Billie Eilish has earned her second No. 1 album with Happier Than Ever, which would have topped the Billboard 200 based on vinyl sales alone.
The LP moved 238,000 equivalent album units for the week ending August 5th, according to sales tracking company MRC Data. Of that total, 153,000 units were in pure album sales. Physical sales comprised 129,000, with 73,000 vinyl copies purchased. According to Billboard, Happier‘s vinyl sales mark the second-largest sales week in at least thirty years. (MRC Data, previously known as SoundScan, didn’t start tracking vinyl sales until 1991). Currently holding the crown is Taylor Swift, who sold 102,000 vinyl copies of evermore when it finally arrived in the physical format earlier this year.
Eilish’s vinyl sales are aided by three months of pre-sale orders since Happier was first available for purchase in late April. It was available in eight different colored vinyl LPs, including exclusives for Amazon, independent record stores, Target, Urban Outfitters, and Walmart. Similarly, evermore had banked five months of pre-orders by the time it arrived in May.
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It’s worth noting vinyl sales have been trending up for the past 15 years. 2020 saw vinyl outsell CDs for the first time in 34 years, making it the best sales year on record. The year also closed out with vinyl’s best sales week in history, racking up 1.842 million slabs of wax sold ahead of Christmas.
The Kid Laroi’s F*ck Love finished second on the Billboard 200 with 65,000 equivalent album units sold, followed by Olivia Rodrigo’s SOUR, Prince’s Welcome 2 America, and Doja Cat’s Planet Her. Rounding out the Top 10 are albums by Morgan Wallen, Isaiah Rashad, Lil Baby and Lil Durk, Dua Lipa, and Polo G.
