Pop singer-songwriter Halsey notches her first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart, as her second full-length studio effort, Hopeless Fountain Kingdom, debuts atop the list. The set, which was released on June 2 through Astralwerks Records, earned 106,000 equivalent album units in the week ending June 8, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 76,000 were in traditional album sales.
The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption, which includes traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). The new June 24-dated chart (where Halsey debuts at No. 1) will be posted in full to Billboard’s websites on Tuesday, June 13.
Hopeless Fountain Kingdom follows Halsey’s first full-length album, Badlands, which debuted and peaked at No. 2 with 115,000 units earned in its first week. Of that sum, 97,000 were in album sales.
The new album was led by the single “Now or Never,” which granted Halsey her first top 40-charting hit on the Billboard Hot 100 as a lead artist. On the June 17-dated chart, the song held at No. 26 (its peak) for a second week. (In between Badlands and Hopeless Fountain Kingdom, Halsey raised her profile as the featured artist on The Chainsmokers' smash "Closer," which led the Hot 100 for 12 weeks beginning Sept. 3, 2016.)
Halsey’s new album is the first by a woman to be No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in 2017. The last leading lady to top the chart was Lady Gaga, whose Joanne album debuted on the list dated Nov. 12, 2016 — more than seven months ago. In the last 12 months, Halsey is only the fourth solo woman to top the Billboard 200, following Lady Gaga, Solange (A Seat at the Table) and Barbra Streisand (Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway). Comparatively, in the last 12 months, 16 men have earned No. 1s (including a pair each for Drake and Future), 10 groups (and only one with a female member: Pentatonix), two soundtracks (Fifty Shades Darker and Suicide Squad) and one compilation (The Hamilton Mixtape).
At No. 2 on the new Billboard 200, Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN. holds steady with 73,000 units (down 14 percent). The Epic AF compilation rises 11-3 with 49,000 units (up 47 percent), after the set was reissued with three bonus tracks. The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band dips from No. 3 to No. 4 with 45,000 units (down 41 percent), a week after the album returned to the list following its 50th anniversary reissue.
Country singer Luke Combs sees his debut full-length album, This One’s for You, bow at No. 5 with 43,000 units (35,000 in traditional album sales). The new album is the artist’s second release to chart, following the same-named This One’s for You EP, which peaked at No. 151 in May. The new album was ushered in by Combs’ debut chart single “Hurricane,” which spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Country Airplay chart.
Drake’s More Life descends 4-6 on the new Billboard 200 with 42,000 units (down 15 percent), Ed Sheeran’s ÷ (Divide) falls 6-7 with 40,000 units (up 2 percent) and the Summer Latin Hits 2017 compilation rises 9-8 with 34,000 units (down 7 percent).
Alt-rock band All Time Low collects its fifth top 10 album on the Billboard 200, as Last Young Renegade — the act's first release through Fueled by Ramen — debuts at No. 9 with 33,000 units (30,000 in traditional album sales). The group previously notched four top 10 sets: Future Hearts (No. 2 in 2015; starting with 80,000 units and 75,000 copies sold), Don’t Panic (No. 6, 2012), Dirty Work (No. 6, 2011) and Nothing Personal (No. 4, 2009).
Rounding out the new top 10 is Bruno Mars’ 24K Magic, which moves 7-10 with 32,000 units (down 15 percent).
