Paul McCartney just scored his first No. 1 album in more than 36 years with “Egypt Station.” The studio effort bumped Eminem’s “Kamikaze” to second on the Billboard 200.
The Sept. 7 MPL/Capitol Records release earned 153,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Sept. 13, according to Nielsen Music. The vast majority of that total, 147,000 units, came from traditional album sales.
Eminem and “Kamikaze” moved 136,000 units in its second week, which was down 69 percent from the week of diss-heavy album’s surprise release.
Christian singer Lauren Daigle’s “Look Up Child” was No. 3, rapper Russ’s “Zoo” bowed at four, and Drake’s “Scorpion” slipped to fifth.
“Egypt Station” is McCartney’s eighth No. 1 album, not counting Beatles albums. His last one came in 1982 with “Tug of War,” which topped the charts for three consecutive weeks just before summer.
This one is McCartney’s first debut at No. 1, including the Wings days. Again, that does not count the Beatles.
The Beatles still hold the record with 19 No. 1 albums. Four of them debuted at No. 1, and they were all anthology albums. The reason for that perhaps shocking stat, as Billboard notes here, is that before the chart began using Nielsen Music’s electronically-tracked point-of-sale information in May of 1991, only six albums debuted at No. 1.
The full Billboard 200 will be posted on Tuesday.