On the Charts: Kesha Returns to Number One With ‘Rainbow’
Kesha returned to Number One on the Billboard 200 for the first time in over seven years as the singer’s comeback LP Rainbow topped the charts in its debut week.
Of Rainbow‘s 116,000 opening week copies, 89,000 came from traditional album sales. A deal that packaged tickets to Kesha‘s upcoming tour with a complimentary copy of Rainbow also spurred the album’s sales, since those copies count toward the opening week haul.
Rainbow marks Kesha’s second Number One album and first since her debut LP Animal topped the Billboard 200 in January 2010. Kesha’s Warrior – her last album before the career-halting legal battle with Dr. Luke – only peaked at Number Six upon its debut in 2012, Billboard reports.
Other than Rainbow, only one other new release made the Top 10: Rapper Moneybagg Yo’s Federal 3X debuted at Number Five with 30,000 total copies, 14,000 of which were traditional album sales. The Memphis rapper, whose previous Billboard 200 high was Number 97, couldn’t celebrate the career high as he spent the weekend being questioned by police over a shooting at a New Jersey Turnpike service area.
A week after reclaiming Number One, Kendrick Lamar’s Damn. moved down one spot to Number Two to lead the eight returning albums in the Top 10. DJ Khaled’s Grateful finished Number Three while Khalid reached a new Billboard 200 peak as his American Teen rose to Number Four, a new high in the album’s recent resurgence.
Filling out the rest of the Top 10: Ed Sheeran’s Divide took Number Six, followed by SZA’s Ctrl (Seven), 21 Savage’s Issa Album (Eight), Imagine Dragons’ Evolve (Nine) and Bruno Mars’ 24K Magic (Number 10).
Kesha will fight it out for next week’s Number One with surprise new arrivals like Brand New’s Science Fiction and Kodak Black’s Project Baby 2 mixtape.