Bad Meets Evil — the hip-hop duo of Eminem and Royce da 5’9″ — bows at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 as its “Hell: the Sequel” launches with 171,000, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The set beats out 11-year old Jackie Evancho’s first major-label full-length effort, “Dream With Me,” which arrives at No. 2 with 161,000.
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Bad Meets Evil’s ‘Hell: The Sequel’: Track-by-Track Review
Eminem has previously topped the chart six times as a solo act, and twice as part of D12. He last reigned when his own “Recovery” spent seven nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 last year. Until this week, Royce da 5’9″ had never gone higher than No. 110 with 2009’s “Street Hop.”
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As for Evancho, the young singer — who gained fame after finishing in second place on “America’s Got Talent” — earns her second No. 2 hit. “Dream” follows her EP release “O Holy Night,” which debuted and peaked at No. 2 late last year with 239,000. (It was stuck behind Susan Boyle’s “The Gift,” which was in its second week atop the tally.)
Adele’s “21” slips two rungs to No. 3 (115,000; up less than 1%), Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” slides two to No. 4 (68,000; down 33%) and Jason Aldean’s “My Kinda Party” rises two to No. 5 (51,000; up 26%).
Owl City’s third full-length album, “All Things Bright and Beautiful” debuts at No. 6 with 48,000. The act’s last effort, 2009’s “Ocean Eyes,” started with 18,000 (No. 27) on its way to an eventual No. 8 peak. Right behind Owl City at No. 7 is Barry Manilow’s new “15 Minutes” (36,000) — his first studio album of original songs since 2001. It’s his 13th top 10 — reaching back to “Barry Manilow II,” which hit No. 9 in 1975.
“Pieces of Me,” the fifth studio album from R&B singer Ledisi, starts at No. 8 with 36,000 — her first top 10 album and best sales week. Her last set, 2009’s “Turn Me Loose,” debuted and peaked at No. 14 with 27,000 sold in its first week.
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Brad Paisley’s “This Is Country Music” drops one spot to No. 9 (35,000; down 8%) and the original Broadway cast recording of “The Book of Mormon” descends seven rungs to No. 10 (34,000; down 45%).
Outside the top 10 this week are a bevy of albums that climb thanks to Father’s Day-driven purchases, including Journey’s “Greatest Hits,” which flies 101-18 (23,000; up 374%). The title — which returns to the top 20 for the first time since 1989 — was included in an iTunes Store promotion where many dad-friendly titles were sale priced at $6.99. Other sets seeing gains thanks to the one-two punch of Father’s Day and iTunes: Frank Sinatra’s “Nothing But the Best” (a re-entry at No. 23; 19,000 – up 632%) and Bob Marley’s “Legend” (111-26; 17,000 – up 292%).
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Over on the Digital Songs chart, Katy Perry’s “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)” parties its way 28-1 with 235,000 downloads sold (up 259%) — following a full week’s worth of impact from the song’s video premiere. It’s her sixth No. 1 on the Digital Songs chart — and fifth from her “Teenage Dream” album.
LMFAO’s “Party Rock Anthem” (featuring Lauren Bennett & GoonRock), climbs a spot to No. 2 (209,000; up 11%) while Pitbull’s “Give Me Everything” (featuring Ne-Yo, AfroJack & Nayer) slips a position to No. 3 (200,000; down 5%). Last week’s No. 1, Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep,” tumbles four slots to No. 5 with 188,000 (down 16%).
Jason Aldean’s “Dirt Road Anthem” is steady at No. 4 (189,000; up 12%), Lady Gaga’s “The Edge of Glory” falls one to No. 6 (151,000; down 2%) and Nicki Minaj’s “Super Bass” gets pushed back a space to No. 7 despite a gain (150,000; up 5%).
The highest new entry on Digital Songs is Bad Meets Evil’s “Lighters” (featuring Bruno Mars). The track — from the former act’s No. 1-debuting album this week — starts with 132,000.
Closing out the top 10: Lil Wayne’s “How to Love” falls 8-9 (131,000; down 2%) and Mars’ “The Lazy Song” also slips a notch to No. 10 (123,000; down 7%).
Overall album sales in this past chart week (ending June 19) totaled 6.30 million units, up 14% compared to the sum last week (5.51 million) and up 1% compared to the comparable sales week of 2010 (6.14 million). Year to date album sales stand at 143.20 million, up 1% compared to the same total at this point last year (142.36 million). It is the fourth week in a row where year-to-date album volume is greater than the same time in the prior year.
Digital track sales this past week totaled 25.11 million downloads, up 2% compared to last week (24.58 million) and up 17% stacked next to the comparable week of 2010 (21.44 million). Year to date track sales are at 610.06 million, up 10% compared to the same total at this point last year (554.39 million).
Next week’s Billboard 200 competes with the same week in 2010 when Eminem’s “Recovery” flew in at No. 1 with 741,000, easily bumping Drake’s “Thank Me Later” to No. 2 with 157,000 (down 65%).