Black Sabbath Earns First No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart (2024)

Almost 43 years after Black Sabbath debuted on the Billboard 200 chart, the iconic rock band earns its first No. 1 album this week with the arrival of “13.” The set starts at No. 1 with 155,000 copies sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

“13” is the band’s 23rd chart entry, and first studio album with singer Ozzy Osbourne since 1978’s “Never Say Die!” The new release is only the group’s second top 10, following 1971’s “Master of Reality,” which reached No. 8. Sabbath made its Billboard 200 debut the week of Aug. 29, 1970 with its self-titled album.

“13’s” launch of 155,000 is also easily the biggest sales week for the band since SoundScan started tracking sales in 1991. Their previous best frame came when the live set “Reunion” bowed with 62,000 back in 1998 at No. 11.

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Front man Osbourne has yet to tally a solo No. 1 album, despite seven top 10 titles. He’s gone as high as No. 3, with 2007’s “Black Rain.” Black Sabbath’s debut this week also beats Osbourne’s best solo SoundScan-era sales frame, when his 2001 album “Down to Earth” bowed with 153,000 at No. 4.

While Sabbath’s nearly 43 year wait for its first No. 1 is long — it’s not the longest. Tony Bennett waited 54 years for his first No. 1 — 2011’s “Duets II.” The pop singer’s first charting album was 1957’s “Tony,” which debuted on the Feb. 23, 1957 chart.

Last week’s No. 1 album, Queens of the Stone Age’s “…Like Clockwork,” tumbles out of the top 10, as it falls to No. 15 with with 24,000 (down 74%). It’s the third title this year to debut at No. 1 and slip out of the top 10 in its second week, following Chris Tomlin’s “Burning Lights” (1-21 on the Feb. 2 chart) and Paramore’s self-titled album (1-11 on the May 4 chart).

No. 2 this week is Daft Punk’s former No. 1 “Random Access Memories,” which holds in the runner-up slot for a second frame (48,000; down 22%). The set’s cumulative sales surpass the half-million mark this week, as its total climbs to 543,000.

Thanks to Father’s Day (June 16) sale pricing and promotion in the iTunes Store, Justin Timberlake’s “The 20/20 Experience” is one of a number of albums to see a surge in sales this week. The album vaults 9-3 on the chart, selling 35,000 (up 31%). In terms of download sales, it moved 19,000 last week — a gain of 79%. The album was featured in an iTunes e-mail blast sent to its customers last week and was discounted to $6.99.

Behind Timberlake is the debuting Big Time Rush, which sees its new album “24/Seven” bow at No. 4 with 35,000. That’s far less than the 70,000 that greeted the vocal quartet’s last full-length set, 2011’s “Elevate” (which debuted at No. 12).

Florida Georgia Line’s “Here’s to the Good Times” also benefits from Father’s Day gifting and a temporary price cut at digital retailers, as it rises to a new peak of No. 5 (up from No. 8) with 33,000 (up 20%).

Darius Rucker’s “True Believers” slips 5-6 with just under 33,000 (down 3%) while Blake Shelton’s “Based on a True Story” falls 4-7 with 31,000 (down 15%).

Goo Goo Dolls notch its fourth top 10 album as “Magnetic” enters at No. 8 with 29,000. The rock trio’s last studio set, 2010’s “Something for the Rest of Us,” debuted and peaked at No. 7 with 34,000 sold in its first week. They’ve previously hit the top 10 with 2006’s “Let Love In” (No. 9) and 2002’s “Gutterflower” (No. 4).

Two more debuts round out the top 10: the “Man of Steel” film soundtrack at No. 9 (29,000) and the Lonely Island’s third release, “The Wack Album,” at No. 10 (28,000).

The “Man of Steel” album, by composer Hans Zimmer, is the highest charting non-vocal score soundtrack since almost a year ago: Zimmer’s own “Dark Knight Rises” debuted and peaked at No. 8 on the Aug. 4, 2012 chart.

As for the Lonely Island, their latest set starts slower than their last effort, 2011’s “Turtleneck & Chain,” which launched at No. 3 with 68,000. The comedy troupe’s first album, 2009’s “Incredibad,” debuted and peaked at No. 13 off a 48,000 start.

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Over on the Digital Songs chart, Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines,” featuring T.I. and Pharrell, nets the best sales week for any song in nearly four months. “Blurred Lines,” which holds at No. 1, sold 371,000 downloads last week (up 18%) — the largest sales week for a song since the March 2 chart, when Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ “Thrift Shop,” featuring Wanz, moved 412,000.

Imagine Dragons’ “Radioactive” flies 5-2 with 208,000 (up 8%), Florida Georgia Line’s “Cruise” slips 2-3 with 205,000 (down 9%) and Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky,” featuring Pharrell Williams, holds at No. 4 with 195,000 (up 1%).

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ “Can’t Hold Us,” featuring Ray Dalton, rises 6-5 with 158,000 (down 9%) and Blake Shelton’s “Boys ‘Round Here,” featuring Pistol Annies and Friends, jumps 11-6 with 136,000 (up 10%).

Avril Lavigne’s “Here’s to Never Growing Up” takes a massive 72% sales increase as it climbs 23-7 with 131,000 sold — its best sales week yet. The sales surge follows sale pricing in the iTunes Store for the cut, where its price dropped from $1.29 to 69-cents. Also helping its cause: Lavigne Tweeted a link to purchase the discounted song on June 14.

As of Tuesday night (June 18), it was the only song among iTunes’ overall top 40 selling songs priced under $1.29.

The sales rise of the single was also boosted by two TV performances last week by Lavigne on “Live With Kelly & Michael” (June 14) and the MuchMusic Video Awards (June 16).

Closing out the top 10 on the Digital Songs chart are Selena Gomez’s “Come and Get It” (7-8 with 129,000; down 16%), P!nk’s “Just Give Me a Reason,” featuring Nate Ruess (8-9 with 118,000; down 11%), and Fall Out Boy’s “My Songs Know What You Did In the Dark” (18-10 with just under 118,000; up 26%). The latter track was performed by the band on NBC’s “The Voice” last week (June 11).

Overall album sales in this past chart week (ending June 16) totaled 5.25 million units, up 8% compared with the sum last week (4.85 million) and down 10% compared with the comparable sales week of 2012 (5.81 million). Year to date album sales stand at 131.51 million, down 5% compared to the same total at this point last year (138.77 million).

Digital track sales this past week totaled 25.63 million downloads, up 3% compared with last week (24.93 million) and up 1% stacked next to the comparable week of 2012 (25.38 million). Year to date track sales are at 630.47 million, down 3% compared to the same total at this point last year (647.57 million).

Next week’s Billboard 200 competes with the same week in 2012 when: Justin Bieber’s “Believe” bowed at No. 1 with 374,000 sold and Kenny Chesney’s “Welcome to the Fishbowl” entered at No. 2 with 193,000.