As expected, Beyoncé has debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with “Cowboy Carter,” marking the biggest sales for an album so far in 2024.
“Cowboy,” which released on March 29, arrives with 407,000 equivalent album units, giving Beyoncé her eighth topper on the chart. It marks the highest-performing bow since Taylor Swift’s “1989 (Taylor’s Version),” which moved 1.653 million units upon release in November, and earns Beyoncé her biggest streaming week ever.
The album, which is Beyoncé’s biggest sales week since 2016’s “Lemonade” (653,000 units), also makes her the first Black woman to ever debut at No. 1 on the Top Country Albums chart. It’s the best sales week for a country album since last July, when Swift’s “Speak Now” landed at the summit with 716,000 copies.
Of the 407,000 units, 232,000 are attributed to streaming equivalent albums (300.41 million official streams), while traditional album sales encompass 168,000 and track equivalent albums total 7,000. Its four limited edition vinyl, which many fans noticed was missing five of the streaming tracks, sold 62,000 copies, gave Beyoncé her biggest week in the format and the largest for any vinyl album in 2024.
Additionally, with her eighth No. 1 on the Billboard 200, Beyoncé pulls out of a tie with Janet Jackson for the fourth-most toppers among women. Ahead of her are Madonna with nine, Barbra Streisand with 11 and Swift with 12.
Elsewhere on the chart, Future and Metro Boomin’s “We Don’t Trust You” slips from the top spot to No. 2 with 131,000 equivalent album units. Morgan Wallen sits behind at No. 3 with “One Thing at a Time,” while Ariana Grande’s “Eternal Sunshine” drops from No. 3 to 4. Rounding out the top five is J-Hope, whose “Hope on the Streets, Vol. 1” arrives with 50,000 equivalent units sold.
“Cowboy” ushered in the second act of her “Renaissance” trilogy project. The first installment released in July 2022, earning 332,000 album-equivalent units in its first week and bowing at No. 1.
“Cowboy” features the pair of lead singles “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages,” and features an assortment of artists including Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Miley Cyrus, Post Malone and more.
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