News The Rolling Stones Are Back On The Charts With Their First New Album Of The Year
The Rolling Stones have been together for more than half a century now, and they’re not slowing down. The legendary rockers are in the midst of a particularly fruitful several years, and they never go very long before returning to the Billboard charts. The British favorites are back once again with another new win–their first of the new year.
Live at the Wiltern by The Rolling Stones debuts on this week’s Top Album Sales chart. The tally is published by Billboard every week and shows which titles actually sold the most copies, which is different from the Billboard 200–the all-encompassing and more closely-watched ranking of the most-consumed albums in the country.
The latest offering from The Rolling Stones opens at No. 16 on this week’s Top Album Sales chart. The set launches with 4,393 pure purchases, according to Luminate.
Live at the Wiltern marks the first new entry on any of Billboard’s albums charts of 2024 for the Rolling Stones. It’s also the group’s first placement on the tally since November of last year. That month, they returned with Hackney Diamonds, their first full-length of original material in years. That project peaked at No. 2 on the Top Album Sales, giving the group their milestone fifteenth top 10 on the list.
The Rolling Stones land one of the loftiest debuts on the Top Album Sales chart this week, but they were beaten by a number of more contemporary acts who also released new material. Ariana Grande leads the way with her latest offering, Eternal Sunshine, which opens at No. 1. Between her and the Stones come four other debuts: Judas Priest’s Invincible Shield (No. 2), Xikers’ House Of Tricky: Trial And Error (No. 3), Bleachers’ self-titled (No. 5), and Norah Jones’ Visions (No. 9).
While it may rank as one of the bestselling albums in the country this week, Live at the Wiltern didn’t perform well enough to make an appearance on any other Billboard list. It likely came close to reaching the Billboard 200 and several rock-specific rosters, but as those rankings incorporate all forms of consumption, the latest live set had a harder time competing with many other popular offerings and hitting the tallies.
Live at the Wiltern was recorded more than two decades ago, back in 2002. The band played to a tiny crowd–especially compared to the stadiums they’re used to selling out–at the Wiltern in Los Angeles, CA. The album features their take on many rarely-performed tunes and covers, which make it a must-have for many longtime fans.
