31-03-2025
Selena Gomez's Winning Streak Has Officially Ended
Selena Gomez's I Said I Love You First opens at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, ending her perfect solo ... More No. 1 streak by just 11,000 units behind Playboi Carti. LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 15: Selena Gomez attends the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards at Peacock Theater on January 15, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by)
Selena Gomez has been topping the Billboard charts for more than a decade as a solo artist. Throughout the years, she's gone from teen sensation to seasoned hitmaker, with multiple albums and countless singles that have helped her evolve into one of the most recognizable figures in music. But this week, she misses out on running the show, something she'd become used to, as her latest album doesn't quite manage to stand out as a champion.
For I Said I Love You First, Gomez's latest full-length, the singer teamed up with her soon-to-be husband, Benny Blanco. This set marks the first time the two have created an entire album together. Blanco has written and produced several hits for Gomez in the past, so the collaboration felt like a natural next step in their relationship, and one that made for a great story the media covered intensely – though not one that translated into a No. 1.
Gomez's new studio effort opens at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. That's an impressive start by most standards, but it also represents a career disappointment for the pop star. Until now, every solo album she's has released has debuted at No. 1. I Said I Love You First comes close to continuing that winning streak, but just misses out.
The set kicks off with 120,000 equivalent album units, according to Billboard. That sum includes 71,000 traditional sales and another 48,000 units from streaming activity. That's a very sizable starting point, but it wasn't enough for the two loves to dominate.
I Said I Love You First is Gomez's fourth solo full-length, and until now, each of her previous efforts had soared to the summit of the Billboard 200. She first hit No. 1 with Stars Dance in 2013. Two years later, she repeated the feat with Revival. Then came Rare in 2020, which again opened in the top spot. Now, five years after her last proper solo album, she ends her perfect solo streak.
Even with this minor stumble, Gomez's track record on the Billboard 200 is incredibly impressive. She's now landed seven top 10 albums on the tally. That total includes her three No. 1s, her newest entry I Said I Love You First, her Latin EP Revelacion, and her 2014 compilation For You.
Before she began her solo career, she also scored three top 10 titles with her band Selena Gomez and The Scene. Kiss and Tell, A Year Without Rain, and When the Sun Goes Down peaked at Nos. 9, 4, and 3, respectively.
I Said I Love You First might have made it to No. 1 if not for another major release that's still hanging on. Playboi Carti's newest full-length debuted atop the tally just last week, and even though it takes a sizable hit in consumption in its second frame—dropping more than 50%—it still manages to hold onto the top spot. The rapper's latest beats Gomez's set by just 11,000 equivalent album units.
