Mayer leads a packed top 10 with titles released as part of Record Store Day 2021 (July 17).
John Mayer’s album “Sob Rock” tops Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart as the singer-songwriter’s latest studio compilation debuts atop the list (July 31). According to MRC Data, the album sold 61,000 copies in the U.S. for the week ending July 22, the biggest week of debut album sales in nearly two months since Olivia Rodrigo’s album Sour began with 72,000 copies at No. 1 (chart dated June 5).
Mayer leads a busy Top 10 in Top Album Sales, which is filled with titles released as part of the second Record Store Day 2021 promotion (July 17).
Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart determines the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The history of the chart began on May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began charting using information on the number of albums sold from SoundScan, now MRC Data. Net album sales were used exclusively in the Billboard 200 album chart until the December 6, 2014 list, after which the chart switched to a methodology that combines album sales with equivalent album units in tracks and equivalent album units in streaming. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on Twitter and Instagram.
Sob Rock is Meyer’s fifth No. 1 on the best-selling album chart and 11th in the top 10 overall. He also topped the charts with The Search for Everything: Wave One (2017), Born and Raised (2012), Battle Studies (2009) and Heavier Things (2003).
Of the 61,000 sales of Sob Rock’s debut album, 39,000 were physical album sales (23,000 vinyl records, 15,000 CDs and just over 1,000 cassettes) and 22,000 were digital album sales. (The cassette album was sold exclusively through Meyer’s official web store).
The Dee Gees, aka the Foo Fighters, debuted in 2nd place with the album Hail Satin, selling 15,000 copies. Of that, 12,000 came from the vinyl record released in time for Record Store Day 2 (July 17), and another 3,000 were sold via digital download (released July 19). The first five tracks of the 10-song album are covers of songs written by the Bee Gees, including four Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hits, “You Should Be Dancing,” “Night Fever” and “Tragedy” by the Bee Gees and “Shadow Dancing” by Andy Gibb. The second five songs of the Hail Satin project are live versions of tracks from the Foo Fighters’ latest studio album, Medicine at Midnight.
Sob Rock and Hail Satin also debut at No. 1 and No. 2 on the Vinyl Albums chart, which features the top-selling vinyl records of the week.
Clairo’s latest album, “Sling,” starts at No. 3 on the Top Album Sales chart with nearly 15,000 copies sold, the highest chart and the band’s first work to reach the top 10. The Tedeschi Trucks Band’s album Layla Revisited (Live at Lockn’) featuring Trey Anastasio was at No. 4 with 13,000 copies sold.
Next on the album sales chart are a pair of exclusive Record Store Day releases: Deja Vu by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young: Alternates and Aglio e Olio by the Beastie Boys debuted at #5 and #6, respectively, with 9,500 and 9,000 sales. Both albums were released on vinyl vinyl exclusively for the second Record Store Day 2021 promotion.
Deja Vu: Alternates contains nine alternate versions of songs from the band’s first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart, the 1970 album Deja Vu. The Alternates compositions were released in May on CD and digital download as part of the band’s 50th anniversary deluxe album reissue, but were not previously available for purchase as a standalone album. Deja Vu: Alternates is the highest charting album for Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (or Crosby, Stills & Nash) in the 30-year best album sales chart.
The Beastie Boys’ album Aglio e Olio was first released in 1995 as an eight-song, 12-minute short album, but it never reached any Billboard charts. As part of a second Record Store Day 2021 promotion, it was reissued on clear vinyl with two previously released bonus tracks, bringing it to 15 minutes in length. Debuting at No. 6, Aglio e Olio became the Beastie Boys’ sixth album in the top 10 and 15th overall on the Top Album Sales chart.
Former No. 1 Sour Rodrigo fell from No. 1-7 in its ninth week on the list, with just over 8,500 CDs sold (down 16%).
A trio of Record Store Day releases round out the new top 10 in album sales. Amy Winehouse’s album “Remixes” debuts at No. 8 with 8,000 copies; The Rolling Stones’ album “Hot Rocks 1964-1971” hits No. 9 again with nearly 8,000 copies (up 1,482%), and Miles Davis’ album “Champions: Rare Miles From the Complete Jack Johnson Sessions” debuts at No. 10 (7,500).
Winehouse’s Remixes is a two-disc (blue, yellow) edition of 15 remixes of tracks from Winehouse’s Frank and Back to Black albums. The remixes were first released in 2020 as part of The Collection box set on five CDs. The remixes also reached No. 2 on the Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart, her first entry there.
For the second Record Store Day 2021, the Stones’ “Hot Rocks 1964-1971” album was released as a double LP on yellow vinyl with extended original artwork.
Davis’ album, Champions, is a six-track sampling of tunes originally released in 2003 on the box set The Complete Jack Johnson Sessions. Champions was released on yellow vinyl for Record Store Day 2021.
Champions also earned Davis another first on the Billboard “Jazz Albums Overall” and “Traditional Jazz Albums” charts.