of Def Leppard’s Drastic Symphonies (16,000 units; of which 15,000 were in album sales; June 3-dated charts).
The new Symphonic Celebration album surveys composer Hisaishi’s work with film director Hayao Miyazaki and his many animated films for Studio Ghibli. Hisaishi teamed with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to present symphonic arrangements of familiar music he created for such films as Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle and Princess Mononoke.
A Symphonic Celebration returns for a second week at No. 1 on Billboard’s Classical Albums chart (jumping 11-1, with 13,000 equivalent album units earned; up 1,418%) after it debuted atop the list dated July 15 (following its initial digital download, CD and streaming release). On Traditional Classical Albums, it also bumps back to No. 1 for a second week (rising 2-1), after debuting at No. 1 (July 15). The two charts rank the week’s most popular overall classical albums (by equivalent album units) and traditional classical albums (by pure album sales), respectively.
A Symphonic Celebration also debuts in the top 10 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales (No. 4), Vinyl Albums (No. 2) and Tastemaker Albums (No. 9), and re-enters at No. 4 on Top Current Album Sales (a new peak). The four charts rank, respectively, the week’s top-selling albums overall, the top-selling vinyl releases, the top-selling albums at independent and small chain record stores, and the top-selling current albums (not catalog, or older titles).
Finally, on the overall, all-genre Billboard 200 chart, A Symphonic Celebration bows at No. 74. The Billboard 200 ranks the week’s most popular albums, overall, across all genres, by equivalent album units.
*Equivalent album 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.
Blink-182 scores two consecutive No. 1s on Billboard’s Alternative Airplay chart for the first time as “One More Time” rises to the top of the Oct. 21-dated survey.
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The song reigns in its fourth week on the tally, marking the quickest rise to No. 1 in 2023 and the fastest since Blink-182’s own “Edging” took three frames in November 2022, starting a 13-week domination.
“One More Time” is the trio’s fifth No. 1 on Alternative Airplay, the three before “Edging” and “One More Time” not leading in succession. The band first ruled with “All the Small Things” beginning in December 1999 (eight weeks at No. 1), followed by “I Miss You” in April 2004 (two) and “Bored to Death” beginning in July 2016 (five).
Of those five No. 1s, four feature Blink-182’s most famous lineup of Tom DeLonge, Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker. “Bored to Death” led during DeLonge’s absence from the band, with Matt Skiba replacing him on guitar and co-lead vocals.
Concurrently, “One More Time” shoots 16-11 on Mainstream Rock Airplay as the list’s Greatest Gainer. On the all-rock-format, audience-based Rock & Alternative Airplay chart, the song repeats at its No. 2 high with 7.6 million audience impressions, up 10%, according to Luminate.
On the most recently published multimetric Hot Rock & Alternative Songs survey (dated Oct. 14, reflecting the tracking week of Sept. 29-Oct. 5), “One More Time” ranked at No. 19. In addition to its radio airplay, the song earned 3.2 million official U.S. streams and sold 2,000 downloads.
“One More Time” is the second single from Blink-182’s upcoming album of the same name, its ninth studio set, due Oct. 20.
All Oct. 21-dated Billboard charts will update on Billboard.com on Tuesday, Oct. 17.
Ed Sheeran notches his sixth No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart (dated Oct. 14), as his latest studio effort, Autumn Variations, debuts atop the list. It sold 46,500 copies sold in the U.S. in the week ending Oct. 5, according to Luminate.
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With the No. 1 bow of Autumn Variations, Sheeran is the only artist to earn at least two new No. 1s on Top Album Sales in 2023. Autumn’s arrival comes just five months after Sheeran last hit No. 1, when his previous studio set, – (Subtract), launched at No. 1 on the May 20-dated tally, spending a week in charge. Only one other act has had two albums at No. 1 in 2023, but they did so with a carryover title that first hit No. 1 in 2022: Taylor Swift. Her Midnights album had 14 weeks at No. 1 nonconsecutively from Nov. 5, 2022, through June 10, 2023, while her Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) debuted at No. 1 on the July 22, 2023, chart, logging two weeks at No. 1.
Autumn Variations was announced on Aug. 24, a little over a month before the album was released on Sept. 29.
Also in the top 10 of the new Top Album Sales chart: titles from NCT, Joe Hisaishi and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Wilco, Grateful Dead, Lil Peep all debut in the top 10, while Green Day’s Dookie re-enters the chart in the top 10 after its 30th anniversary reissue, and Jason Isbell’s Southeastern surges back onto the chart following its 10th anniversary reissue.
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 Autumn Variations’ 46,500 first-week sales, physical sales comprise 33,500 (17,500 on CD and 16,000 on vinyl – his largest week ever on vinyl) and digital downloads comprise a little over 13,000. The set also launches at No. 1 on the Vinyl Albums chart, marking his fourth No. 1 on the 12-year-old tally. The album’s debut-week sales were bolstered by its availability across five vinyl variants, a signed CD and a deluxe digital edition of the album with live versions of each of the album’s songs.
Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts falls 1-2 on Top Album Sales with nearly 16,000 sold (down 31%). NCT’s Golden Age: The 4th Album debuts at No. 3 with 13,000 sold, marking the third top 10-charting effort for the Korean pop ensemble.
Joe Hisaishi and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra’s A Symphonic Celebration: Music From the Studio Ghibli Films of Hayao Miyazaki bows at No. 4, following its vinyl release on Sept. 29. The set was initially released via digital download and CD on June 30. In the week ending Oct. 5, the Celebration album sold 12,500 copies – with 12,000 of that sum on vinyl, marking the single biggest sales week for a classical album on vinyl since Luminate began electronically tracking music sales in 1991. (Its vinyl sales were enhanced by its availability in five vinyl variants.)
With 12,500 overall copies sold, Celebration logs the second-largest sales week for a classical album released in 2023, following Def Leppard’s Drastic Symphonies (15,000; June 3-dated chart).
Wilco logs its ninth top 10-charting effort on Top Album Sales as the band’s new studio set, Cousin, debuts at No. 5 with a little over 12,000 copies sold. Green Day’s Dookie re-enters the chart at No. 6 with 11,000 sold (up 1,744%) following its 30th anniversary deluxe reissue. The album peaked at No. 2 in 1995 and hasn’t been in the top 10 since April of that year. Grateful Dead’s Wake of the Flood debuts on Top Album Sales at No. 7 following its 50th anniversary reissue. The set, first released in 1973, sold nearly 10,500 copies in the tracking week (up from a negligible sum the previous week). Jason Isbell also celebrates an anniversary, as his Southeastern album re-enters at No. 8 – a new peak and its first week in the top 10 – with 10,000 sold (up 4,723%) after its 10th anniversary reissue. The album originally peaked at No. 23 in June of 2013.
The physical commercial debut of Lil Peep’s 2016 mixtape Hellboy prompts the album’s debut at No. 9 on Top Album Sales with nearly 10,000 sold. It was released via CD, vinyl and cassette on Sept. 29, but was previously available as a digital download (and via streaming services). It’s the fourth top 10-charting set for the late rapper, who died in 2017. All of his charting efforts on Top Album Sales debuted on the list following his passing.
Closing out the top 10 on Top Album Sales is V’s Layover, which falls 3-10 with 9,000 sold (down 22%).
In the week ending Oct. 5, there were 1.695 million albums sold in the U.S. (up 8.8% compared to the previous week). Of that sum, physical albums (CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, etc.) comprised 1.369 million (up 11.1%) and digital albums comprised 327,000 (down 0.1%).
There were 573,000 CD albums sold in the week ending Oct. 5 (up 6.7% week-over-week) and 784,000 vinyl albums sold (up 14.2%). Year-to-date CD album sales stand at 26.160 million (up 0.5% compared to the same time frame a year ago) and year-to-date vinyl album sales total 34.883 million (up 19.4%).
Overall year-to-date album sales total 75.521 million (up 6.0% compared to the same year-to-date time frame a year ago). Year-to-date physical album sales stand at 61.449 million (up 10.4%) and digital album sales total 14.071 million (down 9.7%).
After repeated monthly triumphs, a series of broken records and 39 cities turned to mute, Beyoncé closed out the Renaissance World Tour on Oct. 1. According to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore, the tour grossed $579.8 million and sold 2.8 million tickets across 56 shows in North America and Europe.
In a vacuum, those are massive numbers. And in the context of Boxscore’s nearly 40-year history, they are monumental. The Renaissance World Tour is the highest grossing tour by a woman, by a Black artist and by any American soloist.
Among women and domestic solo acts, Beyoncé passes Madonna’s Sticky & Sweet Tour, which broke ground upon its 2009 finale with $407.7 million. Among Black acts, she replaces herself atop the heap, exceeding The Formation World Tour’s 2016 gross of $256.1 million by a margin of 2.26 to 1. In the interim, The Weeknd’s ongoing After Hours Til Dawn Tour has slid in the middle, with a gross of $305.9 million as of Sept. 30.
Doubling her previous peak – already a towering high that topped Boxscore’s 2016 year-end round-up – and digging deep into the record books, Beyoncé breaks the top 10 highest grossing tours of all time, hitting No. 7. She’s barely blocked by Guns N’ Roses’ Not in This Lifetime… Tour, which earned $584.2 million from 2016-19, and ahead of The Rolling Stones’ A Bigger Bang Tour, which brought in $558 million from 2005-07.
Notably, those tours ran for four years and three years, respectively. In fact, the Renaissance World Tour is the only one among the all-time top 10 to take place within one calendar year. At 56 shows, it played for roughly half the length of all-timers by Coldplay, The Rolling Stones and U2; about one fifth of Ed Sheeran’s The Divide Tour; and one sixth of Elton John’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour.
Post-pandemic-era ticketing practices such as dynamic pricing and primary market resale have allowed fan demand to push an artist’s market value higher than ever before. The Renaissance World Tour averaged $253 a ticket, allowing grosses to bloom quicker than her fellow all-time leaders.
