Prince just passed away unexpectedly on April 21 st . But just hours after his death, three of his albums landed in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200.
‘The Very Best of Prince was the solace of choice for fans as the greatest hits compilation sold 179,000 total copies in the hours after Prince’s death; of that total, 100,000 were traditional album sales, while the rest came from bulk purchases of some of Prince’s classic singles. The Very Best of Prince’s ascension to the Number One spot marked Prince’s first chart-topper since his 3121 hit the top spot in 2006, and the fifth Number One album of his career.’
‘Purple Rain’ and ‘Hits/The B-Sides’ followed subsequently at Number Two and Number Six. ‘Prince’s death came just a half-day before the Billboard 200’s weekly sales cutoff, meaning all of the sales of The Very Best of Prince, Purple Rain and The Hits/The B-Sides were recorded in the roughly 12 hours following his death; the exact number of Prince albums sold following his death is expected to be much larger and will carry over into next week’s Billboard 200. In total, his catalog sold 256,000 copies in that limited April 21st window.’
(Quotes from Rolling Stone)
