After debuting more than 12 years ago on the Billboard 200, pop superstar P!nk gets her first No. 1 album this week as The Truth About Love debuts with 280,000 sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
That’s the best debut sales week for the singer, whose previous highest start came when M!ssundaztood launched with 220,000 at No. 6 in 2001. Also, the opening week for The Truth About Love is the third-biggest debut this year, following Justin Bieber’s bow with Believe (374,000) and Madonna’s MDNA (359,000).
P!nk’s new album performed stronger than anticipated, as some industry sources last week were initially thinking that it would sell around 220,000 to 230,000. However, the set kept on blowing past expectations on a daily basis, and by the weekend, was on its way to passing 250,000.
The album was supported by a major promotional campaign by Target, which offered an exclusive version of the set and created a TV commercial starring P!nk. Last week, P!nk performed on NBC’s Today show, while the album itself was sale-priced at Amazon MP3 for $5. Earlier in the month she took the stage on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and the MTV Video Music Awards.
The Truth About Love is P!nk’s sixth top 10 set, following M!ssundaztood (No. 6), Try This (No. 9), I’m Not Dead (No. 6), Funhouse (No. 2) and Greatest Hits . . . So Far!!! (No. 5). Her 2000 debut album, Can’t Take Me Home, topped out at No. 26.
P!nk’s new album hits No. 1 the same week she claims her eighth leader on the Pop Songs airplay chart (known as Mainstream Top 40 on Billboard.biz) with the single Blow Me (One Last Kiss). It’s her third No. 1 in a row on the airplay chart, following Raise Your Glass in 2010 and F**kin’ Perfect in 2011. Among all acts in the Pop Songs chart’s 20-year history, only Rihanna and Katy Perry have earned more No. 1s — they each have nine.
But P!nk isn’t the only star making a splash on the Billboard 200 this week, as five more albums debut in the top 10. Trailing her at No. 2 is the Cruel Summer compilation, presented by Kanye West, starting with 205,000. Featuring hits like Mercy (West, Big Sean, Pusha T and 2 Chainz) and Clique (West, Big Sean and Jay-Z), the set also bows at No. 1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. It’s the second various-artists collection to reach the top of the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums tally this year, following Maybach Music Group Presents: Self Made 2.
Back on the Billboard 200, at No. 3 this week is the latest from the Killers, as the band’s Battle Born bows with 113,000. The group’s last studio release, 2008’s Day & Age, debuted and peaked at No. 6 with 193,000 sold during the busy Thanksgiving shopping week.
Last week’s No. 1, Dave Matthews Band’s Away From the World, falls to No. 4 with 62,000 (down 77%) while Little Big Town’s Tornado slides 2-5 with 50,000 (down 55%).
Carly Rae Jepsen, who owns the year’s second-biggest-selling digital song with “Call Me Maybe,” debuts at No. 6 on the Billboard 200 with her “Kiss” album (46,000). Her smash No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 single “Call Me Maybe” has sold 5.7 million copies this year, second only to Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know” (6.4 million).
One step behind Jepsen on the Billboard 200 is an act that’s never had a Hot 100 hit, Grizzly Bear. The rock band’s new “Shields” enters at No. 7 with 39,000 — its highest chart position and best sales week yet. During release week, the act played “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon” (Sept. 21) and had its album streamed in its entirety via NPR’s First Listen program.
Bob Dylan’s “Tempest” shuffles 3-8 in its second week (35,000; down 38%), and the Avett Brothers’ “The Carpenter” slips 4-9 (30,000; down 69%).
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