Justin Bieber Beats Out One Direction For No 1 In Album Sales
Justin Bieber made history Sunday when he nabbed the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 chart, beating out One Direction. Both acts premiered new albums last week on Nov. 13, but Bieber's Purpose edged out 1D's Made In The A.M. giving Bieber his sixth No. 1 album and his fifth No. 1 debut. Billboard reports that Purpose sold 649,000 equivalent album units, 522,000 of which were pure album sales. The number gave Bieber the biggest opening since Taylor Swift's 1989 last year and the largest opening for a male artists since Eminem released The Marshall Mathers LP 2 in 2013. One Direction, who came in at No. 2 this week, sold 459,000 units 402,000 in pure album sales in the U.S. The band hit No. 1 at home in the U.K. though, selling 93,000 sales over Bieber's 90,000. Earlier this year, Bieber became the youngest male artist to have a single debut at No. 1 on the Hot 100 chart. "What Do You Mean?" off Purpose premiered in August and dethroned The Weeknd's "Can't Feel My Face." It also broke Spotify's record and had the biggest first week for a single. It was streamed 21 million times in five days. For more on this week's charts, head over to Billboard.