It’s anything but a dry spell commercially for Kacey Musgraves right now, as her “Middle of Nowhere” album debuted with the best opening-week numbers of her career to date, 100,000 equivalent album units.
The recent Variety gover gal landed at a solid No. 3 with that figure. Musgraves’ last album, 2024’s “Deeper Well,” was close, debuting at No. 2 with 97,000 units. Previous bows include “Star-Crossed” with 77,000, “Golden Hour” with 49,000, “Pageant Material” with 60,000 and her debut, “Same Trailer Different Park,” with 42,000.
Nino Munoz for Variety
But the top spot on the Billboard 200 is held for a second week by Noah Kahan‘s “The Great Divide,” with an impressive 163,000 units, down 58% from its blockbuster opening.
Also notable on the new chart, as revealed Sunday by Billboard via Lumenate: Michael Jackson now has two albums in the top 10 in the wake of huge box office for the “Michael” dramatic biopic. “Thriller” climbs two spots to No. 5, with 62,000 units, followed by the ascent of “Number Ones,” which also scored 62,000 units and rose seven spots to No. 6.
“Number Ones” had never been in the top 10 before, so it officially becomes Jackson’s 11th album to reach that mark. Prior to these two albums making their ascent, his last top 10 album had been the posthumous release “Xscape” in 2014.
Ella Langley is not losing any steam: Her “Dandelion” album holds strong at No. 2 with 103,000 units, down just 8% from the prior week.
The top 10 is rounded out by Morgan Wallen’s “I’m the Problem” at No. 4, BTS’ “Arirang” at No. 7, Olivia Dean’s “The Art of Loving” at No. 8, Wallen’s “One Thing at a Time” and Bad Bunny’s “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS” at No. 10.
Country music has three of the top four slots, with Langley, Musgraves and Wallen lined up at Nos. 2-4, and four out of the top 10, including the additional album for Wallen’s prior album.
