On the latest Billboard 200 albums chart, Ariana Grande‘s My Everything debuted at No. 1, earning the pop singer her second No. 1 album in less than a year. The album sold 169,000 copies in the week ending Aug. 31, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Of course, there was lots of chart action elsewhere on the chart. Let’s take a closer look:
– Brad Paisley, Moonshine in the Trunk – No. 2 – Brad Paisley has the kind of history on the Billboard 200 that a chart geek loves. The country star has racked up five No. 2 albums — including his new Moonshine in the Trunk, which debuts at No. 2 — but has yet to claim a No. 1.
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That achievement makes him the artist with the most No. 2 albums without a No. 1. He was previously tied with Sheryl Crow, who has four runner-up sets without a chart-topper.
While Moonshine wasn’t close to topping the chart (its 53,000 sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan, is well behind Grande’s My Everything, with 169,000), Paisley has come much closer previously.
His closest call to No. 1 came with 2013’s Wheelhouse. It missed the top slot by nearly 6,000 copies, denied by Paramore‘s self-titled album (100,000 versus 106,000).
In total, Moonshine is Paisley’s ninth top 10 album, which ties him with Brooks & Dunn as the country acts with the most top 10 albums without a No. 1.
Curious as to what other No. 1-less acts have racked up a bevy of top 10s? Kiss, 311 and Crow have nine, The Who and Sting have 10, and James Taylor has 11. But the kings of having the most top 10s without a No. 1 are 2013 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Rush, with a staggering 12 top 10s. Rush’s most recent studio set, 2012’s Clockwork Angels, debuted and peaked at No. 2 on June 30 — stuck behind Usher‘s also-arriving Looking 4 Myself.
— Sam Smith, In the Lonely Hour – No. 5 – The album jumps past the half-million sales mark (with another 30,000 sold in the week ending Aug. 31, bringing its total to 523,000). It remains the top-selling debut full-length album released in 2014.
— Steffany Gretzinger, The Undoing – No. 20 – Steffany Gretzinger sees her solo debut arrive with 13,000 sold and an entry at No. 2 on Top Christian Albums. Gretzinger is from the Bethel Music collective of artists, which earned its first top 10 album earlier this year with You Make Me Brave: Live at the Civic (No. 10 on May 10).
— Ed Sheeran, Don’t (EP) – No. 54 – This four-song set, featuring a Rick Ross-aided remix of the title track, is Sheeran’s fourth EP to reach a Billboard chart, but his first to sell enough to reach the Billboard 200. (In 2012, he charted two EPs on the Folk Albums chart and one on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums list with Yelawolf).
— Jeff LaBar, One for the Road (EP) – No. 130 – The guitarist for rock band Cinderella makes his solo debut, exactly 28 years after the group’s debut set Night Songs broke into the top 25 on Sept. 13, 1986.
—Aerosmith, 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection – No. 134 – The long-running, budget-priced series continues to be popular with CD buyers, as 96 percent of this album’s total sales (698,000) are on the physical format. Universal says that the product line has sold 62 million, with 97 percent of those sales on CD.