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Though the duo may be on a touring hiatus, the Civil Wars are celebrating their first No. 1 album this week. The act’s new self-titled set debuts atop the Billboard 200 chart, selling 116,000 copies according to Nielsen SoundScan.
It’s easily the best sales week for the pair (Joy Williams and John Paul White) who previously saw a one-week high after the Grammy Awards in 2012, when their full-length debut, Barton Hollow, shifted 36,000. Its sales that week were buoyed by the duo’s performance on the Awards, which shot the album from No. 41 to its peak of No. 10 on the chart.
The Civil Wars has been on hiatus since last November, citing “internal discord and irreconcilable differences of ambition.” While the act is not performing shows to promote the new album, Williams has been giving interviews to the press. White, however, has been keeping a low profile and has not spoke to the media.
A sturdy 69% of The Civil Wars‘ first week sales came from digital retailers. Its download sales of 81,000 easily place it at No. 1 on the Digital Albums chart as well.
Last week’s No. 1, Robin Thicke‘s Blurred Lines, falls to No. 3 with 65,000 (down 63%). The runner-up title last week, Five Finger Death Punch’s “The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell, Volume 1,” falls to No. 8 with 35,000 (down 69%).
The new Now 47 compilation arrives at No. 2 this week with 82,000 — a figure slightly lower than the 91,000 that the Now 46 set started with in May. All 47 of the regular, numbered, Now albums have reached the top 10, and all but the first debuted in the top 10.
Jay Z‘s Magna Carta… Holy Grail slides 3-4 with 48,000 (down 22%) and the Teen Beach Movie soundtrack holds at No. 6 with 38,000 (down 19%).
Rock band Asking Alexandria nets its highest-charting album and best sales week yet, as From Death to Destiny debuts at No. 5 with 41,000. It surpasses the No. 9 debut and peak of its last release, 2011’s Reckless & Relentless, which moved 31,000 in its first week.
Gospel artist Tye Tribbett claims his first top 10 album, as his new Greater Than bows at No. 9 with a career-best sales frame of 30,000. He had previously gone as high as No. 16 with Stand Out (with his group G.A.). Greater Than also enter at No. 1 on the Gospel Albums chart — Tribbett’s fourth leader on that tally.
Rounding out the top 10 on the Billboard 200 this week is Florida Georgia Line’s Here’s to the Good Times, which is a non-mover at No. 10 with 26,000 (down 8%).
Over on the Digital Songs chart, Robin Thicke‘s “Blurred Lines” (featuring Pharrell and T.I.) holds at No. 1 for a tenth non-consecutive week, selling another 346,000 downloads (down 14%).
Jay Z’s “Holy Grail” (featuring Justin Timberlake) rises 3-2 with 166,000 (up 2%), Miley Cyrus‘ “We Can’t Stop” falls 2-3 with 158,000 (down 10%) and Imagine Dragons’ “Radioactive” is steady at No. 4 with 132,000 (down 15%).
Anna Kendrick‘s “Cups” is a non-mover at No. 5 (114,000; up 4%), Avicii‘s “Wake Me Up!” jets 9-6 (113,000; up 13%) and Daft Punk‘s “Get Lucky” (featuring Pharrell Williams) is stationary at No. 7 (just under 113,000; up 10%).
Drake‘s “Hold On, We’re Going Home” is the chart’s highest debut, as it starts at No. 8 with 109,000. The track features Canadian duo Majid Jordan and the latest preview single from Drake’s upcoming studio album, “Nothing Was the Same.”
Lana Del Rey‘s breakout single “Summertime Sadness” (with Cedric Gervais), zips into the top 10, rising 13-9 with 101,000 (up 24%). 64% of the song’s overall sales this week come from the uptempo dance remix produced by Gervais. The song was originally recorded as a dreamy ballad for Del Rey’s Born to Die album.
The track concurrently rises 22-17 on the Pop Songs airplay chart (known as Mainstream Top 40 on Billboard.biz) with a 47% gain in audience on top 40 radio.
Capital Cities’ “Safe and Sound” closes the top 10, as it falls 8-10 with 99,000 (down 3%).
Overall album sales in this past chart week (ending Aug. 11) totaled 4.71 million units, down 7% compared with the sum last week (5.08 million) and down 5% compared with the comparable sales week of 2012 (4.96 million). Year to date album sales stand at 171.01 million, down 6% compared to the same total at this point last year (182.24 million).
Digital track sales this past week totaled 22.10 million downloads, down 3% compared with last week (22.76 million) and down 8% stacked next to the comparable week of 2012 (24.03 million). Year to date track sales are at 820.24 million, down 3% compared to the same total at this point last year (845.43 million).
Next week’s Billboard 200 competes with the same week in 2012 when: 2 Chainz‘s Based on a T.R.U. Story debuted at No. 1 with 147,000. The previous week’s No. 1, the Now 43 compilation, fell to No. 2 with 75,000 (down 32%).
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