‘Melodrama’ scores Lorde her first chart-topping Billboard album

NEW Zealand pop singer Lorde landed her first US chart-topping album on Monday as her latest record debuted at the top of the weekly Billboard 200 chart.

‘Melodrama’, the second album from the 20-year-old, sold 82 000 albums, 40 000 songs and was streamed nearly 35 million times, totalling 109 000 album units according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan.

The singer is the third consecutive female solo artist to top the Billboard 200 chart after Katy Perry’s ‘Witness’ and Halsey’s ‘Hopeless Fountain Kingdom’.

Lorde’s breakout first album ‘Pure Heroine’, which featured her hit single ‘Royals’, debuted and peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 chart when it was released in 2013.

Lorde’s album led six new entries in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 chart this week.

Rapper 2 Chainz’s ‘Pretty Girls Like Trap Music’ debuted at number two, country artist Jason Isbell/400 Unit’s ‘Nashville Sound’ opened at number four and Canadian rockers Nickelback entered at number five with ‘Feed the Machine’.

Rapper Young Thug’s ‘Beautiful Thugger Girls’ landed at number eight while indie rock band Fleet Foxes rounded out the new entries with ‘Crack-Up’ at number nine.

Last week’s chart-topper, Perry’s ‘Witness’, dropped to number 13 this week.

On the digital songs chart, which measures online single sales, Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi’s summer hit ‘Despacito’ featuring Justin Bieber continued its reign atop the chart with another 139 000 copies sold.

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