01.03.2021 – L.dK Weekly

TAYLOR SWIFT EQUALS RECORD FOR MOST WEEKS AT NO.1!

evermore keeps atop Contemporary Albums for an eleventh week; folklore repeats at No.2.

Taylor Swift’s evermore tallies an eleventh successive week at No.1 on L.dK Weekly. The album has ruled the Top Contemporary Albums Chart since its inception in the first week of January, leading for ten weeks. In 2020, evermore spent two weeks in pole position on the discontinued Weekly Top 50.

Currently, evermore is tied with Lana Del Rey’s Lust for Life as the fourth longest-running number-one record of all time.

1. Norman Fucking Rockwell! – Lana Del Rey (17 weeks)
2. folklore – Taylor Swift (15 weeks)
3. A Star is Born – Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper (12 weeks)
4. Lust for Life – Lana Del Rey (11 weeks)
5. evermore – Taylor Swift (11 weeks)

Most Weeks at No.1: To date, Taylor Swift has spent a total of twenty-eight weeks at No.1 on L.dK Weekly, including eighteen weeks atop the Weekly Top 50, and ten weeks at the top of Top Contemporary Albums. It ties the record for the most weeks at No.1 among all artists, drawing even with Lana Del Rey who has also ruled for twenty eight weeks!

Swift first reached No.1 in December 2017 with her sixth studio album reputation, which debuted at No.1; and would again open at No.1 in August 2019 with her seventh record Lover. Both albums would spend just a single week in first place.

In 2020, Swift nabbed her third chart-topper when folklore opened at No.1. It became her first album to spend multiple weeks in charge, and has since ruled for fifteen non-consecutive weeks. The singer soon followed folklore with evermore (eleven weeks to date).

evermore sold 95,000 copies in the latest tracking week (down 2 percent) and has now sold 1.532 million units to date. The album is Swift’s third release to be certified Pentuple Platinum for exceeding sales of 1.5 million copies.

Now with three albums boasting over 1.5 million sales, Swift now has the most albums to reach this milestone. Lana Del Rey, Lady Gaga & Annie Lennox all have two albums each to be certified Pentuple Platinum.

• Taylor Swift – folklore (2.82 million); Lover (1.53 million); evermore (1.53 million).
• Lana Del Rey – Norman Fucking Rockwell! (3.74 million); Lust for Life (2.50 million).
• Lady Gaga – A Star is Born (3.38 million); Chromatica (1.86 million).
• Annie Lennox – Diva (2.07 million); Medusa (1.80 million).

More Swift: folklore holds in the No.2 spot – marking the tenth time that Taylor Swift has held the top two positions on L.dK Weekly – selling 60,000 units (up 3 percent).

The fifteen-week chart-topper has now logged thirty-one consecutive weeks inside the Top Five. It ties Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper’s A Star is Born as the second longest-running Top Five album of all time. Both hits trail Lana Del Rey’s NFR! (forty-one weeks).

After debuting in the runner-up spot two weeks ago, Hayley Williams keeps at No.3 with FLOWERS for VASES / descansos, selling 53,000 copies (down 4 percent). Williams appears again at No.10 (steady with last week) with her No.3 peaking Petals for Armor on sales of 14,000 copies (down 7 percent).

The Weeknd’s No.3 hit The Highlights rebounds 5-4 selling 43,000 units (up 4 percent).

Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia lifts 6-5 to return to the Top Five for the first time in 2021. Future sold 36,000 copies this week (even with lat week) and previously logged eight weeks at No.1 in 2020.

Miley Cyrus’s two-week leader Plastic Hearts slides 4-6 (33,000 – down 27 percent); it leaves the Top Five for the first time after twelve weeks, and is now Cyrus’s first album to be certified Triple Platinum (900,000).

Rising from No.9 to No.7: Ariana Grande’s Positions blooms following the release of its deuxe edition, improving by 81 percent to 29,000 copies sold.

Celeste steps down one spot to No.8 with her No.3 peaking debut solo album Not Your Muse (23,000 – down 12 percent). The album has now been certified Gold for selling over 100,000 copies.

Capping the Top Ten: Lana Del Rey’s Norman Fucking Rockwell! sinks 8-9 (18,000 – up 5 percent) in its record-padding 71st week inside the Top Ten!

Onto Next Week: Taylor Swift is the clear leader with evermore set to sell roughly 90,000 copies once again. If the album stays in front, it will nab a twelfth week at No.1. Chloe x Halle’s Ungodly Hour could make gains with the release of its Chrome Edition, and Madison Beer could debut in the Top Ten with Life Support (potentially with 20,000 units).

Notable Moves on Top Contemporary

No.13 – Piano Sketches / Birdy reaches a new high of No.13 (up from No.14) with her four-track EP Piano Sketches. The set sold 8,000 units this week.

Top Contemporary Albums

1. [=/11] evermore – Taylor Swift (11)
2. [=] folklore – Taylor Swift (31)
3. [=] FLOWERS for VASES / descansos – Hayley Williams (3)
4. [+1] The Highlights – The Weeknd (3)
5. [+1] Future Nostalgia – Dua Lipa (48)
6. [-2] Plastic Hearts – Miley Cyrus (13)
7. [+2] Positions – Ariana Grande (17)
8. [-1] Not Your Muse – Celeste (4)
9. [-1] Norman Fucking Rockwell! – Lana Del Rey (78)
10. [=] Petals for Armor – Hayley Williams (42)
11. [=] What’s Your Pleasure? – Jessie Ware (35)
12. [+1] Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass – Lana Del Rey (31)
13. [+1] Piano Sketches – Birdy (16)
14. [+2] Fine Line – Harry Styles (63)
15. [+4] Album No.8 – Katie Melua (19)
16. [-1] Fetch the Bolt Cutters – Fiona Apple (45)
17. [-5] After Hours – The Weeknd (49)
18. [=] Nectar – Joji (22)
19. [+1] Chromatica – Lady Gaga (39)
20. [+4] Such Pretty Forks in the Road – Alanis Morissette (30)
21. [-4] Ungodly Hour – Chloe x Halle (37)
22. [=] DISCO – Kylie Minogue (16)
23. [-2] Love Goes – Sam Smith (17)
24. [-1] Live in Concert: the 24 Karat Gold Tour – Stevie Nicks (17)
25. [re] Compilation 1.1 – Celeste (14)

