Billboard 200 Chart Moves: Buddy Guy’s ‘Alive’ Logs Biggest Sales Week for a Blues Album in Nearly a Year

On the latest Billboard 200 albums chart (dated June 30), 5 Seconds of Summer notched its third No. 1 with the debut of Youngblood atop the list. The set earned 142,000 equivalent album units in the week ending June 21, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 117,000 were in traditional album sales.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the week’s most popular albums based on their overall consumption. That overall unit figure combines pure album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA).

Now, let’s take a closer look at some of the action on the rest of the Billboard 200:

— XXXTentacion, Revenge – No. 30 — As the late rapper/singer returns to the top 10 with his two studio efforts (? And 17, at Nos. 3 and 7, respectively), his mixtape Revenge jumps back onto the list, and at a new peak.

Revenge — which was his first of three charting sets — reaches a new high as it re-enters the list at No. 30 (16,000 units; up 386 percent). It previously topped out at No. 44 (June 10, 2017).

Collectively for the week ending June 21, XXXTentacion’s albums tallied a 401 percent increase in equivalent album units earned (rising to 175,000 from 35,000). His song catalog claimed 226 million on-demand audio streams, up 357 percent.

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— Rebelution, Free Rein – No. 41 — Rebelution’s Free Reign launches with 13,000 units at No. 41, and also starts at No. 1 on the Reggae Albums chart (10,000 copies sold). With their eighth No. 1 on Reggae Albums, the group breaks out of a tie with Matisyahu for the second-most No. 1s in the 24-year history of the list. Bob Marley leads all acts, with 18 chart-toppers.

— Buddy Guy, The Blues Is Alive and Well – No. 69 — Blues legend Buddy Guy clocks his 13th entry on the Billboard 200, as his new studio set, The Blues Is Alive and Well, bows at No. 69 (10,000 units). But, over on the Blues Albums chart, the set arrives at No. 1, granting Guy his sixth leader on the tally.

The 81-year-old first led the 22-year-old Blues Albums chart in 2001 with Sweet Tea. The seven-time Grammy Award winner also collected leaders with Skin Deep (2008), Living Proof (2010), Rhythm & Blues (2013) and Born to Play Guitar (2015).

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Notably, Guy’s new set logs the largest sales week (9,000 in traditional album sales) for a blues album in nearly a year. The last blues effort to sell more in a week was the Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band’s Lay It On Down, which sold 13,000 when it arrived at No. 1 on the Blues Albums chart dated Aug. 26, 2017.

— Chromeo, Head Over Heels – No. 91 — It’s the third charting set for the duo but the fourth go-round on the chart for the title “Head Over Heels.” Previously, Paula Abdul (1995), Alex Bugnon (1990) and Poco (1975) all hit the list with Head Over Heels albums.

— Eagles, Greatest Hits: Volume 2 – No. 168 — The 1982 album returns to the chart for the first time in over two years thanks in part to sale pricing in the iTunes Store. The 10-song collection boasts seven top 40-charting hits on the Billboard Hot 100.