{"id":646012,"date":"2026-05-03T23:21:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-03T23:21:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/646012\/"},"modified":"2026-05-03T23:21:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-03T23:21:11","slug":"noah-kahans-the-great-divide-debuts-atop-billboard-200-chart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/646012\/","title":{"rendered":"Noah Kahan’s ‘The Great Divide’ Debuts Atop Billboard 200 Chart"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tNoah Kahan<\/a> achieves his first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200<\/a> chart as The Great Divide debuts atop the list dated May 9. The set, Kahan\u2019s fourth full-length studio project, earned 389,000 equivalent album units in the United States in the week ending April 30, according to Luminate. <\/p>\n

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\n\tThat marks Kahan\u2019s biggest week by units, the largest week for a rock album by units since the chart began measuring by units at the end of 2014 and the third-biggest week of 2026 among all albums.<\/p>\n

\n\tFurther, The Great Divide lands 2026\u2019s largest streaming week of any album. It also claims the biggest vinyl sales week for a rock album in the modern era (since Luminate began electronically tracking sales in 1991). (Rock albums are defined as those that are eligible for, or have charted on, Billboard\u2019s Top Rock Albums chart.)<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Great Divide is Kahan\u2019s fifth charted effort on the Billboard 200<\/a> and his second top 10. He previously topped out at No. 2 with Stick Season, in 2024. That set returns to the top 10, rising 11-10 in its 179th week on the chart.<\/p>\n

\n\tAlso in the top 10 of the latest Billboard 200, Kehlani<\/a> captures her fourth top 10 with the No. 4 debut of her self-titled effort, while Michael Jackson<\/a>\u2019s chart-topping Thriller re-enters the chart at No. 7 following the debut of the Michael biopic in movie theaters.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 2,500 ad-supported or 1,000 paid\/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new May 9, 2026-dated chart will be posted in full on\u00a0Billboard\u2018s website on May 5. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X and Instagram.<\/p>\n

\n\tOf The Great Divide\u2019s 389,000 equivalent album units earned in the latest tracking week, SEA units comprise 212,000 (equaling 215.37 million on-demand official streams of the set\u2019s tracks, Kahan\u2019s best streaming week and the biggest streaming week of 2026; it debuts at No. 1 on Top Streaming Albums), album sales comprise 175,000 (his best sales week; it debuts at No. 1 on Top Album Sales) and TEA units comprise 2,000.<\/p>\n

\n\tWith 389,000 equivalent album units earned, The Great Divide scores the biggest week for a rock album since the Billboard 200 began measuring by units in December 2014. It surpasses the previous high by a rock set in that span, by the No. 1 debut of Dave Matthews Band\u2019s Come Tomorrow, with 292,000 units (June 23, 2018). Plus, with 175,000 copies sold in pure album sales, the set notches the largest sales week for a rock album in nearly seven years, since Tool\u2019s Fear Inoculum bowed at No. 1 with 248,000 (Sept. 14, 2019).<\/p>\n

\n\tVinyl purchases comprise 118,000 of The Great Divide\u2019s first week, which is both Kahan\u2019s best week ever on vinyl and the best sales week on vinyl for a rock album in the modern era.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Great Divide was announced<\/a> on Jan. 28, and the album\u2019s release on April 24 was preceded by its title track, which spends an 11th week at No. 1<\/a> on the Adult Alternative Airplay chart this week (the most weeks atop the chart this decade). The track debuted and peaked at No. 6 on the all-genre multi-metric Billboard Hot 100 songs chart (Feb. 14-dated list), marking Kahan\u2019s highest-charting hit ever.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe album\u2019s first week got a boost from its availability across nine vinyl variants (including a signed edition and a Target-exclusive set with two bonus live tracks), three CD editions (including a signed edition and a Target-exclusive with two bonus live tracks) and a deluxe digital download and streaming version that added four bonus studio songs (dubbed The Great Divide: The Last of the Bugs).<\/p>\n

\n\tKahan will launch his The Great Divide Tour on June 11 in Orlando, Florida.<\/p>\n

\n\tA pair of former No. 1s follows Kahan on the latest Billboard 200, as Ella Langley\u2019s Dandelion drops a spot to No. 2 (112,000 equivalent album units, up 6%) and Morgan Wallen\u2019s I\u2019m the Problem dips 2-3 (81,000, down 3%).<\/p>\n

\n\tKehlani captures her fourth top 10-charted album on the Billboard 200 as her self-titled set debuts at No. 4 with 69,000 equivalent album units earned \u2014 the biggest debut for an R&B album by a woman in 2026. Of that sum, SEA units comprise 45,000 (equaling 45.37 million on-demand official streams of the set\u2019s songs; it debuts at No. 5 on Top Streaming Albums), album sales comprise 24,000 (it debuts at No. 2 on Top Album Sales) and TEA units comprise a negligible sum.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe new album was preceded by a trio of top 10s on the Hot R&B Songs chart, including the five-week No. 1 \u201cFolded,\u201d also her first top 10 on the all-genre Hot 100, reaching No. 6 in January. Kehlani was released on five vinyl variants (including a signed edition), six CD variants (including multiple signed editions), and via a standard digital and streaming edition and a deluxe \u201cUncut\u201d digital download edition with 10 additional tracks.<\/p>\n

\n\tBTS\u2019 former No. 1 ARIRANG falls 4-5 on the latest Billboard 200 (56,000 equivalent album units, down 8%), while Justin Bieber\u2019s SWAG slips 5-6 (47,000, down 22%).<\/p>\n

\n\tMichael Jackson\u2019s Thriller re-enters the Billboard 200 at No. 7 with 45,000 equivalent album units earned (up 425%), following the April 24 release of the Michael biopic in movie theaters and its blockbuster<\/a> opening weekend at the U.S. and Canada box office. Thriller, which spent 37 weeks at No. 1 in 1983-84 \u2014\u00a0the most weeks at No. 1 for an album by a singular artist \u2014 was last in the top 10 on the Dec. 3, 2022-dated chart, when it jumped 115-7<\/a> after its 40th anniversary reissue.<\/p>\n

\n\tOlivia Dean\u2019s The Art of Loving falls 6-8 on the latest Billboard 200 (43,000 equivalent album units, down 7%), Wallen\u2019s chart-topping One Thing at a Time drops 10-9 (39,000, down 2%) and Kahan\u2019s Stick Season steps 11-10 (38,000, down 2%).<\/p>\n

\n\tLuminate, the independent data provider to the\u00a0Billboard\u00a0charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with\u00a0Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.<\/p>\n


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