Chart Watch: The durable Shania Twain debuts at No. 1
If I were advising artists, I wouldn’t recommend taking a decade or more off between studio albums. Fans can lose interest and drift away. We saw evidence of that just last week when Fergie’s first solo album in 11 years, Double Dutchess, entered the Billboard 200 at a disappointing No. 19. (It nosedives to No. 131 in its second week.) But a long layoff didn’t seem to hurt Shania Twain, whose first studio album in nearly 15 years, Now, debuts at No. 1, higher than new albums by the much younger Demi Lovato and Miley Cyrus — and both their albums contain top 10 singles.
Now is Twain’s second No. 1 album. Her last studio album, Up!, spent its first five weeks at No. 1 in December 2002 and January 2003.
Now is the first album by a female country artist to reach No. 1 since Miranda Lambert’s Platinum in June 2014.
Twain is one of just four female artists born in Canada to amass two or more No. 1 albums. She follows Celine Dion, who has had four; Alanis Morissette, who has had three, and Avril Lavigne, who has also had two.
Now also enters Top Country Albums at No. 1, displacing Thomas Rhett’s Life Changes, which spent three weeks on top. It’s Twain’s fifth No. 1 country album.
Now also enters the Official U.K. Albums Chart at No. 1. It’s the first country album to reach No. 1 in both the U.S. and the U.K. since Taylor Swift’s Red in late 2012. Now is Twain’s second No. 1 album in the U.K. Come on Over spent 11 weeks on top in that country. (You may be surprised to learn that that blockbuster peaked at No. 2 in the U.S.)
Top Albums
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ Greatest Hits reenters the Billboard 200 at No. 2 in the wake of Petty’s death on Oct. 2. This is the fourth time in recent years that a compilation by a music legend has soared into the top five in the immediate wake of his or her death. Whitney Houston’s Whitney: The Greatest Hits logged three weeks at No. 2 following her death in February 2012. David Bowie’s Best of Bowie reached No. 4 following his death in January 2016. Prince’s The Very Best of Prince hit No. 1 following his death in April 2016. (A second Prince compilation, The Hits/The B-Sides, reached No. 4.)
(Michael Jackson’s Number Ones would have logged six weeks at No. 1 following his death in June 2009, but catalog albums were barred from the Billboard 200 at the time. A second Jackson compilation, The Essential Michael Jackson, would have ranked No. 2.)
This is the highest ranking to date for Petty’s Greatest Hits album, surpassing its initial No. 5 peak in February 1994. Greatest Hits is Petty’s fourth album to reach No. 1 or No. 2 on the Billboard 200. It follows Damn the Torpedoes (No. 2 for seven weeks in 1980), Mojo (No. 2 for one week in 2010) andHypnotic Eye (No. 1 for one week in 2014). This gives Petty an impressive, nearly 38-year span of No. 2 albums.
Six Petty songs are listed in the top 40 on the Top Digital Songs chart. Petty’s bestselling digital hits in the week following his death are, in order, “Free Fallin” (No. 10), “I Won’t Back Down” (No. 21), “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” (No. 25), “Learning to Fly” (No. 29), “You Don’t Know How It Feels” (No. 36), and “American Girl” (No. 39).
Petty and the Heartbreakers’ Greatest Hits jumps to No. 1 on Top Catalog Albums, displacing Ed Sheeran’s x. This is the compilation’s second week on top of the catalog chart. It first topped that chart in February 2008 following their halftime performance at Super Bowl XLII. (It surged to No. 12 on the Billboard 200 that week.) Petty has the top three albums on this week’s Top Catalog Albums chart. His 1994 solo album Wildflowers is No. 2, the group’s double-disk 2000 collection Anthology: Through the Years is No. 3. (On the Billboard 200, they reenter at No. 27 and No. 32, respectively.)
Demi Lovato lands her sixth consecutive top five album as Tell Me You Love Me debuts at No. 3. That’s Lovato’s entire output of studio albums.
A Boogie wit da Hoodie’s debut album, The Bigger Artist, debuts at No. 4. The title is a play on the title of his 2016 mixtape, Artist, which marks one year on the chart this week. The album includes “Drowning” (featuring Kodak Black), which reached No. 38 on the Hot 100. Other artists who make guest appearances on the album include Chris Brown, Trey Songz, and 21 Savage.
Miley Cyrus lands her 11th top 10 album (counting Hannah Montana albums), as Younger Now debuts at No. 5. That chart position represents a drop from Cyrus’s last studio album, Bangerz, which debuted at No. 1 in October 2013.
Post Malone’s Stoney holds at No. 6 in its 43rd week. This equals its highest ranking to date.
Lil Uzi Vert’s first full-length album, Luv Is Rage 2, drops from No. 3 to No. 7 in its sixth week. The album debuted at No. 1.
Imagine Dragons’ Evolve dips from No. 7 to No. 8 in its 15th week. The album debuted and peaked at No. 2.
Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN. dips from No. 8 to No. 9 its 25th week. The album has logged four weeks at No. 1.
Ed Sheeran’s ÷ holds at No. 10 in its 31st week. The album spent its first two weeks at No. 1.
The Killers’ Wonderful Wonderful plummets from No. 1 to No. 59 in its second week. This is the third time in the past six weeks that an album has fallen from No. 1 clear out of the top 50 in its second week. Brand New’s Science Fiction tumbled from No. 1 to No. 97. LCD Soundsystem’s American Dream dove from No. 1 to No. 56. This is the new normal until rock (and country) artists start to have more streaming (which will eventually come).
Four other albums drop out of the top 10 this week. Macklemore’s Gemini drops from No. 2 to No. 19. Kevin Gates’s By Any Means 2 drops from No. 4 to No. 22. Jhené Aiko’s Trip drops from No. 5 to No. 21. Khalid’s American Teen drops from No. 9 to No. 11.
The Moana soundtrack inches up from No. 32 to No. 30 in its 46th week. The album peaked at No. 2. It’s No. 1 on Top Soundtracks for the 24th week.
Coming Attractions: Look for NF’s Perception and Lil Pump’s debut album, Lil Pump, to make the top 10 next week, along with a deluxe, expanded edition of Kane Brown’s Kane Brown.
Top Songs
Cardi B’s “Bodak Yellow (Money Moves)” holds at No. 1 for the third week in its 14th week on the Hot 100. Cardi B is the just third female rapper to top the Hot 100 for three or more weeks. She follows Lil’ Kim, who reigned for five weeks in June 2001 with “Lady Marmalade,” a co-equal collabo with Christina Aguilera, Mya, and P!nk; and Iggy Azalea, whose debut hit, “Fancy,” (featuring Charli XCX) spent seven weeks on top in June and July 2014.
“Bodak Yellow (Money Moves)” holds at No. 1 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart for the sixth week. This is the longest run at No. 1 on that chart by a female lead artist since Rihanna’s “Work” (featuring Drake) logged 11 weeks at No. 1 in early 2016. It’s the longest run at No. 1 by a female lead artist with no featured artists since Nicki Minaj’s “Anaconda” logged six weeks on top in late 2014.
Post Malone’s “Rockstar” (featuring 21 Savage) holds at No. 2 in its third week. The song jumps to No. 1 on the Official U.K. Singles Chart, displacing Sam Smith’s “Too Good at Goodbyes,” which reigned for three weeks.
J Balvin & Willy William’s “Mi Gente” (featuring Beyoncé) vaults from No. 21 to No. 3 in its 14th week. This surge is due to the release of a remixed version featuring Queen Bey. The original version had climbed as high as No. 19. It’s Beyoncé’s 17th top 10 as a solo artist. (She amassed 10 additional top 10 hits as a member of Destiny’s Child.) The song sold 79K digital copies this week, which enables it to leap from No. 34 to No. 1 in its 14th week on Top Digital Songs.
Logic’s “1–800-273-8255″ (featuring Alessia Cara & Khalid) holds at No. 4 in its 23rd week. The song has climbed as high as No. 3.
Taylor Swift’s “Look What You Made Me Do” drops from No. 3 to No. 5 in its seventh week. The song spent three weeks on top.
Portugal. The Man’s “Feel It Still” inches up No. 7 to No. 6 in its 16th week. The song is No. 1 on Top Rock Songs for the second week. It’s No. 1 on the Alternative Songs airplay chart for the 16th week. Only one song has had a longer run at No. 1 on the alternative chart in this decade — Muse’s “Madness,” which spent 19 weeks on top in 2012-13.
Imagine Dragons land their fourth top 10 hit, as “Thunder” jumps from No. 17 to No. 7 in its 23rd week.
Demi Lovato lands her highest-charting hit to date as “Sorry Not Sorry” jumps from No. 10 to No. 8 in its 13th week. Lovato’s previous top 10 hits were “This Is Me,” a collabo with Joe Jonas (No. 9), “Skyscraper” (No. 10), and “Heart Attack” (No. 10).
Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee’s “Despacito” (featuring Justin Bieber) drops from No. 5 to No. 9 in its 38th week. The song spent a record-tying 16 weeks at No. 1. “Despacito” tops the 2.5 million mark in digital sales this week. (It’s at 2,506,000, to be precise.)
French Montana’s “Unforgettable” (featuring Swae Lee) drops from No. 6 to No. 10 in its 26th week. The song peaked at No. 3
Imagine Dragons’ “Believer” and Yo Gotti’s “Rake It Up” (featuring Nicki Minaj) both drop out of the top 10 this week.
Camila Cabello lands her third top 40 solo hit as “Havana” (featuring Young Thug) jumps from No. 44 to No. 29 in its eighth week.
Post Malone lands his fourth top 40 hit as “I Fall Apart” vaults from No. 65 to No. 39 in its second week.
