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The Killers Earn First No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart With ‘Wonderful Wonderful’
More than 13 years after The Killersdebuted on the Billboard 200 albums chart, the rock band scores their first No. 1 with its fifth studio effort, Wonderful Wonderful. The set — which was released Sept. 22 through Island Records — debuts atop the chart with 118,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Sept. 28, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 111,000 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 Oct. 14-dated chart (where Wonderful Wonderfuldebuts at No. 1) will be posted in full on Billboard‘s websites on Tuesday (Oct. 3).
The Killers’ previous studio album, Battle Born, launched at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 with 113,000 copies sold in 2012 (before the chart transitioned from a pure sales ranking to a consumption based chart in late 2014).
In total, the group has claimed eight chart entries, with five of those reaching the top 10. The band’s debut studio release, Hot Fuss, arrived in July of 2004 and eventually peaked at No. 7 in May of 2005, as the album’s hit single “Mr. Brightside” was rising up the Billboard Hot 100 (on its way to an eventual peak of No. 10 in June of that year). The group again visited the top 10 of the Billboard 200 with its sophomore set, Sam’s Town (No. 2 in 2006), third album Day & Age (No. 6, 2008) and Battle Born.
Wonderful Wonderful was led by the hit single “The Man,” which has so far peaked at No. 2 on the Alternative Songs airplay chart. It’s the act’s second-highest charting song on the list, surpassed by its one No. 1 hit, “When You Were Young,” in 2006. The Killers have notched nine top 10 hits on the Alternative Songs chart, including a pair of No. 3-peaking titles with their introductory hit “Somebody Told Me,” and its follow-up, “Mr. Brightside,” in 2004 and 2005, respectively.
Wonderful Wonderful’s debut benefits from a concert ticket/album bundle sale redemption promotion in association with the act’s 2018 U.S. tour. The album is the latest chart topper to profit from such an offer, following such No. 1s as LCD Soundsystem’s American Dream, Arcade Fire’s Everything Now, The Chainsmokers’ Memories… Do Not Open, and Katy Perry’s Witness. (Ticket/album bundle sale redemption offers have existed for years, employed by acts like Michael Bublé, Shawn Mendes, Josh Groban, Barbra Streisand, Tom Petty and Madonna, among many others.)
Wonderful Wonderful is also the sixth rock album to lead the Billboard 200 in 2017, following Foo Fighters’ Concrete and Gold, LCD Soundsystem’s American Dream, Brand New’s Science Fiction, Arcade Fire’s Everything Now and Linkin Park’s One More Light. (In all of 2016, there were 10 rock albums that led the list.)
The Killers is also the latest act to score its first No. 1 album a decade after their debut on the list. Previously in 2017, LCD Soundsystem and Brand New hit the top of the list more than a decade after their chart debuts (April 2007 and July 2003, respectively).
At No. 2 on the new Billboard 200, Macklemore debuts with his second solo album, GEMINI, bowing with 51,000 units (27,000 in traditional album sales). GEMINI follows a pair of charting albums from the duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis: This Unruly Mess I’ve Made (No. 4 in 2016) and The Heist (No. 2 in 2012). Macklemore’s first solo album, 2005’s The Language of My World, did not chart.
GEMINI was ushered in by the single “Glorious,” featuring Skylar Grey, which has reached the top 20 of the Pop Songs airplay chart and also hit the Hot 100.
Lil Uzi Vert’s former No. 1, Luv is Rage 2, slips from No. 2 to No. 3 in its fifth week on the Billboard 200 (45,000 units; down 9 percent).
Kevin Gates scores his second top 10 effort, as By Any Means 2 vaults from No. 100 to No. 4 in its second week (40,000 units; up 467 percent), after the album arrived on the list a week ago with one day of tracking activity from its Sept. 21 release. In the newest tracking frame, it sold 15,000 in traditional album sales (up 398 percent). Gates previously visited the top 10 with the No. 2-peaking Islah in 2016. (By Any Means 2‘s 96-position leap is the biggest jump into the top 10 since Kelly Clarkson’s Piece by Piece zoomed 120-6 on the March 9, 2016-dated list — a 114 position rise. Piece by Piece flew back into the top 10 after Clarkson gave an emotional performance of the album’s title track on American Idol.)
Singer/songwriter Jhené Aiko claims her third solo top 10 album with the debut of Trip at No. 5 on the new Billboard 200 (37,000 units; 10,000 in traditional album sales). The set is powered by streams, as the set collected 25,000 in SEA units (equaling 37.8 million on-demand audio streams of the album’s songs during the tracking week). Aiko previously hit the top 10 with Souled Out (No. 3 in 2014) and Sail Out (No. 8 in 2013). In addition, the duo Twenty88 (Aiko and Big Sean) reached No. 5 in 2016 with its self-titled debut.
Post Malone’s Stoney rises 10-6 — matching its initial debut and peak position in Dec. 2016 — with 37,000 units (up 41 percent) as buzz around the rapper continues to grow. Imagine Dragons’ Evolve moves 8-7 with 36,000 units (up 29 percent) after the set was sale priced in the iTunes Store, and the album’s latest single, “Thunder,” impacts top 40 radio. The track rose 37-28 on the most recent Pop Songs airplay chart (dated Oct. 7).
Khalid’s American Teen dips 6-9 with 32,000 units (though, it’s up 1 percent) and Ed Sheeran’s ÷ (Divide) rounds out the top 10, climbing 11-10 with 30,000 units (up 18 percent).
Source: billboard.com