Lady Gaga Earns The Largest Debut For An Album By A Woman In 2020 With New No. 1 ‘Chromatica’

Lady Gaga is back at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with her new album Chromatica, which was finally released a month and a half after it was initially scheduled to arrive. The singer pushed the title back due to the coronavirus outbreak, and it’s clear by its first-week performance that fans couldn’t wait to hear what the pop star had come up with this time around.

The new dance-pop effort begins its time at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 thanks to 274,000 equivalent units shifted. That sizable figure includes 205,000 pure sales and 87 million streams. Chromatica opens as one of the greatest successes of the year, and it now stands as the biggest debut of 2020 for an album by a female musician.

Chromatica is Gaga’s sixth No. 1 on the Billboard 200, as all but one of her full-lengths have reached the summit on the all-genre chart. She first made it to the peak position in 2011 with Born This Way, and she followed that up with her own Artpop in 2013, Cheek to Cheek with Tony Bennett in 2014, Joanne in 2016 and the A Star Is Born soundtrack, which was credited to both her and Bradley Cooper, in 2018. 

Her debut album The Fame missed the penthouse by just one spot, and a remix collection simply titled The Remix peaked at No. 5 in 2010. 

Chromatica was previewed by two proper singles and one promotional item, and so far, the set has been very successful when it comes to placing tracks on the Hot 100. Lead single “Stupid Love” started off and peaked at No. 5 while its follow-up, “Rain on Me,” a collaboration with fellow pop singer Ariana Grande, debuted at No. 1. With another chart-topping starter to their credit, both Gaga and Grande made history with the instant win.

Promotional single “Sour Candy,” which features South Korean girl group Blackpink, only had one day in which to rack up streams and sales, so while it didn’t reach the Hot 100, it did debut on various other Billboard rankings, helping the band earn several spots in the history books.

When the Hot 100 refreshes in a day or so, it’s likely that a number of the songs featured on Chromatica, if not all of the tracks, will find their way to the tally, and they will probably also rank among the bestselling and most-streamed tunes of the week in the U.S.