Fueled by his well-received, record-setting Super Bowl Half Time show, Bruno Mars enjoyed significant jumps on this week’s Billboard 200 Album Sales chart.
Unfortunately, the increases were not enough to send Mars to number one.
That honor instead belongs to the “NOW 49” compilation, which knocks holdover champ “Frozen: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack” off the throne.
According to Nielsen SoundScan, “NOW” won the week with 98,000 sales. The “Frozen” soundtrack claimed second with 88,000 purchases, while Mars’ most recent album “Unorthodox Jukebox” settled for third on the strength of 81,000. (His previous, debut release “Doo-Wops & Holligans” rode sales of 26,000 to an eleventh place finish)
New releases claimed the next three positions on the chart.
Fourth place belonged to Toni Braxton’s & Babyface’s “Love, Marriage & Divorce,” which drew a solid 67,000 in its first week of release. Broken Bells’ “After the Disco” followed in fifth with 43,000 (down from the 49,000 for the act’s self-titled debut), while Little Mix’s “Salute” grabbed sixth with 42,000 in sales (down from the 50,000 for debut release “DNA”).
The remaining spots in the top ten belonged to Beyonce’s “Beyonce” (38,000), Lorde’s “Pure Heroine” (35,000), the 2014 Grammy Nominees album (35,000) and Katy Perry’s “PRISM” (27,000).
