Ghost’s album “Skeletá” debuted at No. 1 on the “Billboard” 200. Seeing Ghost, a hard rock band from Sweden, at the top of the chart is something of an unusual event lately. It’s the first time a hard rock album has been No. 1 since AC/DC’s “POWER UP” in 2020 over four years ago. In fact, “Skeletá” is the first rock album of any kind, including alternative, to be No. 1 this year. The previous No. 1 rock album was “Moon Music” by Coldplay, back in October.

Ghost first appeared on the “Billboard” 200 in 2013 with their second album “Infestissumam,” which reached No. 28. The band had hit the chart nine times since then, eight of those times being in the Top 40 and five in the Top 10. They’ve been a big name in the genre for over a decade, with each of their last five albums performing better than the last.
Their previous album, 2022’s “IMPERA,” peaked at No. 2, and now the band’s finally reached No. 1. Ghost also returned to the Artist 100, reaching No. 1 there as well.

“Skeletá” moved 86,000 units over the week. Traditional album sales led the way with 77,000 units, earning it No. 1 on Top Album Sales. The album garnered 12 million streams, equivalent to 9,000 units. It’s the band’s best album in terms of sales, streaming, and overall performance. “Skeletá” can now additionally claim the best album sales and overall performance of any rock album for the year so far. The band sold 44,000 copies of their new album on vinyl alone, the highest figure for any hard rock album since tracking began in 1991, and third when including all rock subgenres (“ONE MORE TIME…” by blink-182 sold 49,000 copies on vinyl in 2023, and “the record” by boygenius sold 45,000).

“Skeletá” was the only new album in the week’s Top 10. Nos. 2 through 7 remained unchanged from the previous week, in order: “SOS” (SZA), “GNX” (Kendrick Lamar), “One Thing at a Time” (Morgan Wallen), “Short n’ Sweet” (Sabrina Carpenter), “$ome $exy $ongs 4 U” (PARTYNEXTDOOR and Drake), “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS” (Bad Bunny). Shaboozey’s “Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going” soared from No. 45 to No. 8 after its deluxe edition, which adds six new tracks for a total of 18, more than doubled sales following its release. The standard album peaked at No. 5 last June.

Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s duet “luther” has been No. 1 for 11 consecutive weeks. It’s the first song to top the chart for 11 weeks since “The Box” by Roddy Ricch in 2020. It’s also the second-longest No. 1 reign in history for a song where a mixed gender soloist pair takes equal billing—that is, excluding featured artists or existing duos.
The all-time record is held by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men for “One Sweet Day,” which held the top for 16 weeks back in 1995. “luther” is tied alongside 1997’s “I’ll Be Missing You” (Puff Daddy and Faith Evans) with 11 weeks.

Breaking “luther” down by category, the song’s been No. 1 in airplay for five weeks and is currently No. 3 in streaming and No. 24 in digital sales. Its reign on the radio is untouchable, but it holds a relatively small 5% edge over its next-best competitor when it comes to streaming. For now, no song appears poised to disrupt this combination.

At No. 2 was “Ordinary” by Alex Warren, which climbed back up one spot from the previous week. The song debuted at No. 1 on the Streaming Songs chart the previous week and continued to hold onto the position. It also rose from No. 3 to No. 1 on Digital Song Sales. The song lags behind on Radio Songs, however, where it’s currently No. 34. “Ordinary” also claimed its first No. 1 on the Global 200 chart. The previous week’s No. 2, Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars’ “Die With a Smile,” fell to No. 3. The duet was No. 8 in streaming, No. 2 in airplay, and No. 11 in digital sales.

Currently at No. 5, Shaboozey’s single “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” spent its 43rd week in the Top 5, tying it with “Blinding Lights” by the Weeknd for longevity. At No. 7, “Lose Control” by Teddy Swims extended its own record for the most weeks in the Top 10 further beyond the Weeknd’s hit, reaching 60 weeks. It seems likely that Shaboozey may follow a similar trajectory in the Top 5 category.

Lorde is back. Her first solo single in four years, “What Was That,” entered the Hot 100 at No. 36, Streaming Songs at No. 18, and Global 200 at No. 18—the highest position for a debut for the week. Following her debut album “Pure Heroine” in 2013, “Melodrama” in 2017, and “Solar Power” in 2021, her latest will continue this four-year album cycle: Following the release of her latest single, she announced her next album, “Virgin,” will be released on June 27.

Lorde is known for taking strict breaks between albums and using her time away from the public eye to further develop her introspective abilities and creative drive. The four-year gap she took after “Solar Power” was no exception, though she kept up with fans through newsletters and voice memos, sharing insights into her creative journey and emotional transformations. Ahead of “What Was That,” she released one of her voice memos where she thanked her fans for sticking out the long wait and told them that everything was about to change. And she was never fully off the creative grid, anyway. She recorded the EP “Te Ao Mārama” featuring versions of tracks from “Solar Power” in the language of New Zealand’s indigenous Māori population, and contributed to a Talking Heads tribute album. She was also on the remix of the Charli xcx song “Girl, so confusing” off “BRAT,” leading to a guest appearance at this year’s Coachella.

True to her recent voice note, Lorde has been on a roll. On April 22, she hosted a surprise listening party at Washington Square Park in New York, previewing music off “Virgin” ahead of its official release. On May 5, she made her first appearance at the Met Gala since 2021. Her gray dress adhered to the year’s menswear- and tailoring-focused dress code, which Lorde herself called an “Easter egg” for her new album.

What does that mean, you ask? Lorde dropped a few hints about her album, saying, “I was trying to make a document that reflected my femininity: raw, primal, innocent, elegant, openhearted, spiritual, masc.” She also emphasized the point in a voice memo: “I’ve never felt more intentional with every single piece of what I’m doing. There’s such a deep ethos behind all of it, and it all braids together in the end.” By late June, we’ll begin to understand what all of this means. But Lorde is back.

ROSÉ and Bruno Mars’s “APT.” is No. 20 in its 28th week on the Hot 100. It’s currently No. 25 on Streaming Songs, No. 15 on Digital Song Sales, and No. 17 on Radio Songs. ROSÉ’s album “rosie” is No. 127 on the “Billboard” 200 in its 21st week. The BLACKPINK member is No. 84 on the Artist 100.

“HOP” by Stray Kids is No. 21 on Top Album Sales. The group is No. 94 on the Artist 100.

ZEROBASEONE’s EP “BLUE PARADISE” is No. 25 on Top Album Sales. The group is No. 12 on Emerging Artists.

Also on Top Album Sales, “ROMANCE: UNTOLD” by ENHYPEN is No. 44 and LE SSERAFIM’s EP “HOT” is No. 47.

Finally, here’s a full look at how K-pop is doing on the Global 200.