The next highest one-year earner is Taylor Swift’s Reputation Stadium Tour, which brought in $345.7 million in 2018. Coincidentally, Beyoncé and Swift have shared a very bright spotlight this year, as their concurrent treks have dominated headlines and boosted economies. Official numbers have yet to be reported for The Eras Tour, but it’ll likely join the Renaissance World Tour in this vaulted space.
In speeding to the all-time top 10, Beyoncé maintained a breathtaking pace from May through October. The Renaissance World Tour earned $141.8 million and sold more than a million tickets from 21 shows in Europe. (Previous reports cited $154 million, but official numbers have since been adjusted.) That evens out to $6.8 million and just under 50,000 tickets (49,873) per show.
Though those averages were already the highest of any leg of any Beyoncé tour, (much) bigger business awaited across the pond. Her 35 Renaissance shows in the U.S. and Canada averaged $12.5 million each night. In all, the North American leg earned $438 million, alone enough to break the global touring records referenced above.
Three shows at the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif. (Los Angeles area), earned $45.5 million and sold 156,000 tickets. That makes it the sixth-highest grossing engagement in Boxscore history. Like the tour it was a part of, it’s the biggest reported Boxscore for a woman, Black artist and American soloist. And like its parent tour, it reaches its all-time status with brevity. The five higher-grossing engagements range from a six-night stay at London’s Wembley Stadium for Coldplay to Harry Styles’ 15-show mini-residency at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
The tour follows Renaissance, Beyoncé’s latest solo LP. The set debuted atop the Billboard 200 last year and spawned two top 10s on the Billboard Hot 100 – “Break My Soul,” which became her seventh No. 1 hit, and “Cuff It,” which became her longest-charting song on the tally earlier this year. Renaissance and both singles won Grammy awards at this year’s ceremony, making her the most awarded singer in Grammy history.
And while the Renaissance World Tour has come to a close, its lifespan hasn’t ended just yet. Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé opens in theaters on Dec. 1, distributed directly by AMC Theaters.
Across her 20-year solo career, Beyoncé has grossed more than $1.3 billion and sold 11.6 million tickets, including her portion of co-headline runs with Jay-Z, and Alicia Keys and Missy Elliott.
Drake collars Australia’s albums chart as For All The Dogs (via Republic/Universal) bows to No. 1.
For All The Dogs starts at the summit of the new ARIA Chart, published Friday, Oct. 13, for Drizzy’s fifth No. 1 Down Under, following Views (2016), Scorpion (2018), Dark Lane Demo Tapes (2020) and Certified Lover Boy (2021).
Lead single “Slime You Out” featuring SZA peaked at No. 12 in September, and vaults on the latest singles chart, up 65-13. It’s one of 20 For All The Dogs tracks which impact the top 100 of the national singles survey, including three in the top 10, led by “First Person Shooter” featuring J. Cole at No. 4.
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Meanwhile, Olivia Rodrigo‘s sophomore set Guts (Geffen/Universal) is unchanged at No. 2 on the ARIA Albums Chart.
Also new to the top 10 is Aussie rock outfit The Screaming Jets, with their ninth studio album, Professional Misconduct (Independent). It’s new at No. 3, for the band’s fifth top 10 appearance following All For One (No. 2 in 1991), Tear Of Thought (No. 3 in 1992), The Screaming Jets (No. 5 in 1995) and All For One 30th Anniversary Edition (No. 4 in 2021). The latest album includes contributions from founding bass player Paul Woseen, who died Sept. 15 at the age of 56.
ARIA Hall of Fame-inducted singer Russell Morris lands at No. 5 with The Real Thing: Symphonic Concert (MGM), recorded in Melbourne in July with the 54-piece Southern Cross Symphony and his 10-piece band. The “Real Thing” singer has released 15 studio albums, three live albums and six compilations since launching his recording career in 1969. Morris set a career high in 2014 when Van Diemen’s Land peaked at No. 4.
Close behind on the fresh ARIA Chart is Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers, who enjoy a top tier start with I Love You (Domestic La La), the Canberra four-piece pop-punk band’s debut LP. It’s new at No. 6.
Also crashing the top 10 is NCT Dream’s Fact Check (Virgin Music Australia/Universal), the fourth studio album from the sub-unit of South Korean boyband NCT. It’s new at No. 9. The pop group hit No. 20 in August of this year with ISTJ – The 3rd Album, while another NCT sub-unit, NCT 127, has charted here twice, with a best of No. 3 for 2 Baddies from 2022, ARIA reports.
Over on the ARIA Singles Chart, Doja Cat’s “Paint The Town Red” (RCA/Sony) enters an eighth week at No. 1, respectively beating Tate McRae’s “Greedy” (RCA/Sony) and Kenya Grace’s “Strangers” (Warner) to the line. “Paint The Town Red” ties with Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” for the second longest-running leader of 2023, behind only Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” at 12 weeks.
Finally, BLACKPINK star Jennie lands at No. 69 on the ARIA Chart with “You & Me” (YG Entertainment/ Interscope Records), for her first solo appearance on the Australian singles tally.