Yet another new performer to top the Billboard 200 as Twenty One Pilots takes the top spot with Blurryface, which sold more than 147,000 equivalent units. That makes the Columbus, OH-based alt group the seventh act to top the charts for the first time during 2015 (including bigger bands such as Kendrick Lamar and Imagine Dragons).
Despite the huge sales week for Twenty One Pilots, once again the attention is on Taylor Swift. Last week we questioned whether 1989 could hang on for a 30th week in the Top 10, but then the Billboard Music Awards gave it a booster shot. Swift won eight trophies and the epic music video for "Bad Blood" debuted, events that pushed the album to no. 2 with more than 91,000 in equivalent sales. Indeed, more than half of her "sales" were in the form of streams, not whole album sales.
Last week's no. 1, the Pitch Perfect 2 soundtrack, shrank only a tad in terms of sales and settled at no. 3 with 74,000 copies sold. Another debut came this week in the form of Zedd and his new collection True Colors, which sold 50,000 copies. That's a sizable jump from his previous peak at no. 38 on the Billboard 200.
Meghan Trainor, like Swift, reaped the benefits of Billboard Awards love. Her album Title rose from no. 12 to no. 5 thanks to her two trophies, totaling 47,000 copies moved last week. One more Billboard winner appears again in the Top 10, as Ed Sheeran and x gets bumped back up to no. 8, selling 38,000 copies.
Back in the order of things, there's history in the land of The Voice, where Sawyer Fredericks comes in at no. 6 with The Voice: The Complete Season 8 Collection. It's the highest on the charts that a collection from the show has ever placed, moving 41,000 equivalent copies.
Another act got a huge boost, although it wasn't thanks to the Billboard Music Awards. Brantley Gilbert and Just As I Am bounced up from no. 69 to no. 7 thanks to the release of the new "platinum" edition. The original album debuted a year ago, and the new version includes five new songs, including a collaboration with T.I.
Furious 7 stays in the Top 10 at no. 9 during its tenth week, selling another 36,000 copies (many of which still tied to streaming). The Top 10 is rounded out by Jamie Foxx this week, who premieres his new album Hollywood: The Story of a Dozen Roses, which sold 36,000 equivalent copies.
