Billboard 200 Chart Moves: Chris Stapleton’s ‘Traveller’ Hits a Million Sold, Jeff Buckley Reaches New High
On the latest Billboard 200 albums chart, Chris Stapleton's "Traveller" continues to ride in the top 10 as it steps past 1 million copies sold in the U.S., Mike Posner collects his second top 40…
On the most recent Billboard 200 albums chart (dated April 2), Rihanna’s Anti returned to No. 1, while Killswitch Engage arrived in the top 10 with Incarnate (No. 6).
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).
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Now, let’s take a closer look at some of the action on the latest Billboard 200 chart:
— Chris Stapleton, Traveller – No. 7 — It’s a been a good month for Chris Stapleton on the charts. The singer/songwriter claims his first top 10 on the Country Airplay chart dated April 2 with “Nobody to Blame,” while the track’s parent album, Traveller, recently reached 1 million copies sold in the U.S.
“Nobody” steps 11-10 on Country Airplay in its 20th chart week (with 24.7 million audience in the week ending March 20, according to Nielsen Music).
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He’s charted on the Country Airplay list twice before, with 2013’s No. 46-peaking “What Are You Listening To?” and then the new album’s “Tennessee Whiskey” earlier this year, at No. 57.
Meanwhile, Traveller’s sales jumped past the 1 million mark in the week ending March 10, and continue to grow, as its total sum now stands at 1.05 million (thanks to another 27,000 sold in the new tracking week).
Traveller is the most-recently-released country album to sell a million copies since Sam Hunt’s Montevallo, which bowed on Oct. 28, 2014, and reached a million in the week ending Jan. 14.
Meanwhile, Traveller holds at No. 7 on the latest Billboard 200 chart. It has been in the top 15 for the past 20 straight weeks — since it re-entered the chart at No. 1 (Nov. 21, 2015) following the Country Music Association (CMA) awards on Nov. 4, when he won three trophies and performed a show-stopping medley with Justin Timberlake.
— Mike Posner, The Truth (EP) – No. 39 — Mike Posner collects his second top 40 album on the Billboard 200, as his nearly year-old The Truth (EP) moves into the top 40 (48-39; 13,000 equivalent album units, up 3 percent in the week ending March 17). 97 percent of its units are from streaming and track equivalent albums, thanks to its hit single “I Took a Pill in Ibiza” (which bullets 10-11 on the Billboard Hot 100). The digital EP’s sales are tiny (less than 1,000 sold for the week), as it’s currently only available at select retailers — and not iTunes. He’ll release the full-length At Night, Alone. (which includes “Pill” and is now available for pre-order) May 6.
— Jeff Buckley, You and I – No. 58 — Nearly 19 years after Jeff Buckley’s death, the singer/songwriter claims his highest-charting album ever on the Billboard 200 with the arrival of You and I.
The from-the-vaults set, consisting mostly of unearthed covers, bows at No. 58 with 10,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending March 17. 9,000 of that figure were pure album sales.
Buckley, who died on May 29, 1997 from an accidental drowning, previously reached No. 64 with his first posthumous release, Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk (June 13, 1998, its debut frame).
Buckley released one album during his lifetime, the studio effort Grace, which climbed to No. 149 in 1995 and spent seven weeks on the chart. The album was released in August 1994 and sold 175,000 copies before Buckley died. It found many fans after his passing, as the set’s total sales now stand at 1.06 million.
You and I is Buckley’s fifth album to chart on the Billboard 200. He also reached the list with the live sets Mystery White Boy: Live ‘95 — ‘96 (No. 133 in 2000) and Grace Around the World (No. 125 in 2009).
— Linkin Park, Hybrid Theory – No. 111 — Sale-pricing and promotion on select catalog rock titles in the iTunes Store pump gains for titles like Hybrid Theory (6,000 units; up 74 percent) and Evanescence’s Fallen (No. 94; 7,000; up 160 percent).
— Shinedown, Threat to Survival – No. 121 — The album jumps 188-121 after it was sale-priced for 99 cents in the Google Play store during the tracking week, a promotion the band promoted through its social networks. The set sold 4,000 copies for the week (up 52 percent) and earned 6,000 overall units (up 34 percent).
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