Kanye West's Jesus Is King debut nabs him ninth consecutive No. 1 album
It was a bumpy road getting here, but Kanye West’s Jesus Is King has debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. It marks the artist’s ninth consecutive peak debut, tying Eminem for the longest streak in the chart’s history, Billboard reports.
Released Oct. 25, the gospel album notched 264,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the first week, according to Nielsen Music. Streaming was behind the majority of that number, while the remaining 109,000 were in album sales.
West’s most recent albums were 2018’s Ye and 2016’s The Life of Pablo, and all of his efforts from 2005 to 2019 debuted at the top. West’s only album to miss the No. 1. spot was 2004’s The College Dropout, which debuted and peaked at No. 2.
Eminem’s last nine albums, 2018’s Kamikaze being the most recent, have also opened at the highest spot. Jay-Z beats out all acts with 14 albums debuting at the top, but not consecutively.
However, the Beatles still have the most No. 1s on the Billboard 200 of all time, with 19. Then follows Jay-Z (14), Bruce Springsteen and Barbra Streisand (11 each), and Elvis Presley (10). In sixth place, West has nine, tying with five acts: Garth Brooks, Drake, Eminem, Madonna, and the Rolling Stones.
Jesus Is King, West’s ninth studio album, arrived after missing its initial Sept. 27 release date. Concurrently, West dropped an IMAX film of the same name.
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