Meanwhile, August Alsina, NEEDTOBREATHE, Jason Derulo & Ingrid Michaelson all invade the Top 5.
The soundtrack to Disney's "Frozen," fueled by Easter shopping, earns its biggest sales week yet and 11th week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
The album sold 259,000 copies in the week ending April 20, according to Nielsen SoundScan. (The Easter holiday was April 20.) That's up 94% compared with the previous week, when the album shifted 133,000 at No. 1. This is also the fifth consecutive week that frozen sold more than 100,000 copies. To date, "Frozen" has sold 2.3 million copies.
As the weeks tick by, "Frozen" continues to rack up impressive chart feats. Since SoundScan's point-of-sale data began powering the Billboard 200's rankings on May 25, 1991, "Frozen" is just the ninth album — and third soundtrack — to spend at least 11 weeks at No. 1.
Going back even farther: Since the Billboard 200 started publishing on a regular, weekly basis in 1956, "Frozen" is one of only 15 soundtracks to spend at least 11 weeks at No. 1.
"Frozen" also surpasses "The Lion King" (with 10 weeks at No. 1) as the longest-running No. 1 soundtrack by an animated film.
Sales for "Frozen" in the week ending April 20 were powered by Easter shopping, which tends to lift sales of music that appeals to families and children. Thus, there are a number of titles on thechart that reap the benefits of Easter-related purchases. One Direction's "Midnight Memories," for example, climbs 55-38 (9,000; up 68 percent), and the child-friendly "Kidz Bop 25" album rises 42-20 (15,000 — up 126 percent).
Speaking of One Direction, "Frozen" is the first album since "Midnight Memories" to score five straight weeks of sales that exceed 100,000. The first five sales frames for "Midnight Memories" all surpassed that threshold, ending with the week ending Dec. 29.
But, what makes "Frozen" stand apart from "Midnight Memories" — and most other No. 1 albums, for that matter — is that the soundtrack has achieved such a hot sales streak so long after its release. The album was released on Nov. 26, 2013, and sold 44,000 copies in its first week (ending Dec. 1). It didn't begin its current five-in-a-row streak of 100,000-plus sales frames until the week ending March 23.
"Frozen" is over 190,000 copies ahead of the No. 2 set this week, the debuting "Testimony" from August Alsina, with 67,000 copies sold. It's the singer's first album, which also starts at No. 1 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.
In fact, all of the titles between Nos. 2 and 5 are debuts. Rock band NEEDTOBREATHE launches at No. 3 with its highest-charting album ever, "Rivers In the Wasteland" (49,000), followed by Jason Derulo's first top 10 effort, "Talk Dirty," at No. 4 (44,000). Ingrid Michaelson closes out the debut party, as her "Lights Out" bows at No. 5 (37,000).