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As forecast, Taylor Swift‘s 1989 claims an 11th week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, tying Fearless as Swift’s longest-running No. 1 effort. (Fearless reigned atop the list in 2008 and 2009.)
The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week based on multi-metric consumption, which includes traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). 1989 earned another 108,000 units in the week ending Feb. 8, according to Nielsen Music (up 7 percent).
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1989, which released last year on Big Machine Records, has yet to leave the top two rungs of the weekly Billboard 200 since the album’s release 15 weeks ago.
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Since 2000, only four albums have tallied at least 10 weeks at No. 1, and two of them are by Swift: 1989, Fearless, the Frozen soundtrack (13 weeks in 2014) and Adele‘s 21 (24 weeks in 2011 and 2012).
As previously reported, Swift and Whitney Houston are the only two women in chart history to earn multiple albums with 10 weeks at No. 1.
Arriving at No. 2 on the new Billboard 200 chart is the latest Now That’s What I Call Music compilation, Now 53, with 99,000 units. All 53 of the numbered Now albums have reached the top 10, and every one since the second volume have debuted in the region. The new set is powered entirely by pure album sales. The last numbered Now effort, Now 52, debuted and peaked at No. 2 with 103,000 copies sold in its first week.
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Ed Sheeran‘s x descends one rung to No. 3 with 97,000 units, though it’s up by 32 percent for the week. (Of that unit total, a significant chunk were traditional album sales: 53,000 — up 47 percent.) Credit a lot of that gain to Sheeran’s performance on the Feb. 8 Grammy Awards, where he sang twice on the show. His first turn behind the mic came when he did x’s “Thinking Out Loud,” joined by John Mayer, Herbie Hancock and Questlove. Sheeran had a second go onstage with Jeff Lynne‘s ELO on the latter’s “Mr. Blue Sky.”
While the Grammy Awards aired on CBS TV on the final day of Nielsen’s latest tracking week, the show generates significant gains for many of its performers and winners. Take Sam Smith, for example. The singer won four Grammy Awards and performed on the show — he registers a 44 percent unit increase for his In the Lonely Hour album. It holds steady at No. 4, but earns the chart’s Greatest Gainer award — indicating the list’s largest unit increase.
All four of Smith’s award wins were televised on the Grammy Awards broadcast as well: best new artist, best pop vocal album, song of the year and record of the year. He also performed the album’s “Stay With Me” (winner of both song of the year and record of the year), joined by Mary J. Blige.
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Expect further gains for Grammy-related artists, albums and songs next week, after a full week’s worth of post-show impact.
Starting at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 is Fifth Harmony’s first full-length album, Reflection. It enters with 80,000 units (with 62,000 of that coming from traditional album sales). The five-member female vocal group visited the top 10 once previously with their first EP, 2013’s Better Together. It debuted and peaked at No. 6.
Meghan Trainor‘s Title album slips from No. 3 to No. 6 with 59,000 units (down 13 percent).
Next up on the list, legendary singer/songwriter Bob Dylan notches his 21st top 10 album, as his Shadows In the Night arrives at No. 7 with 50,000 units. The new album consists of pop standards recorded by Frank Sinatra, including “Autumn Leaves” and “Some Enchanted Evening.” Of the first-week unit total for Shadows In the Night, 99 percent were pure album sales.
Dylan’s first top 10 album came almost 50 years ago, when Bringing It All Back Home rose 11-10 on the chart dated May 29, 1965.
Nicki Minaj‘s The Pinkprint is steady at No. 8 on the new Billboard 200, shifting 48,000 units (down 2 percent). Maroon 5’s V is also a non-mover at No. 9 with 47,000 units (up 10 percent).
Rounding out the top 10 is a new arrival from Diana Krall. Her new covers album, Wallflower, blooms at No. 10 with 44,000 units in its first week. The set features Krall’s takes on such pop oldies as Eagles’ “I Can’t Tell You Why,” The Mamas & The Papas’ “California Dreamin'” and Crowded House’s “Don’t Dream It’s Over.” The new album marks Krall’s sixth top 10 effort.
This story first appeared on Billboard.com.
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