HALSEY SCOOPS FASTEST-SELLING ALBUM OF 2021!
If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power debuts as a dominant number-one; Big Red Machine start at No.5 with How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last?
Halsey’s newest record – If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power – smashes onto the Contemporary Albums Chart at No.1, earning the star her second chart-topping record, and the fastest-selling album of the year so far!
With first-week sales of 193,000 units, Power surpasses Lana Del Rey’s Chemtrails Over the Country Club which previously held the title of the year’s fastest-selling hit, shifting 160,000 in its debut frame (29 March).
It also marks a personal best for Halsey, topping the debut week of her previous release, Manic (114,000 units – January 2020).
Power‘s impressive debut additionally earns it a Gold certification after just a week!
The album is Halsey’s first release since 2020’s Manic which debuted at No.1 on the chart dated 27 January 2020. The album became the 34th most successful record of the year and has since sold over 570,000 copies.
Overall, Power is Halsey’s second chart-topper (after Manic); and fourth Top Five hit following 2015’s BADLANDS (No.4) and 2017’s Hopeless Fountain Kingdom (No.2).
Last week’s No.1 album – Lorde’s Solar Power – dips to No.2 in its second week out of the gate, shifting a further 51,000 copies – dropping forty-one percent from the previous week. Solar has now been certified Gold for selling over 100,000 units, becoming Lorde’s third album to achieve this.
Jade Bird’s Different Kinds of Light steps down 2-3 in its third week, on sales of 44,000 units (down fourteen percent) after launching at No.1 two weeks ago.
Happier than Ever – Billie Eilish’s two-week chart-topper – likewise falls 3-4, although it remains steady on sales of 43,000 copies. Now with total sales of 300,000 units, Happier has been certified Platinum, becoming Eilish’s third album to achieve this.
Big Red Machine score their first Top Five hit this week as How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last? premieres at No.5. The LP bows with combined sales of 37,000 units – 17,000 stemming from single pre-sales.
Two former chart-toppers from Taylor Swift follow: folklore slips 5-6 (36,000 units – up twenty-eight percent) and evermore drops 4-7 (35,000 units – up twenty-nine percent).
A trio of number-one hits round out the Top Ten: Miley Cyrus’s Plastic Hearts steps down 7-8 (19,000 units – up five percent); Lana Del Rey’s Chemtrails Over the Country Club slides 6-9 (16,000 units – down twenty-eight percent); and Birdy’s Young Heart descends 8-10 (15,000 units – on par with last week).
Onto Next Week: Halsey’s If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power looks set to sell another 100,000 copies to retain its crown.
Notable Moves on Top Contemporary Albums
No.24 – Fetch the Bolt Cutters / Fiona Apple’s enduring alternative hit was the 14th biggest hit of 2020, and has now surpassed a million copies sold after seventy-two weeks on sale! Overall, it is the 41st album to sell as many units.
TOP CONTEMPORARY ALBUMS
LANA DEL REY‘S NORMAN FUCKING ROCKWELL! REGAINS TITLE AS LONGEST-RUNNING NUMBER-ONE EVER!
Plus: Halsey scores three Top Ten entries on this week’s Catalogue Chart!
Lana Del Rey’s Norman Fucking Rockwell! rises 3-1 to nab a record-breaking twenty-first week atop the L.dK Weekly Charts.
Following its two-year anniversary, the album surged by thirty-eight percent to 25,000 copies sold. To date, NFR! has sold a whopping 4.37 million units – it is the bestselling album of all time – and spent a record sixty-seven weeks in the Top Five and ninety-eight weeks in the Top Ten.
Now with twenty-one weeks spent atop the charts, NFR! has regained its title as the longest-running chart-topping LP in history; it surpasses Joni Mitchell’s Blue which ruled for twenty weeks.
The longest-running number-one albums ever are as follows:
- Twenty-one weeks – Norman Fucking Rockwell! , Lana Del Rey
- Twenty weeks – Blue , Joni Mitchell
- Seventeen weeks – folklore , Taylor Swift
- Thirteen weeks – evermore , Taylor Swift
- Twelve weeks – A Star is Born – OST , Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper
Halsey Dominates: Three albums from the American star appear in this week’s Top Ten on the Catalogue Albums Chart.
Manic zooms back onto the tally at No.2 selling 24,000 copies this week. Meanwhile Hopeless Fountain Kingdom & BADLANDS return back-to-back at No.8 and No.9, shifting 11,000 and 10,000 copies respectively.
Stevie Nicks’s Crystal Visions – the Very Best of Stevie Nicks falls 1-3 selling 20,000 units (down five percent). Joni Mitchell’s Blue drops 2-4 selling 19,000 copies (on par with last week).
Rounding out the Top Five: Kate Bush holds at No.5 with the No.3-peaking The Whole Story (15,000 units – even with last week).
Outside the Top Five: Annie Lennox’s chart-topping Diva springs 8-6 (12,000 units – up twenty percent); Fleetwood Mac’s former number-one Greatest Hits keeps at No.7 (11,000 units – down eight percent).
Capping the Top Ten: Alanis Morissette pushes 11-10 with her No.2-peaking The Collection (9,000 units – even with last week).
Onto Next Week: Lana Del Rey’s Norman Fucking Rockwell! could be bound for a twenty-second week at the summit, with over 20,000 copies sold.
Notable Moves on Top Catalogue Albums
No.19 – Rock a Little / Stevie Nicks’s third studio album is among her most successful hits on L.dK Weekly; it has sold over 1.2 million copies and been a mainstay on the list since 2017. Now – as it falls 13-19 selling 7,000 units – it becomes the tenth album in history to spend a whole two years (104 weeks) on L.dK Weekly!
TOP CATALOGUE ALBUMS
Industry Sales
Contemporary Albums recorded sales of 592,000 units this week (up 46.1%) while Catalogue Albums generated sales of 312,000 units (up 8.7%). Contemporary accounted for 65.5% of all sales this week; versus 34.5% for Catalogue.
Total industry sales stand at 904,000 units for the week, increasing by 30.6% from the previous week. Compared to the same week last year (when 774,000 albums were sold), consumption is up 16.7%!
Note
This chart reflects my own personal music consumption; 1 song = 1,000 units. Top Contemporary Albums measures the performance of albums released within the past 18 months; Top Catalogue Albums ranks the performance of albums released prior to the past 18 months.
Certifications: Silver (60,000); Gold (100,000); Platinum (300,000); Multi-Platinum (600,000 etc.); Diamond (3,000,000).
L.dK Music 