Expect nothing but sunshine for XO/Republic's The Weeknd, as his sixth studio album, After Hours, is on pace for a monster bow. The LP is projected to move 400k+ units and contend for the largest debut of the year.
That's a massive accomplishment given the current pandemic. Total U.S. streams fell by 10% last week as offices, schools, gyms, etc. closed.
The Weeknd’s BeautyBehind the Madness debuted with 411k in September 2015. The 400k+ total is made up of streaming equivalent albums of 160-200k and ticket/D2C bundles close to that, combined with album sales projecting over 200k. BTS currently owns the biggest 2020 first week with 422k.
Day one stats:
100m global streams
Top 12 AppleMusic Global 100 chart
14 of 15 on the Spotify U.S. chart
"Blinding Lights" is Greatest Gainer at Spotify with 8.5m daily streams
"Blinding Lights" spends its 25th consecutive day at #1 on the Spotify Global chart
A deluxe edition of After Hours dropped on Sunday. The expanded package contains four remixes—including Vapor Wave's reimagining of "Heartless" featuring a verse from Lil Uzi Vert—and The Weeknd's recent SNL premiere performance of "Scared to Live."
On Monday, the artist premiered a music video for "In Your Eyes," a gory thriller starring model Zaina Miuccia.