Billie Eilish’s “WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE ALL GO?” topped industry forecasts en route to a dominant opening week performance.
According to Hits Daily Double and BuzzAngle, the album sold about 165K pure US copies during its first week of release. With units from track sales and streams included, it generated upwards of 307K first-week units. The numbers position the album as a convincing #1 on the Hits Daily Double Sales (pure sales) and Top 50 (consumption) charts.
Due Sunday, Billboard’s data may differ slightly from that reported by Hits and BuzzAngle. The discrepancies will not, however, affect the album’s standing as a dominant #1 album. “WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP” performed dramatically better than any of this week’s other releases.
George Strait’s “Honky Tonk Time Machine,” the #2 performer from a pure sales standpoint, sold about 45K copies this week. The late Nipsey Hussle’s “Victory Lap,” the #2 performer in overall consumption, generated about 64K in first-week consumption.
“WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP” meanwhile posts 2019’s second-best opening week figures in both columns. Only Backstreet Boys’ “DNA” sold more pure copies; only Ariana Grande’s “thank u, next” did more in total consumption.
As noted, they also edge the already-lofty industry projections. Initial industry expectations called for 145-155K in pure sales and 245-265K in first week units; they were later upgraded to 150-160K in pure sales and 260-285K in first-week units.
