How Did Ariana Grande’s ‘Petal’ Album Earn Her Best First-Week Numbers of the Decade?
This week's Five Burning Questions looks at Grande's latest, which bows atop the Billboard 200 this week.
Ariana Grande's eighth studio album, Petal, debuted atop the Billboard 200 chart with an impressive 295,000 first-week units. This marks her best single-week performance in the 2020s since Thank U, Next in 2019. Billboard staff members weigh in on the reasons behind Petal's strong debut. Katie Atkinson believes it is due to album sales, particularly the variety of vinyl pressings, and the ongoing momentum from Ariana's recent tours.
Kyle Denis suggests that Petal's success can be attributed to its release in a year that wasn't 2020, a two-month pre-order window, and a more pop-forward sound compared to her previous albums. Lyndsey Havens emphasizes Ariana's consistent presence in the music industry and the absence of a significant gap between albums in recent years.
Written by urgent.news from Billboard's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
