03.08.2020 – L.dK Weekly

TAYLOR SWIFT EARNS THIRD NUMBER ONE AS FOLKLORE OPENS AT NO.1

PLUS: Lana Del Rey’s Norman Fucking Rockwell! adds another record to its roster!

Taylor Swift’s surprise new album – her eighth studio record, and third since the launch of L.dK Weekly in 2017 – unsurprisingly goes straight to No.1 with massive first week sales.

3rd No.1: As folklore bows at the summit, it marks Swift’s third consecutive number one album on L.dK following 2017’s reputation & 2019’s Lover which both spent a week at the top spot. Swift thus becomes just the second female artist, and third act overall, to send three albums all the way to No.1. Among all artists, Stevie Nicks holds the record with five, while Swift ties Fleetwood Mac who also boast three chart-toppers.

1. Stevie Nicks – The Other Side of the Mirror (5 weeks), Timespace: the Best of Stevie Nicks (3 weeks), Trouble in Shangri-La (1 week), Crystal Visions: the Very Best of Stevie Nicks (3 weeks) and 24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault (4 weeks).
2. Fleetwood Mac – Rumours (5 weeks), Tango in the Night (3 weeks) and Greatest Hits (1 week)
3. Taylor Swift – reputation (1 week), Lover (1 week) and folklore (1 week*)

Third Biggest Debut of 2020: Shifting a massive 259,000 units in its opening week, folklore nabs the third biggest debut of 2020. It trails just the opening weeks of Lady Gaga’s Chromatica (473,000) and Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia (289,000).

7th Fastest-Selling Album of All Time: Swift’s two previous efforts launched with 309,000 (reputation) and 310,000 (Lover). While folklore opens slightly lower, it still establishes Swift as the artist with the most albums which rank in the top ten fastest-selling records of all time!

1. Lust for Life / Lana Del Rey – 639,000
2. Chromatica / Lady Gaga – 473,000
3. Melodrama / Lorde – 345,000
4. Lover / Taylor Swift – 310,000
5. reputation / Taylor Swift – 309,000
6. Future Nostalgia / Dua Lipa – 289,000
7. folklore / Taylor Swift – 259,000
8. *Love + Fear / MARINA – 256,000
9. After Hours / The Weeknd – 249,000
10. So Good / Zara Larsson – 223,000

Not content to live in the shadow of its new younger sister, Swift’s 2019 No.1 Lover roars 36-13 on this week’s list moving 19,000 copies, and bringing its total sales figures to 1.504 million units. Lover thus becomes Swift’s first release to be certified 5 x Platinum – only ten other albums have achieved this distinction.

Back to the Top Ten: Carole King’s A Beautiful Collection remains at its No.2 peak for a fourth cumulative week selling 69,000 copies (down 17 percent) while Alanis Morissette’s The Collection ups 4-3 after peaking at No.2 for a record eight weeks (55,000 – down 6 percent). Lady Gaga’s Chromatica sinks 3-4 (48,000 – down 38 percent) after a six week reign, holding above Ellie Goulding’s Brightest Blue which tumbles 1-5 in its second week (47,000 – down 72 percent).

Hayley Williams’ Petals for Armor dips 5-6 after hitting No.3 (45,000 – down 27 percent) and goes 2 x Platinum for sales of over 600,000, as Jessie Ware’s former No.1 hit What’s Your Pleasure? steps down 6-7 on sales of 36,000 copies (down 25 percent).

Meanwhile, hopping two spots up to No.8 this week, Lana Del Rey’s Norman Fucking Rockwell! (which recently joined Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper’s A Star is Born as one of just two albums to be certified Diamond for selling in excess of 3 million units) moves 30,000 copies (up 7 percent). This week marks the record’s 47th non-consecutive spell in the Top Ten. Rockwell! has spent almost its entire chart run inside the Top Ten, save for one week in July when it ranked at No.13. It thus claims the crown as the longest running Top Ten album ever, stealing the title from Stevie Nicks’ Bella Donna which logged a total of 46 weeks in the upper bracket.

1. Norman Fucking Rockwell! / Lana Del Rey – 47 weeks
2. Bella Donna / Stevie Nicks – 46 weeks
3. Rumours / Fleetwood Mac – 45 weeks
4. A Star is Born / Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper – 42 weeks
5. Lust for Life / Lana Del Rey – 39 weeks
6. Dancing Queen / Cher – 37 weeks
7. 25 / Adele – 36 weeks
8. Diva / Annie Lennox – 35 weeks
9. Back to Black / Amy Winehouse – 33 weeks
10. Medusa / Annie Lennox – 31 weeks

Capping the Top Ten: Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia holds at No.9 (25,000 – down 16 percent) and Cyndi Lauper falls 7-10 with True Colors (23,000 – down 45 percent).

