Ariana Grande is back with her second number one Billboard 200 album in six months. The pop star’s new record Thank U, Next opened with 360,000 copies, the best sales of her career.
According to Billboard, Thank U, Next marked the most first-week streams ever for a pop album, and for any album by a female artist.
Grande’s last album, Sweetener, was released six months ago and sold 231,000 copies, debuting at number one in August 2018.
Thank U, Next also topped the charts in the UK, where Grande became the first female artist in British chart history to replace herself at the top of the chart. She knocked her previous number one track, “7 Rings”, off the top spot and replaced it with “Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored”.
Grande won her first ever Grammy award last week for Sweetener, which received the prize for Best Pop Album.
Despite not attending the ceremony over a reported fall-out with producers over her scheduled performance, Grande acknowledged that she was grateful for the accolade.
“It’s me, your tiny, highly emotional, Italian and now Grammy award-winning friend. I’m super tarnished lol.”
