Record Store Day 2022 fingerprints are everywhere Billboard‘s Top Album Sales chart (dated May 7), as six of the top 10 have sales due to a special release for independent retailers’ annual holidays.
Leading the pack at No. 1 is Childish Gambino kauai EP, which debuted at the top of the list with 17,000 sold in the United States in the week ending April 28, according to Luminate. This is his first number 1 on the ranking and his third top 10.
kauai was originally released in 2014 as a retail digital download and charted for five weeks that year. It was first released on vinyl for Record Store Day (April 23) and nearly all of the album’s sales in the week ending April 28 came from its vinyl LP. kauai was pressed onto three randomly distributed surprise color vinyl variants around the world.
BillboardThe Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based solely on traditional album sales. The history of the chart dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began compiling tables with information on electronically controlled room counts from SoundScan, now Luminate. Pure album sales were the only metric used by the Billboard 200 albums chart in the list dated December 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that mixes album sales with equivalent album units of tracks and equivalent streaming album units. For all charting news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on Twitter and Instagram.
Bonnie Raitt’s new studio album Just like that… bows to No. 2 best-selling album with 14,000 copies sold. It’s his highest effort on the count since Desire in their hearts reached No. 1 in 1994. Jason Aldean’s Georgia – the second of his two-part album project, after last year’s Mason – starts at No. 3 with 13,000 sold.
The former number 1 of the Red Hot Chili Peppers Unlimited love is a non-mover at No. 4 with 13,000 sold (up 42%). The album is in its fourth week on the chart, but won a new silver vinyl release for Record Store Day, fueling its sales boost.
Stevie Nick’s Bella Donna debuted at No. 5 with 12,000 copies sold (up 6,984%) – almost all from vinyl sales from its new Record Store Day pressing. The classic album, which was released in 1981 and reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200, has been re-released exclusively for Record Store Day retailers as a double vinyl with outtakes, B-sides and recordings from demonstration added as a bonus.
Kirk Hammett’s first solo effort, Portals, starts at No. 6 with just over 11,000 sold. The Metallica guitarist’s instrumental four-track EP saw most of its sales come from two editions originally released by participating Record Store Day retailers: an ocean blue colored vinyl record and a standard CD.
Exclusive to Wallows’ Record Store Day wallow Singles collection 2017-2020 enters at No. 7 with 10,000 sold. The compilation was pressed on sky blue colored vinyl.
by Anne Wilson My Jesus debuted at No. 8 with just over 9,000 sold, while former leader Jack White fear of dawn falls 3-9 with 9,000 (down 21%).
that of the priest Pornography debuted at No. 10 (9,000; up from virtually no sales the previous week) thanks to sales generated by its Record Store Day exclusive picture disc pressing. Pornography was originally released in 1982, but this week marks its debut on any US Billboard chart. It also bows on The Billboard 200, Top Rock Albums, Top Alternative Albums, Catalog Albums, Vinyl Albums and Tastemaker Albums.
In the week ending April 28, 2.342 million albums were sold in the United States (up 34.2% from the previous week). Of this sum, physical albums (CDs, vinyls, cassettes, etc.) accounted for 1.941 million (up 42%) and digital albums accounted for 384,000 (up 4.9%).
There were 615,000 CD albums sold in the week ending April 28 (up 1.9% week over week) and 1.316 million vinyl albums sold (up 74, 8%). Year-to-date CD album sales were 10.702 million (down 12.3% from the same period a year ago) and vinyl album sales year-to-date the year amounted to 12.667 million (up 4%).
Overall year-to-date album sales were 30.395 million (down 8% from the same year-to-date period a year ago). Year-to-date, physical album sales totaled 23.536 million (down 4.1%) and digital album sales totaled 6.869 million (down 19.3%).