Industry: Music sales declined by 3.9% this week, totalling 961,000 units across all albums sold.

Onto Next Week: Alanis Morissette and Beyonce could both enter the Top Ten with new records next week. Morissette’s Such Pretty Forks in the Road may open with over 80,000 units, while Beyonce’s re-release of The Lion King: The Gift is looking to move in the region of 50,000 units. Both figures will likely be enough to send each album into the Top Five straight out of the gate.

Important Moves in the Top 50

No.14 – Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass / Lana Del Rey’s first spoken word album Violet debuts at No.14 with first week sales of 16,000 copies. The audio poetry collection is the first spoken word album to chart on L.dK Weekly, and marks Del Rey’s seventh Top 20 hit!

No.23 – Medusa / Annie Lennox’s sophomore solo record from 1995 had big shoes to fill upon its retrospective release in July 2019, following in the footsteps of Diva (1992) which at the time, had hit No.1 on L.dK, finished at No.11 on 2018’s Year-End List, and been certified 3 x Platinum for over 900,000 copies sold. Medusa did not disappoint: it sold almost 200,000 copies in its first week on sale – higher than Diva – and spent its first three weeks at No.1 on the tally – also outperforming its predecessor. To date, both albums have been certified 5 x Platinum, with Diva having sold 1.75 million and Medusa not too far behind of 1.61 million units. This week, Medusa celebrates an entire year on L.dK Weekly as it slips 21-23 with 9,000 units sold: Diva meanwhile bounces 25-20 (10,000) in its 78th charting week.

The Top 50

1. [NEW] folklore – Taylor Swift (1)
2. [=/4] A Beautiful Collection – Carole King (6)
3. [+1] The Collection – Alanis Morissette (16)
4. [-1] Chromatica – Lady Gaga (9)
5. [-4] Brightest Blue – Ellie Goulding (2)
6. [-1] Petals for Armor – Hayley Williams (12)
7. [-1] What’s Your Pleasure? – Jessie Ware (5)
8. [+2] Norman Fucking Rockwell! – Lana Del Rey (48)
9. [=] Future Nostalgia – Dua Lipa (18)
10. [-3] True Colors – Cyndi Lauper (5)
11. [+1] Fine Line – Harry Styles (33)
12. [-4] Ungodly Hour – Chloe x Halle (7)
13. [+23] Lover – Taylor Swift (49)
14. [NEW] Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass – Lana Del Rey (1)
15. [-2] After Hours – The Weeknd (19)
16. [-5] Fetch the Bolt Cutters – Fiona Apple (14)
17. [-3] Dedicated Side B – Carly Rae Jepsen (11)
18. [-3] She’s so Unusual – Cyndi Lauper (60)
19. [+1] The Whole Story – Kate Bush (56)
20. [+5] Diva – Annie Lennox (78)
21. [-5] Glasshouse – Jessie Ware (72)
22. [-5] A Star is Born – Lady gaga & Bradley Cooper (73)
23. [-2] Medusa – Annie Lennox (52)
24. [-1] Timespace: the Best of Stevie Nicks – Stevie Nicks (34)
25. [-3] Heart – HEART (22)
26. [-2] Little Earthquakes – Tori Amos (33)
27. [-1] 25 – Adele (84)
28. [-1] K Bye for Now – Ariana Grande (27)
29. [-10] Shake the Spirit – Elle King (32)
30. [-1] Greatest Hits – Fleetwood Mac (36)
31. [+1] Sweetener – Ariana Grande (80)
32. [+2] Kid Krow – Conan Gray (19)
33. [+7] Tusk – Fleetwood Mac (12)
34. [-3] How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful – Florence + the Machine (27)
35. [+2] Bloom – Troye Sivan (45)
36. [+2] Back to Black – Amy Winehouse (62)
37. [-4] Map of the Soul: 7 – BTS (23)
38. [-10] Cher – Cher (8)
39. [+10] Half Written Story – Hailee Steinfeld (12)
40. [+1] Bella Donna – Stevie Nicks (98)
41. [+1] 21 – Adele (39)
42. [-3] Dedicated – Carly Rae Jepsen (49)
43. [=] Dancing Queen – Cher (71)
44. [-14] Love Stuff – Elle King (24)
45. [=] Melodrama – Lorde (43)
46. [+2] Don’t Feed the Pop Monster – Broods (46)
47. [-29] In Isolation – Elle King (3)
48. [-13] Women in Music Pt. III – HAIM (5)
49. [+1] Bad Animals – HEART (58)
50. [-4] Love + Fear – MARINA (41)