The Weeknd stunned fans last weekend with the surprise drop of his latest project, a six-song EP titled ‘My Dear Melancholy.’  To thank him, his faithful fanbase helped hoist the release – the follow-up to 2016’s chart-topping ‘Star Boy’ – to a similar height on the Billboard 200.

As we reported here, industry analysts predicted the set would shift at least 150,000 units its first full sales tracking week.  Now, with over 7 days of sales behind it, the Grammy winner should certainly be all smiles upon not only learning ‘Melancholy’ moved more units than projected, but also that it was crowned this week’s chart champion – selling almost three times that of its nearest competitor.

Full report below:

“The Weeknd logs his third No. 1 in a row on the Billboard 200 albums chart, as his latest project, My Dear Melancholy, debuts atop the list.

The surprise release, which arrived on March 30 via XO/Republic Records, earned 169,000 equivalent album units in the week ending April 5, according to Nielsen Music — the biggest week for an R&B album in over a year, since his own last album. Of that sum, 68,000 were in traditional album sales.”

Click here to stream the EP in full.

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