Kings of Leon Score Their First No. 1 Album on the Billboard 200 Chart

Kings of Leon earn their first No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart with the act’s seventh studio album, Walls. The set, which was released on Oct. 14 through RCA Records, earned 77,000 equivalent album units in the week ending Oct. 20. Of that sum, 68,000 were in traditional album sales.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption, which includes traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). The new Nov. 5-dated chart (where Walls launches at No. 1) will be posted in full to Billboard’s websites on Tuesday, Oct. 25.

Walls is the band’s fourth top 10 album and follows three consecutive sets to reach the region: Mechanical Bull (No. 2 in 2013 from a 110,000 sales start), Come Around Sundown (No. 2; 2010) and Only by the Night (No. 4; 2009). The latter album was the group’s commercial breakthrough and first top 20-charting effort, and it launched the hit single “Use Somebody” (No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100). The album spent 132 weeks on the chart and has sold 2.5 million copies (and is the act’s only million-selling release).

The new album Walls was led by the single “Waste a Moment,” which became the seventh top 10 hit for the group on the Alternative Songs airplay chart. It has yet to reach the Hot 100.

Like Solange two weeks ago with her chart-topping A Seat at the Table, Kings of Leon also had to wait 13 years for their first No. 1 — following their chart debut in 2003. The band first dented the list on Sept. 6, 2003 with the No. 113 debut and peak of Youth & Young Manhood. (Solange arrived on the chart on Feb. 8, 2003, withSolo Star.)

Drake’s former No. 1, Views, rises from No. 4 to No. 2 on the latest Billboard 200 with 40,000 units (down 7 percent), while the Suicide Squad soundtrack climbs 5-3 with 35,000 units (down 7 percent).

The Game notches his ninth top 10 album with the bow of 1992 at No. 4, earning 32,000 units (25,000 in traditional album sales). He previously hit the top 10 withThe Documentary 2.5 (No. 6 in 2015), The Documentary 2 (No. 2; 2015), Blood Moon: Year of the Wolf (No. 7; 2014), Jesus Piece (No. 6; 2012), The R.E.D. Album (No. 1; 2011),LAX (No. 2; 2008), Doctor’s Advocate (No. 1; 2006) and The Documentary (No. 1; 2005).

Twenty One Pilots’ Blurryface ascends 7-5 with 26,000 units (though down 11 percent).

JoJo returns to the Billboard 200 after 10 years, as her new album Mad Love — her first full-length studio album since 2006 — bows at No. 6 with 25,000 units (19,000 in traditional album sales).

The pop singer-songwriter last appeared on the list with her previous full-length studio set, The High Road, which debuted and peaked at No. 3 on the Nov. 4, 2006-dated list. After nearly a decade of well-documented struggles with her former label, Blackground Records, the artist signed with Atlantic Records in 2014. Mad Love is JoJo’s third top 10 set, following The High Road and her self-titled debut, which bowed and peaked at No. 4 on July 10, 2004.

The original Broadway cast recording of Hamilton steps back into the new top 10, rising from No. 11 to No. 7, with 23,000 units (down 5 percent). The album could rise again next week, following the Oct. 21 premiere of the PBS documentary special Hamilton’s America, as part of the network’s Great Performances series.

To round out the latest top 10: Ariana Grande’s Dangerous Woman rises 10-8 (22,000 units; down 12 percent), Travis Scott’s Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight climbs 12-9 (21,000; down 3 percent) and Green Day’s Revolution Radio falls 1-10 in its second week (21,000 units; down 78 percent).

Source: billboard.com