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Taylor Swift’s ‘Midnights’ Returns to No. 1 on Billboard 200 for Third Week
Plus: Louis Tomlinson, Bruce Springsteen and Nas debut in top 10.
Taylor Swift’s Midnights returns to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated Nov. 26) for a third nonconsecutive week on top, as the set rebounds 2-1 in its fourth week on the list. It earned 204,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending Nov. 17 (down 32%), according to Luminate. The album spent its first two weeks atop the list, then stepped aside for one week when Drake and 21 Savage’s Her Loss bowed at No. 1.
Midnights is the first album to earn at least 200,000 units in each of its first four weeks of release since Adele’s 25 saw its first six weeks reach 200,000-plus (Dec. 12, 2015–Jan. 16, 2016).
Also in the new Billboard 200’s top 10: Louis Tomlinson lands his highest charting album with the No. 5 debut of Faith in the Future, Bruce Springsteen achieves his 22nd top 10-charting effort with the No. 8 arrival of Only the Strong Survive, and Nas captures his 16th top 10 with King’s Disease III’s bow at No. 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 Nov. 26, 2022-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Tuesday (Nov. 22). For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
Of Midnights’ 204,000 equivalent album units earned, SEA units comprise 140,000 (down 19%, equaling 184.04 million on-demand official streams of the set’s tracks), album sales comprise 60,000 (down 36%) and SEA units comprise 4,000 (down 88%).
After debuting at No. 1, Drake and 21 Savage’s Her Loss falls to No. 2 in its second week with 170,000 equivalent album units earned (down 58%). Two fellow former No. 1s are next on the list, as Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti rises 4-3 (56,000; down 3%) and Lil Baby’s It’s Only Me dips 3-4 (52,000; down 15%).
Tomlinson’s second solo album, Faith in the Future, debuts at No. 5 on the Billboard 200, securing the pop artist his highest-charting effort and his best week yet in terms of both equivalent album units earned (43,000) and traditional album sales (37,500). It surpasses his previous high-water mark, logged with the No. 9 debut and peak of his first album Walls (Feb. 15, 2020, chart; 39,000 units — of which album sales comprised 35,000).
As album sales comprise 37,500 of Faith’s total first-week units, the remainder consists of SEA units (5,500; equaling 7.27 million on-demand official streams of the set’s tracks) and a negligible amount of TEA units.
Faith’s first-week sales figure was bolstered by its availability across multiple collectible physical variants of the album. The set was preceded by the single “Bigger Than Me,” which became Tomlinson’s fourth solo hit on the Pop Airplay chart (outside his tenure in One Direction).
Morgan Wallen’s chart-topping Dangerous: The Double Album is a non-mover on the Billboard 200 at No. 6 (41,000 equivalent album units earned; down 1%) while The Weeknd’s The Highlights is also steady at No. 7 (40,000; up 2%).
Springsteen achieves his 22 nd top 10-charting album on the Billboard 200 as his new covers set, Only the Strong Survive, debuts at No. 8 with 39,500 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, traditional album sales comprise 36,500, SEA units comprise 2,000 (equaling 2.87 million on-demand streams of the set’s tracks) and TEA units comprise 1,000. The soul and R&B covers collection includes Springsteen’s takes on such oldies as The Commodores’ “Night Shift,” Jimmy Ruffin’s “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted” and Diana Ross & The Supremes’ “Someday We’ll Be Together.”
With a 22nd top 10 album on the Billboard 200, Springsteen now solely has the eighth-most top 10s overall and the sixth-most top 10s among solo artists.
Here’s an updated look at all the acts with at least 20 top 10 albums on the Billboard 200 from March 24, 1956, when the list began publishing on a regular, weekly basis, through the latest chart, dated Nov. 26, 2022.
Most Billboard 200 Top 10s:
37, The Rolling Stones
34, Barbra Streisand
32, The Beatles
32, Frank Sinatra
27, Elvis Presley
23, Bob Dylan
23, Madonna
22, Bruce Springsteen
21, Elton John
21, Paul McCartney/Wings
21, George Strait
20, Prince
(Notably, the Kidz Bop Kids music brand has collected 24 top 10s, in 2005-16, with its series of kid-friendly covers of hit singles. The franchise’s early albums were performed by mostly anonymous studio singers, although later releases focused on branding named talent.)
Harry Styles’ former No. 1 Harry’s House drops 8-9 on the new Billboard 200 with 30,000 equivalent album units (down less than 1%).
Nas rounds out the top 10 as his latest release King’s Disease III starts at No. 10 with 29,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, SEA units comprise 20,000 (equaling 26.47 million on-demand official streams of the set’s tracks), album sales comprise 8,500 and TEA units comprise 500.
King’s Disease III is the third in the King’s Disease series — the first two albums debuted and peaked at Nos. 5 and 3 in 2020 and 2021, respectively.
King’s Disease III marks Nas’ 16th top 10 on the Billboard 200, tying him with Jay-Z for the most top 10s among rap artists. Nas’ first top 10 came with It Was Written in 1996 (No. 1 for four weeks). Jay-Z logged his first top 10 in 1997 with In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 (No. 3) and last notched a new top 10 set with 4:44 in 2017 (No. 1 for two weeks).
Source: billboard.com