Drake’s Surprise Album, ‘Fifty Shades’ Soundtrack & Post-Grammys Boost Lead To Big Chart Week

Robbie Daw | February 18, 2015 11:39 am

Drake, Fifty Shades Of Grey and the Grammys basically came together to cause a perfect storm last week with regards to the album chart — a storm so mighty, it kicked Taylor Swift‘s 1989 out of the top two rungs on the Billboard 200 for the first time in the album’s 15-week history.

First up is Drake’s surprise-released mixtape If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, which dropped late Thursday (February 12) night last week and was only available digitally for three full days before Billboard’s Sunday chart cut-off. It managed to sell an impressive 495,000 copies in that short time, and moved a total of 535,000 copies total when you factor in streams and all that TEA and SEA hoo ha.

Expect Drizzy’s If You’re Reading This to hang in there at or near the top next week, too, as it’s still the top download as far as albums on iTunes go.

Debuting in the runner-up slot this week is the Fifty Shades Of Grey soundtrack. The movie itself grossed a whopping $81 million in its opening weekend, and its accompanying soundtrack, fueled by hits like The Weeknds‘s “Earned It,” Ellie Goulding‘s “Love Me Like You Do” and Annie Lennox‘s cover of “I Put A Spell On You,” arrives with 210,000 sold (258,000 total units).

Elsewhere, at least four albums received a post-Grammys sales kick, including Sam Smith‘s In The Lonely Hour, Ed Sheeran‘s x, Taylor Swift’s 1989 (despite her chart position drop to #5), Beck‘s Morning Phase and the 2015 Grammy Nominees compilation.

The Top 10 of the Billboard 200:

1. Drake, If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late *new* *1 week*
2. Soundtrack, Fifty Shades Of Grey *new*
3. Sam Smith, In The Lonely Hour
4. Ed Sheeran, x
5. Taylor Swift, 1989
6. Meghan Trainor, Title
7. Various, NOW That’s What I Call Music 53
8. Beck, Morning Phase
9. Various, 2015 Grammy Nominees
10. Maroon 5, V

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