It’s official. David Bowie has posthumously unseated XL/Columbia Queen Adele from the top spot of the HITS Album Sales Chart, earning 171k for Blackstar, his final album (Columbia), released on his birthday (1/8). On the Sales Plus Streaming (SPS) Chart, he also reigned with 178k.
Since his passing on 1/10, there’s been an outpouring of admiration and consumer interest. Reports of inventory selling out at lightning speed came from Amazon andAmoeba the next day (Monday 1/11). According to Spotify, Bowie’s music jumped 2,700% worldwide on Monday. Over at Vevo, his videos saw a 5,198% increase, and with 51m views, he broke the record for most views for any artist in one day. Tuesday—the day after the news of his death broke—the late rock icon had four albums, four singles and six videos on the corresponding iTunes Top 10s.
The compilation set Best of Bowie snagged the #3 spot on our chart, earning 53k forRhino, which houses his catalogue. Three of Bowie’s other albums have re-entered the Top 50, namely 1972’s The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (#12), its predecessor Hunky Dory (#30) and 1983’s Let’s Dance (#44).
Adele moves to #2 with 119k for 25. Her 21, meanwhile, broke back into the Top 10 at #9 with 13k.
The other two acts in the Top 5—RBMG/Def Jam’s Justin Bieber and Mercury Nashville’s Chris Stapleton—rake in 45k and 29k, respectively; Stapleton’sGrammy-nominated Traveller was issued in May.
Bieber, however, remained the big winner at SPS with 101k, seeing a difference of 56k when compared to album sales alone.
Roc Nation/Columbia’s J. Cole made a big leap, going #45-23. The move was powered by the release of his HBO documentary J. Cole Forest Hills Drive: Homecoming, which includes exclusive concert footage.
At #24, Rhiannon Giddens’ Tomorrow Is My Turn (Nonesuch), which dropped nearly a year ago, re-entered the chart thanks to a segment on CBS This Morning.
Streeting this week are albums from Panic! At the Disco, Big Machine’s Hank Williams Jr. and EMI Nashville buzz band Brothers Osborne, as well as the 31st installment of the Kidz Bop Kids franchise—available through Razor & Tie.
Source: Hits Daily Double