Ed Sheeran's 'No. 6' Spends Second Week at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart, Beyonce & Nas Bow in Top 10

After debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart a week ago, Ed Sheeran’s star-studded No. 6 Collaborations Project rules the list for a second week, making it the first album to spend its first two weeks at No. 1 in four months. The last title to do so was Juice WRLD’s Death Race for Love, which opened at No. 1 on the March 23-dated list, and held on for its second, and so-far final, frame on March 30.

No. 6 earned 78,000 equivalent album units in the week ending July 25 in the U.S., according to Nielsen Music. That’s down 55% compared to its debut of 173,000 units.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units. Units are comprised of traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). The new Aug. 3-dated chart (where No. 6 holds at No. 1) will be posted in full on Billboard's websites on July 30.

Of No. 6’s second-week total units, 16,000 were in album sales (down 77%), which keeps the set at No. 1 for a second week on the Top Album Sales chart. The remainder of No. 6’s second-week unit total was comprised of 5,000 TEA units (down 52%) and 57,000 SEA units (down 39%). The latter sum equates to 74.7 million on-demand audio streams for the album’s tunes during the tracking week — which makes it the most-streamed album of the week for the second week in a row.

Meanwhile, Beyoncé, who voices the character Nala in Disney’s new The Lion King film, sees her King-inspired album The Lion King: The Gift debut at No. 2 on the new Billboard 200 chart with 54,000 equivalent album units earned (with 11,000 of that sum in album sales). The album was released on July 19 via Parkwood/Columbia Records. The set, which is billed to Beyoncé & Various Artists, boasts Queen Bey performing on 10 of the album’s 14 songs. Those songs include “Spirit,” which is also heard in the film and included on its Walt Disney Records soundtrack, which zooms 31-13 on the Billboard 200.  

Beyoncé executive produced and curated The Lion King: The Gift, and also is a producer on each of the set’s tracks.

The Lion King: The Gift marks Beyoncé’s ninth top 10 effort on the Billboard 200 as a soloist, and second new top 10 of 2019, following Homecoming: The Live Album (a debut at No. 4, May 4). Notably, Beyoncé is just the second act of 2019, and first woman, to achieve two new top 10s this year. She follows Future, who notched two new top 10s with Future Hndrxx Presents: The WIZRD (No. 1 on Feb. 2) and Save Me (No. 5 on June 22). (Beyoncé has actually seen three of her albums visit the top 10 in 2019 — the only act to achieve that feat this year. In addition to The Lion King: The Gift and Homecoming, her 2016 No. 1 Lemonade returned to the top 10 on the May 4-dated chart.)

At No. 3 on the new Billboard 200, Billie Eilish’s former leader When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? falls one slot with 51,000 equivalent album units (down 16%). Lil Nas X’s 7 is steady at No. 4 with 43,000 units (down 13%), the multi-artist Revenge of the Dreamers III project dips 3-5 with 41,000 units (down 24%), Chris Brown’s former No. 1 Indigo slides 5-6 with 37,000 units (down 13%) and Lizzo’s Cuz I Love You falls 6-7 with 33,000 units (down 1%).

A pair of former chart-toppers are next on the list, as Khalid’s Free Spirit descends 7-8 with 32,000 units (though up 5%) and Post Malone’s beerbongs & bentleys falls 8-9 with 25,000 units (down 1%).

Closing out the top 10 is Nas’ The Lost Tapes 2, which bows at No. 10 with 23,000 equivalent album units earned (with 12,000 of that sum in album sales). The archival compilation project, featuring unreleased tracks recorded for earlier Nas albums, marks the artist’s 13th top 10 effort. Nas was last in the top 10 with 2018’s Nasir, which debuted and peaked at No. 5.