The Top Gun: Maverick soundtrack debuts in the top 10 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales and Soundtracks charts (dated June 11), alongside the hit film’s blockbuster opening in U.S. movie theaters. Both the soundtrack and film were released in the U.S. on Friday, May 27.
Top Gun: Maverick starts at No. 2 on the Soundtracks tally and No. 7 on Top Album Sales. The set – bolstered by new songs from Lady Gaga and OneRepublic – launches with just over 21,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending June 2, according to Luminate. Of that sum, nearly 12,000 were in album sales.
Top Gun: Maverick is the sequel to the 1986 film Top Gun, which saw its soundtrack spend five weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. (The original Top Gun soundtrack returns to Billboard’s charts in the wake of Maverick’s release, re-entering at No. 11 on the Soundtracks chart and No. 25 on Top Album Sales.)
Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now Luminate. Pure album sales were the sole measurement utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album units and streaming equivalent album units.
Billboard’s Soundtracks chart ranks the most popular soundtracks of the week based on equivalent album units.
The new June 11, 2022-dated charts will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on June 7. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
On the new Billboard 200, Top Gun: Maverick debuts at No. 17 – the highest debut for a soundtrack in over a year. (The last soundtrack to start higher was Judas and the Black Messiah, which bowed at No. 12 on the Feb. 27, 2021-dated chart.)
Top Gun: Maverick sold nearly 12,000 copies in its first week in the U.S. CD sales comprise 7,000 of that sum and digital downloads comprise 5,000. A vinyl release for the album is due out on Nov. 18.
Elsewhere on Top Album Sales, Harry Styles’ Harry’s House is a non-mover at No. 1 for a second week, following its debut atop the list a week prior. The set sold 56,500 copies in its second week (down 83% compared to its launch of 330,000).
Rock band Def Leppard see its new studio album Diamond Star Halos debut at No. 2 on Top Album Sales with 32,000 sold.
Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers chart-topping vaults from No. 20 to No. 3 in its third week on Top Album Sales with 27,500 copies sold (up 745%), following its release on CD and in deluxe boxed sets on May 27. Doja Cat’s Planet Her re-enters Top Album Sales at No. 4 with 17,000 sold (up 3,188%) after its release on vinyl LP (nearly all of its sales for the week were on vinyl).
TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s former No. 1 Minisode 2: Thursday’s Child falls 2-5 with just over 16,000 sold (down 44%). Olivia Rodrigo’s chart-topper Sour is pushed down 3-6 despite a gain of 102% to 16,000, following the release of new editions of the album to celebrate its one-year anniversary.
Kendrick Lamar’s good kid, m.A.A.d city climbs 11-8 with 5,000 sold (down 9%), Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours rises 12-9 with nearly 5,000 (down 3%) and Nirvana’s Nevermind zooms 37-10 with almost 5,000 (up 99%). The latter’s increase is owed in part to sales of a new super deluxe vinyl boxed set that sells for $260.
In the week ending June 2, there were 1.726 million albums sold in the U.S. (down 10.9% compared to the previous week). Of that sum, physical albums (CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, etc.) comprised 1.354 million (down 12.6%) and digital albums comprised 372,000 (down 3.9%).
There were 610,000 CD albums sold in the week ending June 2 (down 13% week-over-week) and 734,000 vinyl albums sold (down 11.6%). Year-to-date CD album sales stand at 13.949 million (down 12.1% compared to the same time frame a year ago) and year-to-date vinyl album sales total 16.311 million (up 4%).
Overall year-to-date album sales total 39.338 million (down 8% compared to the same year-to-date time frame a year ago). Year-to-date physical album sales stand at 30.474 million (down 4%) and digital album sales total 8.863 million (down 19.5%).
