Friday, December 13, 2024

Pop Charts: The Weeknd Feels His Face, Scores Huge Number 1 Debut for “Starboy” Album

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The Weeknd — no e, old people– can feel his face, and his sales power! Canadian R&B star Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, who goes by the moniker The Weeknd– scored a huge number 1 debut for his follow up album to the mega hit Beauty Behind the Madness.

The new album, “Starboy,” sold 366,000 copies including about 140,000 streams. For a year with few hits, The Weeknd turned out to be a juggernaut. His 227,000 physical CDs and paid digital downloads were quite an accomplishment. Where other contemporary acts like Lady Gaga and Alicia Keys have found the charts to be problematic this fall, The Weeknd gave the one thing that was needed– a hit single. The title track from the album is a massive hit.

Also, his haircut helped.

In keeping with the new paradigm, last week’s number 1– Metallica’s “Hardwired…to Self Destruct”– fell 76% to number 5.

Good news: Lady Gaga’s Renaissance continues. Her “Joanne” album was up 34% over last week. That album will be a Grammy contender in 2018 because it missed the September 30th cut off by three weeks.

Tuesday brings Grammy nominations. In a perfect world, both David Bowie and Paul Simon would be Album of the Year noms along with Beyonce, Drake, and Adele. But that’s in a world where quality is recognized. Bowie may wind up in rock. and Simon in Traditional American. There’s a big push for Justin Bieber’s album of bird calls, called Porpoise–er, Purpose–to get a nomination.

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.

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