Chart Watch: Oh Lorde Is She Hot
Forty-three artists performed on the Grammy telecast on Jan. 26, either alone or in collaborations. After a full week of sales, Lorde wins bragging rights as the performer on the show with the highest-charting album. Her debut album, "Pure Heroine," rebounds from #5 to #3 on The Billboard 200, equaling its highest ranking to date. It trails only the "Frozen" soundtrack and the "2014 Grammy Nominees" compilation—which contains Lorde's breakthrough smash, "Royals."
Lorde won two Grammys: Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance, both for "Royals." This strong showing with both Grammy voters and the record-buying public makes up for the fact that Lorde was inexplicably passed over for a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist.
"Pure Heroine" sold 50K digital copies this week, which puts it at #1 on Top Digital Albums for the first time.
Albums by four other artists who performed on the Grammys are listed in the top 10 on this week's Billboard 200. Beyonce's "Beyonce" dips from #4 to #5. Imagine Dragons' "Night Visions" rebounds from #11 to #8. Katy Perry's "PRISM" holds at #9. Daft Punk's "Random Access Memories" leaps from #39 to #10.
This marks the first appearance in the top 10 for "Random Access Memories" since July. The album, which took Album of the Year, sold 30K copies this week. That's a far cry from the last two Album of the Year winners. Two years ago, Adele's "21" (admittedly, a once-in-a-decade phenomenon) sold 730K copies in the first full week following the show. Last year, Mumford & Sons' "Babel" sold 185K copies in the equivalent period. Both of these albums ranked #1 in the week following the telecast.
"2014 Grammy Nominees" holds at #2 for the second week. It's the 20th volume in this long-running franchise, and the second in a row to reach #2. The album features five acts who have albums of their own in this week's top 10: Lorde, Bruno Mars, Imagine Dragons, Katy Perry and Daft Punk.
Bruno Mars'
"Unorthodox Jukebox" vaults from #18 to #7 in the immediate wake of his half-time performance at the Super Bowl. (The sales tracking period closed just hours after the Super Bowl aired.) An estimated 115.3 million viewers watched Mars' performance, making it the most-watched Super Bowl halftime performance in history.
This is the album's first appearance in the top 10 since the week ending September 1. "Jukebox" is one of two albums in the current top 10 that has placed in the top 10 in 2012, 2013 and 2014. The other is Imagine Dragons' "Night Visions."
"Jukebox" is close to becoming Mars' second album in a row to sell 2 million copies in the U.S. It's up to 1,968,000 as of this week. His 2010 debut album, "Doo-Wops & Hooligans," is up to 2,173,000. "Doo-Wops" rebounds from #82 to #19 in its 171th week. This is its highest ranking since July 2012. "Doo-Wops" returns to #1 on Top Catalog Albums. This is its 12th week on top.
The "Frozen" soundtrack takes the #1 spot for the second week in a row (and the fourth week overall). That movie has grossed $360 million in 11 weeks, making it the fourth-highest grossing movie of the past 12 months. It was in the top five at the box-office for the 10th straight weekend.
The "Frozen" soundtrack is the first soundtrack to spend four weeks on top since "High School Musical 2" (from a made-for-TV movie on the Disney Channel) in 2007. "Frozen" is the first soundtrack from a theatrically-released movie to log four weeks at #1 since "Bad Boys II" in 2003. In addition, "Frozen" logs its 10th week at #1 on Top Soundtracks.
Just two albums in this week's top 10 were not boosted by the Grammys, the Super Bowl or a blockbuster movie. Of Mice And Men's "Restoring Force" debuts at #4. It's the metalcore band's first top 10 album. The band was named after John Steinbeck's classic 1937 novella. (In a nifty coincidence, a group called American Authors has a song in this week's top 40.) Casting Crowns' "Thrive" debuts at #6. It's the Contemporary Christian group's fifth studio album in a row to make the top 10.
"Dark Horse" by Katy Perry featuring Juicy J holds at #1 on Hot Digital Songs for the fourth week (373K). Will it log its second week at #1 on the Hot 100? You'll find out later today when we post my Songs blogs.
