On the Charts: The Killers Land First Number One LP With ‘Wonderful Wonderful’
Thirteen years after the Killers released their debut LP, the Las Vegas rockers landed their first Number One album on the Billboard 200 with Wonderful Wonderful.
Brandon Flowers and company’s first album in five years sold 111,000 total copies in its debut week, Billboard reports. The album’s sales were bolstered by a promotion that paired free copies of Wonderful Wonderful with tickets to the band’s upcoming tour.
The Killers‘ previous chart high occurred in 2006 when Sam’s Town, the follow-up to their breakthrough 2004 album Hot Fuss, peaked at Number Two. The band’s previous album, 2012’s Battle Born, reached Number Three. All five of the Killers’ studio albums have finished in the Top 10.
Despite the Number One finish, Wonderful Wonderful actually had the lowest-selling first week sales of any Killers album since Hot Fuss; even Day & Age, which peaked at Number Six in 2008, sold 193,000 copies in its opening week. Sam’s Town, in finishing second in 2006, tallied over 300,000 copies its first week.
Down at Number Two, with 51,000 total copies, was Macklemore‘s Gemini, the rapper’s first charting album as a solo artist. Of Gemini‘s 51,000 copies, 27,000 came from traditional sales, with streaming equivalent albums (SEAs) and track equivalent albums (TEAs) making up the rest.
Two more new releases debuted in the Top 10: Rapper Kevin Gates’ By Any Means 2 finished at Number Four with 40,000 total copies and Jhene Aiko’s Trip bowed at Number Five with 37,000 in sales.
Lil Uzi Vert’s Luv Is Rage 2 led the batch of Top 10 returnees by ending the week at Number Three, ahead of Post Malone’s Stoney (Number Six), Imagine Dragons’ Evolve (Seven), Kendrick Lamar’s Damn. (Eight) and Khalid’s American Teen (Nine). Ed Sheeran’s Divide closed out the upper tier at Number 10.
An influx of much anticipated new releases – including Miley Cyrus’ Younger Now, Shania Twain’s Now, Demi Lovato’s Tell Me You Love More and more – should shake up next week’s Top 10.