Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran‘s new album ÷ (or Divide) easily hits #1 on the Billboard 200, with the largest debut week so far this year. The singer-songwriter earned 451,000 equivalent album units, with 322,000 in traditional album sales. This is also the largest sales week in 2017. It is Sheeran’s second #1 album, as 2014’s x also debuted at #1.
Metallica‘s Hardwired… To Self-Destruct climbs from #14 to #2 thanks to the rockers’ 2016 album coming bundled with tickets to their upcoming North American stadium tour. According to Billboard‘s rules, redemption of an album included with the purchase of a ticket counts as a sale during the week the customer redeems and receives it. The Metallica tour actually went on sale on February 17.
At #3 is Bruno Mars with 24K Magic, followed by Future‘s self-titled album at #4 and its immediate follow-up HNDRXX at #5. Migos comes in at #6, followed by The Weeknd at #7 and the Moana soundtrack at #8.
The only other top ten debut this week comes from 19-year-old R&B singer Khalid with American Teen. The Trolls soundtrack rounds out the top ten.
