Katy Perry may have witnessed her fifth album, ‘Witness,’ debut at #1 on the Billboard 200 last week with 2017’s highest first week figures for a female (to date), but she probably didn’t anticipate seeing it enter record books for a historic tumble in sales just 7 days later.
That’s right, the album – which is her first major label release to hit shelves without a #1 single on the Hot 100 to precede it – was widely disregarded a week after fans got a full taste of what the ‘Bon Appetit’ beauty was serving this course. Despite an onslaught of promotional appearances in its support, refreshed reports have it Perry’s latest LP saw a whopping 89% sales drop its second week (despite enjoying the benefit of ticket bundling). With this freefall down sales charts, Katy dethrones Queen of Pop Madonna as owner of “the largest second week percentage sales drop for a #1 debuting female album.” Fans may remember her Madgesty once owned the title when her 2012 release, ‘MDNA,’ dropped a whopping 86.7% in sales its second week despite its numbers being padded with figures from ticket bundling (click here to read more on that).
Before Madge it was Lady Gaga‘s 2011 release ‘Born This Way’ that posted an 84% sales drop its second week. Like ‘Witness’ and ‘MDNA’ before it, Gaga’s set had an “enhanced premiere week” due to taking an unconventional approach to album sales. Read more about that by clicking here.
Alas, Katy’s fall didn’t hurt her too much on the chart placement front. Check below to see where she landed and who joins her in the top 25 of this week’s refreshed Billboard 200: