Nonesuch RecordsIt’s a stellar showing for classic rock acts on the latest Billboard 200 album chart.
Former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne scored his highest-charting disc ever, landing at number three with his new album, American Utopia. In fact, it’s the first time Byrne has cracked the top ten, whether it be as a solo artist or as a member of Talking Heads.
American Utopia moved 63,000 equivalent album units, with just about all of that number in traditional album sales. The highest Byrne ever charted with Talking Heads was #15 with 1983’s Speaking in Tongues.
Meanwhile, legendary heavy metal band Judas Priest also scored their highest-charting album ever with their latest effort, Firepower, coming in at #5. The disc earned 49,000 equivalent album units, with all but 1,000 of those being traditional album sales.
Amazingly, Firepower and 2014’s Redeemer of Souls are the band’s only two albums to make the top 10 of the Billboard 200 tally, despite a 40-plus-year career.
Finally, the latest posthumous release of late guitar legend Jimi Hendrix‘s music, Both Sides of the Sky, lands at #8 with 37,000 equivalent album units earned in its first week of release. The disc marks the third in a trilogy of albums that the record label has called the “best and most significant unissued studio recordings remaining” in Hendrix’s archives.
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