Chris Stapleton is the top musical act in the U.S. for the first time, as the country/Americana singer-songwriter surges 42-1 on the Billboard Artist 100 chart (dated May 27) for his first week atop the chart.
The Artist 100 (which launched in July 2014) measures artist activity across key metrics of music consumption, blending album and track sales, radio airplay, streaming and social media fan interaction to provide a weekly multi-dimensional ranking of artist popularity.
Stapleton reigns thanks to his new LP, From A Room: Volume 1, which debuts at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 with 219,000 equivalent album units in the week ending May 11, according to Nielsen Music. It also launches at No. 1 on Top Country Albums and Americana/Folk Albums.
Album sales earn Stapleton his largest share of Artist 100 points (89 percent), followed by digital song sales (9 percent). Stapleton previously peaked at No. 2 on the Artist 100 on Nov. 21, 2015, the same week that his first studio album Traveller topped the Billboard 200 following his breakout night at that year's Country Music Association (CMA) Awards.
Just below Stapleton on the Artist 100, Logic vaults 91-2, also reaching a new high (besting his prior No. 7 peak), as his new album Everybody debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 (247,000 units). Album sales mark 87 percent of the rapper's Artist 100 points.
Also on the Artist 100, Russ re-enters at No. 23, a new peak, as his debut LP There's Really a Wolf enters at No. 7 on the Billboard 200 (49,000). Plus, The Grateful Dead surges 68-25 on the chart (likewise a new best rank), as it debuts two live albums on the Billboard 200: Barton Hall, Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY, May 8, 1977 at No. 25 (21,000) and May 1977: Get Shown The Light at No. 33 (17,000).
Check out this week's full Artist 100 here.
