The Billboard 200 album chart race was very close this week with American Idol judge Keith Urban barely nudging past The Weeknd’s Kiss Land for the top spot.
Billboard reported that Urban’s Fuse sold 98,000 copies, while Kiss Land sold 95,000, based on Nielsen SoundScan data from the past week. With less than 3,000 copies sold between the two albums, it was the smallest margin of victory for a No. 1 album since early January. That was when less than 2,000 copies separated the Les Miserables soundtrack from Mumford & Sons’ Babel.
Urban’s album has been helped by the single “Little Bit of Everything” and various morning show appearances. The Weeknd (Abel Tesfaye's stage name) performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live and has been on tour.
2 Chainz’s B.O.A.T.S. II #METIME. came in at No. 3, selling 63,000 copies in its first week. That’s a huge drop from Based on a T.R.U. Story, which started with 147,000 copies sold.
Luke Bryan’s Crash My Party came in at No.4 with 53,000 copies, while Janelle Monáe’s new album The Electric Lady sold 47,000. The Arctic Monkeys’ AM also debuted in the Top 10 with 42,000. The last debut in the Top 10 this week is Sheryl Crow's Feels Like Home, which sold 36,000 copies.
Tamar Braxton’s Love and War fell to No. 8 in its second week with only 35,000 copies sold. Ariana Grande beat her last week with 138,000 copies of Yours Truly, but the album only sold 31,000 copies in its second week.
The final album in the Top 10 is John Legend’s Love in the Future, which sold 30,000 copies.
Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball” sold a whopping 477,000 downloads, which was good enough to top the Digital Songs chart. The track also topped the Hot 100 chart.
image: Fox