Certifications: Silver (60,000) Gold (100,000) Platinum (300,000) Multi-Platinum (600,000 etc.) Diamond (3,000,000).

CAROLE KING’S A BEAUTIFUL COLLECTION MAKES HISTORY!

Beautiful spends sixth week in pole position; becomes longest-running number-one compilation album ever!

Carole King collects a record-breaking sixth non-consecutive week at No.1 on Top Catalogue Albums with A Beautiful Collection – it sold 19,000 units this week (down 5 percent).

Beautiful is currently the compilation album with the most weeks at No.1 on L.dK Weekly. Previously, Stevie Nicks’s Crystal Visions – the Very Best of Stevie Nicks held the record with five weeks at the summit.

Overall, Beautiful is the tenth longest-running number-one record ever, tied with Cyndi Lauper’s She’s so Unusual and Lady Gaga’s Chromatica.

The previously mentioned Crystal is a non-mover at No.2 after a five-week reign, shifting 16,000 copies (down 6 percent). Nicks is also steady at No.7 this week with her No.3-peaking Bella Donna selling 9,000 copies (on par with last week).

Two further compilation albums follow inside the Top Five: Kate Bush’s The Whole Story adds a fourth week at its No.3 highpoint selling 15,000 copies (down 7 percent); Alanis Morissette’s The Collection sticks at No.4 moving 14,000 units (up 16 percent) after nine weeks at No.2.

Annie Lennox rounds out the Top Five as Diva is unmoved at No.5 on sales of 11,000 copies (down 9 percent).

Florence + the Machine appear twice in this week’s Top Ten: their former chart-topper High as Hope bullets at No.6 (11,000 copies – up 10 percent) while the band’s How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful ticks 10-9 after reaching No.3 last year (8,000 – up 14 percent).

Rounding out the Top Ten: Ariana Grande’s three-week number-one hit Sweetener remains at No.8 (8,000 – on par with last week); Cyndi Lauper’s six-week chart-leader She’s so Unusual backtracks 9-10 (7,000 – down 13 percent).

Onto Next Week: Joni Mitchell’s seminal album Blue could earn the largest sales week of 2021 on Top Catalogue Albums; it is currently set to debut with around 50,000 units.

Notable Moves on Top Catalogue

No.19 – Medusa / Annie Lennox’s sophomore 1995 album Medusa (which spent three weeks at the top slot) slides 14-19 this week on sales of 4,000 copies. The album has now sold 1,803,000 units to date – making it one of the bestselling records of all time. This is Lennox’s second LP to sell as many copies, as her 1992 set Diva has sold 2,070,000 copies.

No.21 – Tusk / Fleetwood Mac’s Tusk debuted and peaked at No.3 in 2020, following a string of Top Five hits for the Mac. The album – which has spent forty-one weeks on L.dK Weekly to date – has now been certified Platinum for selling over 300,000 copies. It is the band’s fifth album to be certified Platinum following Rumours (6 x Platinum); Mirage (2 x Platinum); Tango in the Night (2 x Platinum); and Greatest Hits (3 x Platinum).

Top Catalogue Albums

1. [=/6] A Beautiful Collection – Carole King (36)
2. [=] Crystal Visions – the Very Best of Stevie Nicks (51)
3. [=/4] The Whole Story – Kate Bush (86)
4. [=] The Collection – Alanis Morissette (46)
5. [=] Diva – Annie Lennox (108)
6. [=] High as Hope – Florence + the Machine (8)
7. [=] Bella Donna – Stevie Nicks (128)
8. [=] Sweetener – Ariana Grande (110)
9. [+1] How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful – Florence + the Machine (45)
10. [-1] She’s so Unusual – Cyndi Lauper (90)
11. [+9] thank u, next – Ariana Grande (57)
12. [+3] True Colors – Cyndi Lauper (27)
13. [-1] Greatest Hits – Fleetwood Mac (66)
14. [-3] Glasshouse – Jessie Ware (102)
15. [+3] Heart – HEART (43)
16. [re] Melodrama – Lorde (44)
17. [-4] The Wild Heart – Stevie Nicks (84)
18. [+1] Little Earthquakes – Tori Amos (62)
19. [-5] Medusa – Annie Lennox (81)
20. [+2] Rumours – Fleetwood Mac (115)
21. [-5] Tusk – Fleetwood Mac (41)
22. [-5] Bad Animals – HEART (77)
23. [re] The Sensual World – Kate Bush (55)
24. [=] A Star is Born – Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper (101)
25. [re] Lust for Life – Lana Del Rey (73)

Industry Sales

Contemporary Albums recorded sales of 500,000 units this week (down 2.6%) while Catalogue Albums generated sales of 254,000 units (down 0.8%). Contemporary accounted for 66.3% of all consumption this week; versus 33.7% for Catalogue.

Total industry sales are down 2% to 754,000 sold this week. Compared to the same week last year (when 645,000 albums were sold), consumption is up by 16.8%.