Here's a recap of this week's top 10 albums.
The Top Five: The "Frozen" soundtrack holds at #1 for the fourth week in its 10th week (94K). This is its eighth week in the top 10 … "2014 Grammy Nominees" holds at #2 for the second week in its second week (87K) … Lorde's "Pure Heroine" rebounds from #5 to #3 in its 18th week (68K). This is its 13th week in the top 10… Of Mice And Men's "Restoring Force" debuts at #4 (51K). It's the metalcore band's first top 10 album … Beyonce's "Beyonce" dips from #4 to #5 in its eighth week (48K). It has been in the top five the entire time.
The Second Five: Casting Crowns' "Thrive" debuts at #6 (43K). This is the group's fifth top 10 album … Bruno Mars' "Unorthodox Jukebox" jumps from #18 to #7 in its 60th week (42K). This is its 22nd week in the top 10… Imagine Dragons' "Night Visions" rebounds from #11 to #8 in its 74th week (39K). This is its 24th week in the top 10 … Katy Perry's "PRISM" holds at #9 for the third week in its 15th week (30K). This is its 14th week in the top 10 … Daft Punk's "Random Access Memories" rebounds from #39 to #10 in its 37th week (30K). This is its ninth week in the top 10.
Five albums drop out of the top 10 this week. A Great Big World's "Is There Anybody Out There?" dives from #3 to #33. Kidz Bop Kids' "Kidz Bop 25" drops from #6 to #14. Young the Giant's "Mind Over Matter" plummets from #7 to #53. Bruce Springsteen's "High Hopes" drops from #8 to #29. Eminem's "The Marshall Mathers LP 2" drops from #10 to #15.
Kacey Musgraves'
"Same Trailer Different Park" leaps from #28 to #12 in its 39th week. This is its highest ranking since it debuted at #2 in the week ending March 24. The album, which beat Taylor Swift's "Red" to win the Grammy for Best Country Album, returns to #1 on Top Country Albums. This is its second week on top of that chart (which "Red" ruled for 16 weeks).
Andy Mineo's EP "Never Land" debuts at #13. The Christian hip-hopper's debut album, "Heroes For Sale," debuted and peaked at #11 last April … David Crosby's "Croz" debuts at #36. Crosby first cracked the top 40 in July 1965 as a member of The Byrds with "Mr. Tambourine Man" … Red Hot Chili Peppers' 2003 album "Greatest Hits" re-enters the chart at #41 in the wake of the band's performance of "Give It Away" during half-time at the Super Bowl.
Michael Jackson's
2003 compilation "Number Ones," which jumps from #162 to #141, tops the 5 million mark in U.S. sales this week. The album has sold the majority of those copies since Jackson's death in June 2009. It had sold 1,825,000 copies as of the week before his death. "Number Ones" is Jackson's third album to top the 5 million mark in U.S. sales since January 1991, when Nielsen SoundScan started tracking music sales. The others are "Thriller" (6,343,000, plus millions more in its first 8+ years of release) and "Dangerous" (5,786,000, plus 658K for a subsequent edition).
Beyonce
this week tops the 15 million mark in album sales as a solo artist. With Destiny's Child, she has sold 17,383,000 albums. Combining the two careers, she has sold 32,383,000 albums, which puts her ahead of husband Jay Z (29,106,000). He's currently ahead in terms of total Grammys won (19 to 17), so I wanted her to have something to come back to him with!
Metallica's "Through The Never" enters Top Music Videos at #1. It sold 25K copies this week, which is the greatest one-week tally for a music video since One Direction’s "Up All Night—The Live Tour" sold 29K in the week before Christmas 2012. This is the greatest one-week tally for a video by a rock band since Rush’s "Beyond The Lighted Stage" started with 34K in July 2010. (Note: Rush's "Clockwork Orange" sold just under 25K in its first week in November 2013.)
Coming Attractions: "Now 49" will be among next week's top new entries, along with Broken Bells's "After The Disco," Little Mix's "Salute" and "Love, Marriage & Divorce" by Toni Braxton & Babyface.
