“Blackstar,” David Bowie’s final studio release before passing, indeed won the January 8-14 weekly sales race.
According to preliminary data from Hits Daily Double, Bowie’s “Blackstar” sold approximately 171,072 pure US copies during the aforementioned tracking week. The tally comfortably positions “Blackstar” atop the sales chart — and thus results in the first US #1 album of Bowie’s career.
Its closest competition came from Adele’s “25,” which slips to #2 after seven weeks at #1. Per Hits, it sold roughly 119,125 copies during the official tracking week.
Billboard’s final, more authoritative data will differ from that reported by Hits (based on recent history, Hits’ own data may change before the day ends). That discrepancy will not, however, change the final outcome: “Blackstar” will be #1 on Top Album Sales, while Adele’s “25” will be #2.
“Blackstar” is not the only Bowie album poised for a Top 5 slot. His “Best Of Bowie” compilation, which Hits estimates sold 53,449 weekly copies, is expected to claim #3 on the pure sales chart. Bowie’s “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars” is flirting with the Top 10.
Aside from “Blackstar,” “25” and “Best Of Bowie,” other top weekly pure sales performers include Justin Bieber’s “Purpose” (~45,498) and Chris Stapleton’s “Traveller” (~29,020).
