08-05-2025
Ghost's New No. 1 Outsells The Competition Several Times Over
Swedish heavy metal band Ghost lands its first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 this week, as Skeleta launches atop the ranking of the most consumed full-lengths and EPs in the United States. The collection is a winner across every chart on which it appears in America.
Skeleta performs exceptionally well thanks largely to its sizable opening sales sum. Fans across the U.S. didn't just stream the release or buy a few tracks, they purchased the full-length in droves. Ghost didn't face much competition this frame, as the band's latest effort outsold even the next biggest projects with ease.
According to Luminate, in its first full tracking period, Skeleta sold 76,700 copies in America. Billboard reports that a little more than half of those units — 44,000 to be exact — were on vinyl.
Skeleta debuts at No. 1 on the Top Album Sales chart, Billboard's ranking of the bestselling full-lengths of any genre and format, whether vinyl, CD, or digital download. The heavy metal collection beats the latest from Grateful Dead, the lengthy-titled Dave's Picks Volume 54: Baltimore Civic Center, Baltimore, MD – 3/26/73, which opens in the runner-up spot with 19,000 copies sold. Ghost bests the Grateful Dead nearly four times over.
The group's new release sold so well that it even outperforms the next eight bestselling albums in the U.S. combined. That roundup includes mostly debuts, as the Top Album Sales chart this time around is packed with brand new offerings. Skeleta beats not just the Grateful Dead's latest, but also just-dropped efforts from D4vd, Tucker Wetmore, Goose, Billy Idol, and Viagra Boys, as well as holdovers from Kendrick Lamar and Sabrina Carpenter, both of which manage to remain inside the top 10.
Skeleta opens on half a dozen Billboard charts this week, and it leads all of them. In addition to the Billboard 200, Top Album Sales, and Vinyl Albums charts, it also rules three genre-specific rankings, topping the Top Rock & Alternative Albums, Top Rock Albums, and Top Hard Rock Albums lists.
