USA
Billboard Report (excerpt)
Thomas Rhett earns first number one on Billboard 200 chart
Thuesday, September 19, 2017
by Keith Caulfield & Gary Trust, Los Angeles

Country singer/songwriter Thomas Rhett achieves his first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart, as his new effort Life Changes bows atop the list. The set -- which brings country back to No. 1

for the first time in exactly one year -- earned 123,000 equivalent album units in the week ending Sept. 14, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 94,000 were in traditional album sales, Rhett’s best sales week and the third largest sales week of 2017 for a country effort. Life Changes is the first No. 1 country album in 2017, and the first in a year -- since Jason Aldean’s They Don’t Know spent one week in the penthouse on the list dated Oct. 1, 2016. Rhett’s new album was led by the single “Craving You,” featuring Maren Morris, which hit No. 3 on the Hot Country Songs chart and No. 1 on the Country Airplay tally. The song was followed by the album’s second radio offering, “Unforgettable,” which hit the top 10 on Hot Country Songs and jumped 13-11 on the most recent Country Airplay chart, dated Sept. 23. Life Changes is Rhett’s third full-length studio album, and fourth effort overall. It follows Tangled Up (No. 6 on the Billboard 200 in 2015), It Goes Like This (No. 6 in 2013) and his self-titled debut EP (No. 133 in

2012). Rhett leads a big week for country in the top 10 on the Billboard 200, as a total of three country efforts arrive in the top 10. Dustin Lynch’s Current Mood bows at No. 7, while Kip Moore’s Slowheart starts at No. 10. Electronic music duo ODESZA launches at No. 2 with A Moment Apart. The set earned 63,000 units its first week, with 52,000 coming from traditional album sales. The album’s handsome debut frame -- the act’s best sales week yet -- was enhanced by a concert ticket/album bundle sale redemption promotion with the duo’s upcoming tour. Earlier in 2017, the act notched four hits on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart, including “Line of Sight,” featuring Wynne and Mansionair. Rock band The National enters at No. 3 on the new Billboard 200 with its seventh full-length studio album, Sleep Well Beast (62,000 units; 56,000 in album sales). The album is the third from the group to reach No. 3 (so far, the act’s high-water mark on the tally) following Trouble Will Find Me in 2013 and High Violet in 2010. In total, Sleep Well Beast is The National’s fourth release to hit the chart, as the band first entered the list with its fourth studio set, Boxer, in 2007. It debuted and peaked at No. 68. Lil Uzi Vert’s former No. 1, Luv Is Rage 2, falls 2-4 in its third week with 56,000 units (down 24 percent). Singer/songwriter Jack Johnson collects his seventh top 10 album on the Billboard 200, as All the Light Above It Too bows at No. 5 with 44,000 units (41,000 in traditional album sales). Johnson’s last studio effort, From Here to Now to You, was released in 2013 and debuted at No. 1. Johnson has earned a total of four leaders on the list, and logged his first top 10 in 2003 with On and On (No. 3). Like ODESZA, both The National and Jack Johnson’s new albums were also supported by a concert ticket/album bundle sale redemption offer. Rapper XXXTentacion falls 3-6 on the new Billboard 200 with 17, earning 40,000 units (down 22 percent). Country singer/songwriter Dustin Lynch snags his highest-charting album yet, and second top 10, as Current Mood bows at No. 7 with 36,000 units (27,000 in album sales). It trumps his previous high, set when his last release, Where It’s At, peaked at No. 8 in 2014. The new album was ushered in by a pair of top five hits on the Hot Country Songs chart: “Seein’ Red” (No. 5) and “Small Town Boy” (No. 2). Both tracks hit No. 1 on the Country Airplay chart. Kendrick Lamar’s former Billboard 200 No. 1, DAMN., descends 4-8 with 35,000 units (down 13 percent) while Khalid’s American Teen moves 5-9 with 31,000 units (down 4 percent). Closing out the top 10 is country singer/songwriter Kip Moore, who scores his third top 10 album with the No. 10 debut of third full-length studio set Slowheart (29,000 units; 25,000 in album sales). He previously hit the top 10 with his first two studio albums: Wild Ones (No. 4 in 2015) and Up All Night (No. 6 in 2012). The new set has snagged a top 15-charting single on the Hot Country Songs chart with “More Girls Like You” (No. 13), which has also reached the top 10 on the Country Airplay chart. Taylor Swift's "Look What You Made Me Do" rules the Billboard Hot 100 chart (dated Sept. 30) for a third week. "Look," released on Big Machine / Republic Records as the lead single from Swift's sixth studio album, Reputation, due Nov. 10, remains atop the Hot 100 despite not leading any of the chart's three main component rankings. It dips 1-2 on Streaming Songs with 39.9 million U.S. streams, down 35 percent, in the week ending Sept. 14, according to Nielsen Music, and holds at No. 2 on Digital Song Sales with 69,000 downloads sold, down 39 percent, in the week ending Sept. 14. (The song led the lists for two weeks and one week, respectively.) On Radio Songs, "Look" lifts 13-10 with 75 million all-format audience impressions, up 11 percent, in the week ending Sept. 17, becoming Swift's 13th top 10 on the airplay ranking. It's rare, but not entirely uncommon, for a song to top the Hot 100 but not be a week's No. 1 title in streaming, airplay or sales (while still accumulating enough overall chart points to reign). Bruno Mars' "That's What I Like" last did so, leading the Hot 100 dated May 13, when it ranked No. 2 in both airplay and sales and No. 4 in streaming. Cardi B's "Bodak Yellow" holds at its No. 2 high on the Hot 100 and takes over at No. 1 on Streaming Songs with 40.8 million U.S. streams (despite a 12 percent decline). It falls 8-12 on Digital Song Sales (30,000, down 14 percent) and bullets at No. 16 on Radio Songs (57 million, up 2 percent). The rapper's breakthrough hit spends a fifth week at No. 1 on the Hot Rap Songs chart and a third week atop Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. Logic's "1-800-273-8255," featuring Alessia Cara and Khalid, hits a new Hot 100 peak, pushing 5-3. The positive-message song, whose title doubles as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and which gained further momentum after the trio performed it at the MTV Video Music Awards Aug. 27, rises 5-3 on Streaming Songs (34.2 million, up 12 percent); 4-3 on Digital Song Sales (51,000, although down 17 percent); and 33-29 on Radio Songs (41 million, up 16 percent). Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's "Despacito," featuring Justin Bieber, descends 3-4 on the Hot 100 after spending a record-tying 16 weeks at No. 1. Still, it tops the Hot Latin Songs chart for a 33rd week. Smith's "Too Good at Goodbyes" blasts onto the Hot 100 at No. 5, arriving at No. 1 on Digital Song Sales with 90,000 sold. Smith scores his second leader on the sales tally, following "Stay With Me," which spent two weeks on top in 2014. On the Hot 100, Smith easily lands his highest debut (toppling his prior best, set when "Omen," by Disclosure featuring Smith, began at No. 64 in 2015). He notches his fifth Hot 100 top 10, following "Latch," also by Disclosure featuring Smith (No. 7, 2014); "Stay" (No. 2, 2014); "I'm Not the Only One" (No. 5, 2014); and "Lay Me Down" (No. 8, 2015). "Goodbyes" starts at No. 10 on Streaming Songs (20.8 million first-week U.S. streams), where it's Smith's fourth top 10, and ranks at No. 35 on Radio Songs (35 million, up 38 percent) following its first full week of tracking. As previously reported, the song debuts as the British singer-songwriter's sixth No. 1 on the Official UK Singles chart.  COMPLETE CHARTS