RS Charts: Taylor Swift’s ‘Folklore’ Rebounds to Number One
Taylor Swift’s Folklore returned to Number One on the latest Rolling Stone Top 200 Albums chart. The star boosted her sales by selling autographed CDs online. The set, which Swift released with little warning near the end of July, has now spent eight non-consecutive weeks at Number One.
Folklore was trailed by three rap albums, all former Number Ones: Pop Smoke’s Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon, Metro Boomin and 21 Savage’s Savage Mode II, and Juice WRLD’s Legends Never Die. Like Folklore, Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon and Legends Never Die have been fixtures on the upper reaches of the RS 200 for months. Savage Mode II is a more recent addition to the chart — the album debuted at Number One earlier this month and spent two weeks in the top spot before ceding it to Pop Smoke.
After soaring to Number Three last week, Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours dropped back to Number 33 on the latest albums chart. But two other albums from veteran rock groups debuted in the Top Ten. Wildflowers and all the Rest, a generously expanded reissue of Tom Petty’s 1994 solo album, arrived at Number Five, amassing nearly 30,000 sales and 5.7 million streams. The Eagles’ Live from the Forum MMXVIII, which captures the group’s performances over several days in 2018, was not far behind at Number Eight, racking up 18,700 sales.
Top Albums
folklore
76.5K
Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon
63.4K
SAVAGE MODE II
46.4K
Legends Never Die
44K
Wildflowers & All the Rest
42.3K
The Rolling Stone 200 Albums chart tracks the most popular releases of the week in the United States. Entries are ranked by album units, a number that combines digital and physical album sales, digital song sales, and audio streams using a custom weighting system. The chart does not include passive listening such as terrestrial radio or digital radio. The Rolling Stone 200 Albums chart is updated daily, and each week Rolling Stone finalizes and publishes an official version of the chart, covering the seven-day period ending with the previous Thursday.
The only other full-length to debut in the Top Ten was NCT’s NCT Resonance Pt. 1 – The 2nd Album. While the first part of the K-Pop group’s second studio album picked up just three million streams, it earned more than 38,000 sales. NCT’s release was the third K-Pop album in the Top 25: Blackpink’s The Album was at Number 13 in its fourth week on the chart, while a re-release of BTS’ 2014 release Skool Luv Affair debuted at Number 24.
Three other new albums performed well on the latest RS 200. Sturgill Simpson’s Cuttin’ Grass – Vol. 1, which offers a bluegrass spin on the country singer’s back-catalog, debuted at Number 18. T.I.’s The L.i.b.r.a., which incorporates guest features from Lil Baby, 21 Savage, and John Legend, arrived at Number 19. And Burden of Proof, the latest release from the Buffalo, New York rapper Benny the Butcher, debuted at Number 29.
