On the Charts: Ed Sheeran’s ‘Divide’ Adds Up Best Sales Week of 2017
Rolling Stone cover star Ed Sheeran‘s Divide cruised to the top of the Billboard 200 on the strength of the best sales week of 2017 so far.
In its first week of release, Divide sold 451,000 total albums to easily capture Number One after two weeks of a record-setting Future reign, with 322,000 of that sum coming from traditional album sales.
Divide marked the singer’s second straight Billboard 200 album, following 2014’s Multiply, and even more impressive, Divide more than doubled the 209,000 opening week sales of its predecessor, Billboard reports. Sheeran’s 2011 debut Plus peaked at Number Five.
Four months after debuting at Number One, Metallica’s Hardwired… to Self-Destruct jumped back into the Top 10 and finished the week at Number Two thanks to a promotion that paired tickets sales from the band’s upcoming North American tour with copies of the group’s latest LP. In total, Hardwired… added another 81,000 copies to its tally.
Bruno Mars’ 24K Magic stayed locked in at Number Three, followed by Future’s self-titled album and HNDRXX at Number Four and Five respectively.
Besides, Sheeran, the only other newcomer to crack the Top 10 was Khalid’s American Teen, which placed Number Nine. Migos’ Culture (Number Six), the Weeknd’s Starboy (Number Seven), the Moana soundtrack (Number Nine) and the Trolls soundtrack (Number 10) rounded out the Billboard 200’s upper tier.
The only new arrival that could prevent Sheeran from capturing a second straight Number One week is the soundtrack for the live-action Beauty and the Beast film, which was released on Friday, a week before it hits theaters.