Josh Groban collects his 10th top 10 on Billboard’s Album Sales chart (dated Dec. 5) as his new studio effort Harmony debuts at No. 4. The set launches with 25,000 copies sold in the U.S. in the week ending Nov. 26, according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data.
Plus, BTS, Megan Thee Stallion and Iron Maiden debut in the top 10.
Billboard’s Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The Album Sales chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now Nielsen Music/MRC Data. Pure album sales were the measurement solely utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album units and streaming equivalent album units. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
Helping Harmony’s first-week sales: a bevy of media appearances by Groban, including performances on ABC’s Good Morning America (Nov. 20), Live With Kelly and Ryan (Nov. 23), NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (Nov. 23) and his own livestream concert event (Nov. 26). Plus, Target carried an exclusive CD edition of the album with enhanced packaging.
Harmony was released on Nov. 20, exactly 19 years after Groban’s self-titled debut album was issued on Nov. 20, 2001. It later become his first top 10 on Album Sales, peaking at No. 8 on the May 3, 2002 chart. Meanwhile, BTS’ new album Be debuts at No. 1 on the new Album Sales chart, selling 177,000 copies in its first week. AC/DC’s Power Up falls a spot to No. 2 in its second week (30,000 sold; down 73%).
Dolly Parton hits a new high on the Album Sales chart, as A Holly Dolly Christmas climbs 4-3 in its eighth week on the list (26,000 sold; up 24%). The album had already marked her highest charting effort on the list when it debuted at No. 4 on the chart dated Oct. 17.
Carrie Underwood’s holiday set My Gift jumps 7-5 on the new Album Sales chart with just under 25,000 sold (up 47%) while Taylor Swift’s Folklore zooms 49-6 with 23,000 sold (up 452%). The later gains following the release of a Target-exclusive vinyl edition of the album, the Nov. 25 premiere of Swift’s Disney+ special Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions, and a new deluxe digital edition of Folklore that includes live versions of each of the album’s tracks (as heard in the Disney+ special). Of Folklore’s sales for the week, 15,000 are from vinyl sales (up 16,476%) – and the album re-enters at No. 1 on the Vinyl Albums chart.
Chris Stapleton’s Starting Over falls 2-7 in its second week on Album Sales (21,000; down 72%) while Megan Thee Stallion’s Good News debuts at No. 8 with 16,000 copies sold.
Iron Maiden’s new live album Nights of the Dead, Legacy of the Beast: Live in Mexico City, bows at No. 9 with 15,000 sold. The 2019 concert was released in a number of deluxe editions, including a triple-vinyl LP set that sold 5,000 copies. (It debuts at No. 10 on the Vinyl Albums chart.)
Closing out the new top 10 on Album Sales is Harry Styles’ Fine Line, which rises 13-10 with 15,000 sold (up 36%).