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‘Frozen II’ Soundtrack Hits No. 1 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart
Plus: Fabolous debuts at No. 7, while Pentatonix scores 10th top 10.
The Frozen II soundtrack jumps to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, as the set rises 3-1 with 80,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Dec. 5, according to Nielsen Music. It’s the first week at No. 1 for the album. The set was released on Nov. 15 via Walt Disney Records, and is the companion album to the blockbuster animated sequel film of the same name.
Frozen II is the first new full-length soundtrack to reach No. 1 for the first time in 2019. It’s also the first soundtrack of an animated film to hit No. 1 since the first Frozen film soundtrack, which spent 13 weeks at No. 1 in 2014.
Elsewhere in the top 10 on the new Billboard 200: Michael Bublé’s former No. 1 album Christmas returns to the region, Fabolous debuts with Summertime Shootout 3: Coldest Summer Ever, and Pentatonix lands its tenth top 10 as The Best of Pentatonix Christmas climbs 18-8.
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. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). The new Dec. 14-dated chart, where Frozen II rises to No. 1, will be posted in full on Billboard‘s websites on Dec. 10.
Of Frozen II’s total equivalent album unit sum earned in the week ending Dec. 5, SEA units total 39,000, album sales comprise 37,000 and TEA units total 4,000. The SEA sum translates to 50.7 million on-demand streams earned for the album’s tracks.
Frozen II is only the third soundtrack to spend time at No. 1 in 2019. On Nov. 9, Kanye West’s Jesus Is King topped the list for a week. (The set also serves as a companion piece to his short film of the same name.) And, back on March 9, Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s A Star Is Born returned to No. 1 for a fourth nonconsecutive week, following the Feb. 24 Academy Awards broadcast. (It spent three weeks at No. 1 in 2018.)
Frozen II is the sequel to the 2014’s blockbuster Frozen, which saw its soundtrack spend 13 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart (back when it was an album sales-only ranking), the most for a soundtrack this century. The first Frozen soundtrack finished 2014 as the second-biggest selling album of that year in the U.S., and the No. 1 album on the year-end Billboard 200 chart.
The Frozen II soundtrack features performances of songs heard in the film by the movie’s voice actors (including Idina Menzel, Kristen Bell, Josh Gad, Jonathan Groff and Evan Rachel Wood) and a trio of acts that cover some of the film’s tunes (Panic! at the Disco, Kacey Musgraves and Weezer).
Frozen II logs a notable feat with its rise to No. 1 in its third week on the chart, as it is only the second album to top the chart without debuting atop it. The last album to climb to the top, for its first week at No. 1, was on the Jan. 19-dated list, when A Boogie Wit da Hoodie’s Hoodie SZN rose 2-1 in its third chart week.
Frozen II is the 38th No. 1 album of 2019. Of those 38, one was a carry-over from 2018 (A Star Is Born, with three weeks at No. 1 in 2018, and one in 2019). And, of the 38 No. 1s, just two — Frozen II and Hoodie SZN — did not debut at No. 1.
Frozen II and Frozen join a limited number of theatrical film or TV movie soundtracks that saw both their original and sequel film albums top the chart. Among previous sets of leaders, the soundtrack to the TV movies High School Musical and High School Musical 2 both topped the list (in 2006 and 2007, respectively), as did Twilight and The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2008, 2009).
Frozen II is also just the fifth animated film soundtrack to reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200 since it became a regularly published weekly chart in 1956. Frozen II follows Frozen (2014), Jack Johnson‘s Curious George (2006), and two more Walt Disney Records albums: Pocahontas (1995) and The Lion King (1994).
At No. 2 on the new Billboard 200, Post Malone’s former leader Hollywood’s Bleeding climbs 4-2 despite an 11% decline in units, as it earned 65,000 for the week (down from 73,000).
Trippie Redd’s A Love Letter to You 4 falls 1-3 in its second week on the chart, earning 54,000 units (down 48%). A pair of former No. 1s are next on the list, as Taylor Swift’s Lover rises 6-4 with 52,000 units (up 3%) and Billie Eilish’s When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? is a non-mover at No. 5 with 50,000 units (down 5%).
Bublé’s Christmas, which spent five weeks at No. 1 in late 2011 and early 2012, returns to the top 10, as the seasonal set climbs 17-6 with 48,000 equivalent album units earned (up 63%). Following its five-week run at No. 1, the album has returned to the top 10 in every Christmas season since. It’s been so successful on the chart, it closes out the decade as the No. 24 biggest album on the Billboard 200, and the highest-ranking holiday effort in the decade.
Switching genres, rapper Fabolous debuts at No. 7 on the new Billboard 200 with his latest effort, Summertime Shootout 3: Coldest Summer Ever. The set launches with 44,000 equivalent album units earned, with 37,000 of that sum in SEA units (translating to 46.9 million in on-demand audio streams), 6,000 in album sales and 1,000 in TEA units. Summertime is the hip-hop star’s seventh top 10 set. He logged his first with 2001’s Ghetto Fabolous, which peaked at No. 4.
Penatonix’s The Best of Pentatonix Christmas rises 18-8 in its sixth week on the chart, giving the vocal group its tenth top 10 album. The hits collection earned 43,000 equivalent album units (up 64%) with 20,000 of that sum in album sales (up 52%). The Best Of collects favorites from the group’s previous four holiday albums, along with four new songs. Pentatonix is always a favorite during the holiday season, as of the group’s ten top 10 albums, five are holiday efforts. Combined, their holiday albums have sold 4.5 million copies in the U.S.
Speaking of holiday music, Mariah Carey’s 1994 Merry Christmas album vaults 21-9 with 37,000 equivalent album units earned (up 63%). Of that sum, 8,000 were in album sales (up 44%). The album — which features the enduring hit song “All I Want for Christmas Is You” — has so-far peaked at No. 3, back during its initial chart run in 1994.
Closing out the new top 10 is Summer Walker’s Over It, which is steady at No. 10 with 35,000 units (down 10%).
Source: billboard.com