Who Charted? Archives

First! Was there ever any question? Bow down, bitches, it's Beyoncé. With the stealth release of her fifth album — titled Beyoncé because duh — Queen Bey becomes the first woman in history to hit No. 1 with her first five studio albums, says Billboard. What's more, she did so on the debut week every time. More still: She dropped this one at midnight as Friday dawned, and the charts week ends on Sunday night. That means she sold 617,000 copies in the U.S. in three days, and with iTunes as the exclusive distributor. That tiny span not only counted as our heroine's best sales week ever, it was a record-setter for the digital music retailer as well. Oh, and globally Beyoncé sold 828K, which is another record. It's the fourth best-selling album in 2013. With no pre-release promotion. At all. WTF.UPDATE: At 11:15 a.m. PST, Beyoncé sold her millionth copy of Beyoncé worldwide.2 to 10: In its second week, Britney Spears' Britney Jean is long gone (sorry, boo), and her vanquisher Garth Brooks slips one slot to No. 2 with Blame It All On My Roots: Five Decades of Influences (172K). That one's a Walmart exclusive, which makes this the first time that the top two positions have been single-retailer offers. No. 3 goes to Kelly Clarkson's persistent holiday set Wrapped in Red (136K), up 21 percent following her NBC special Kelly Clarkson's Cautionary Christmas Music Tale. R. Kelly arrives at No. 4 with Black Panties (133K) — a strong start amidst controversy. One Direction dip three spots with Midnight Memories in at No. 5 (123K). The unstoppable Duck Dynasty set Duck the Halls: A Robertson Family Christmas slides to No. 6 (108K). Childish Gambino's Because the Internet, the Keyboard Cat of rap records, debuts at No. 7 (96K). The rest: No. 8 goes to Eminem with The Marshall Mathers LP 2 (83K); No. 9 belongs to Katy Perry's Prism; and No. 10 is the soundtrack to Disney's Frozen (56K).Chance Success: SPIN's Rapper of the Year has arrived in the Digital Songs top 10. Sure, Chance the Rapper rode Justin Bieber's back to get there, but all's well that ends well. Plus, their collaboration isn't half bad (and if it was, it wouldn't have been the Chicago MC's half). "Confident" is rightly named, and with 77K sales in week one, it starts at a respectable No. 10. Meanwhile, Eminem and Rihanna's "The Monster" tops the Hot 100 for a second week.

Who Charted?

Beyonce Breaks All Kinds of Records With No. 1 Debut

Garth Brooks Covers Album Trounces ‘Britney Jean’ in First Week Sales

One Direction Make History, Become Boy Band Royalty With No. 1 Debut

Eminem Returns to No. 1 as Lady Gaga’s ‘ARTPOP’ Plummets

If Lady Gaga’s ‘ARTPOP’ Debuts at No. 1, Is It Still a Flop?

Who Charted? Eminem’s Rap God Status Confirmed as ‘MMLP2’ Crushes Everything

Who Charted? Arcade Fire and Linkin Park Bookend Big ‘Duck Dynasty’ Week

Who Charted? Mumford Vacate No. 1 as Country Takeover Starts

Who Charted? Unstoppable Now! Series Tramples Rick Ross

Who Charted? Nas’ Life is Indeed Good At the Top

Who Charted? Frank Ocean’s Surprise Release Debuts at No. 2

Who Charted? Bad Reviews Don’t Stop Team Breezy

Who Charted? Justin Bieber Dwarfs Big Debuts by Fiona Apple, Smashing Pumpkins

Who Charted? Usher Climaxes at No. 1, Rush and Ed Sheeran Debut Strong

Who Charted? Neil Young and Beach Boys’ Collective Nostalgia Can’t Beat Adele

Who Charted? Edward Sharpe and Sigur Ros Crack the Top 10

Who Charted? The Top 200 Is John Mayer’s Wonderland

Who Charted? Adam Lambert Breaks Records, Beach House Storm Top 10

Who Charted? Silversun Pickups Pull Out Week’s Best Debut

Who Charted? Beastie Boys Sales Soar as Fans Honor MCA

Who Charted? Jack White Blunderbusses Into First No. 1

Who Charted? Lionel Richie Keeps No. 1, But Fedoras Make a Run For It

Who Charted? Lionel Richie Is Finally Found (at No. 1)

Who Charted? Nicki Minaj, Still a Monster, Unseats Madonna

Who Charted? Madonna Is Queen of Album Sales (Again)

Who Charted? The ‘Hunger Games’ Soundtrack, Duh

Who Charted? It’s Cool, One Direction’s Got This

Who Charted? Adele Earns Lucky 13th Week at No. 1

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