Tom Petty finally scores his first Billboard chart topper with 'Hypnotic Eye'

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers have been members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for over a decade and their influence on Rock is unquestioned, but they never had a No. 1 album on the Billboard chart. Now, nearly 40 years after their debut, they finally have one.

The group released Hypnotic Eye this past week and the album sold 131,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan data from Billboard. It is the best sales week for a Heartbreakers album and the best sales week for a Petty album since his 1994 solo release Wildflowers sold 161,000 copies in its first week.

Petty released the album with a promotion available for fans who buy tickets for his shows. They can choose to receive a copy of the new album when they buy tickets and copies of the album sold that way do count towards Billboard numbers. The group’s 2010 album Mojo got a lift this way as well, selling 120,000 copies and debuting at No. 2 in its first week.

Acts getting their long-awaited first No. 1 album seems to be in vogue this summer. Weird Al Yankovic finally earned his first No. 1 with Mandatory Fun last month.

Of course, Petty and Yankovic didn’t have to wait as long as Tony Bennett did for his first No. 1. He waited 54 years for one, as his Duets II reached No. 1 in 2011.

Another veteran rocker was on the charts this week. Eric Clapton’s The Breeze: An Appreciation of J.J. Cale sold 61,000 copies and started at No. 2. It is his highest-charting release since 1994’s From the Cradle stared at No. 1.

The Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack sold 60,000 copies and debuted at No. 3. 5 Seconds of Summer’s self-titled debut album, which topped the charts last week, fell to No. 4 with 54,000 copies.

Shawn Mendes’ self-titled EP debuted at No. 5 with 48,000 copies. Surprisingly, EPs seem to be popular, as this is the fourth EP to hit the Top 10 in 2014.

The rest of the Top 10 includes Frozen (33,000 copies); Sam Smith’s In The Lonely Hour (30,000); Theory of a Deadman’s Savages (28,000); Jenny Lewis’ Voyager (24,000); and Kidz Bop 26 (20,000).

Jessie J, Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj’s “Bang Bang” debuted at No. 1 on the Digital Songs chart with 230,000 downloads.

image courtesy of Peter West/ACE/INFphoto.com

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