Update: Billboard has made the news official: Shawn Mendes’ “Illuminate” debuts at #1 on the Top Album Sales and Billboard 200 charts.
The album tops the former thanks to what Billboard reports as 121K in pure US album sales. The inclusion of TEA (track sales/10) and SEA (track streams/1500) yields a first-week consumption total of 145K units, which earns “Illuminate” #1 on the Billboard 200.
Both figures mark increases from those of Mendes’ debut album “Handwritten,” which sold 106K first-week copies and generated 119K in first-week consumption.
Credited with 50K in weekly consumption, Drake’s “Views” takes #2 on this week’s Billboard 200. “Suicide Squad: The Album” is #3 with 42K, while Luke Bryan’s “Farm Tour…Here’s To The Farmer” EP (#4, 34K units) and Bruce Springsteen’s “Chapter And Verse” (#5, 27K units) complete the Top 5.
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Making good on expectations, Shawn Mendes’ “Illuminate” comfortably won the weekly US album sales race. The album will also debut as the clear #1 album on the Billboard 200 chart.
According to Hits Daily Double, “Illuminate” sold approximately 119,285 pure US copies during the September 23-29 tracking week. The addition of TEA (track sales/10) and SEA (track streams/1500) yields an opening week consumption total of 143,544 total units.
While Billboard’s more authoritative data may differ slightly, the discrepancy will not change the outcome: “Illuminate” will indeed be #1 on Top Album Sales and the Billboard 200.
The next-best performers from a pure sales standpoint were Luke Bryan’s “Farm Tour: Here’s To The Farmer” EP (~31,266) and Bruce Springsteen’s “Chapter And Verse” (~30,616).
Drake’s “Views,” poised for #2 on the Billboard 200, generated ~47,438 in weekly consumption units.
In addition to positioning “Illuminate” for #1, the weekly sales and consumption figures top those of Mendes’ previous album “Handwritten.” That album, which was Mendes’ debut, sold 106K in pure first-week copies and generated 119K in first-week consumption.
