List of Billboard 200 number-one albums of 2015

The highest-selling albums and EPs in the United States are ranked in the Billboard 200, which is published by Billboard magazine. The data are compiled by Nielsen Soundscan based on each album's weekly physical and digital sales, as well as on-demand streaming and digital sales of its individual tracks. In 2015, a total of 39 albums claimed the top position of the chart. One of which, American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift's 1989 started its peak issue dated November 15, 2014. 1989 was the longest-running number-one album of the year, staying atop the chart for six weeks and was the best selling album of 2015 before Adele's 25, which managed to surpass the album's sales but after the year-end cut-off. Canadian hip hop soul artist Drake's fourth commercial release, If You're Reading This It's Too Late, became the third best-selling overall album and top-selling digital album with 535,000 digital units sold, 495,000 of which consisted of traditional whole album sales.

Other albums with extended chart runs at number one include To Pimp a Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar, Dreams Worth More Than Money by Meek Mill, Kill the Lights by Luke Bryan, Beauty Behind the Madness by The Weeknd, Traveller by Chris Stapleton and 25 by Adele; four of these albums spent two weeks at the top while the other two spent three weeks at the top position. Throughout 2015, only two acts achieved multiple number-one albums on the chart: Drake with If You're Reading This It's Too Late and What a Time to be Alive, and Future with DS2 and also What a Time to be Alive.

Albums that reached number one on the Top Album Sales chart (which takes into account purely sales and not streaming) but did not reach number one on the Billboard 200 include That's the Spirit by Bring Me the Horizon, Got Your Six by Five Finger Death Punch and Cass County by Don Henley.

Adele's 25 sold 1.9 million copies after two days of availability, and 2.3 million after three, becoming the fastest-selling album of the 21st century and the best-selling album of 2015. The album reached sales of 2.433 million early on its fourth day, surpassing the single-week record for an album since Nielsen Soundscan began tracking sales in 1991, set by NSYNC's No Strings Attached in March 2000 when it debuted with 2.416 million copies. By its fifth day, 25 had sold over 2.8 million copies, 1.45 million of which were digital sales, breaking the first-week record for a digital set. In total, it sold 3.38 million copies in the US in its first week, becoming the first album to sell over 3 million copies in a week, and only the second to sell over 2 million in a single week.

Since July 2015, the chart's tracking week began on Friday (to coincide with the Global Release Date of the music industry) and ends on Thursday. This change happened between July 25 and August 1.

Chart history

+KeyIndicates best performing album of 2015

Issue date Album Artist(s) Album-equivalent units 1989 375,000 430,000 244,000 155,000 Title238,000 American Beauty/American PsychoFall Out Boy218,000 1989 Taylor Swift101,000 108,000 If You're Reading This It's Too LateDrake535,000 Smoke + MirrorsImagine Dragons195,000 Dark Sky ParadiseBig Sean173,000 Piece by Piece97,000 Empire: Original Soundtrack from Season 1Soundtrack130,000 To Pimp a Butterfly363,000 123,000 The Album About NothingWale100,000 Furious 7: Original Motion Picture SoundtrackSoundtrack111,000 Handwritten119,000 Sound & ColorAlabama Shakes97,000 Jekyll + Hyde228,000 Wilder MindMumford & Sons249,000 Pitch Perfect 2: Original Motion Picture SoundtrackSoundtrack107,000 BlurryfaceTwenty One Pilots147,000 At. Long. Last. ASAPASAP Rocky146,000 How Big, How Blue, How BeautifulFlorence and the Machine137,000 DronesMuse84,000 Before This World97,000 Dark Before DawnBreaking Benjamin141,000 Dreams Worth More Than Money246,000 289,000 Black RoseTyrese77,000 DS2Future151,000 Woman62,000 Descendants (Original TV Movie Soundtrack)Descendants cast42,000 Kill the Lights345,000 99,000 ImmortalizedDisturbed98,000 Beauty Behind the MadnessThe Weeknd412,000 145,000 99,000 What a Time to Be AliveDrake and Future375,000 Fetty WapFetty Wap129,000 UnbreakableJanet Jackson116,000 Revival117,000 PentatonixPentatonix98,000 Sounds Good Feels Good5 Seconds of Summer192,000 Traveller177,000 124,000 Purpose649,000 25Adele3,480,000 1,160,000 728,000

See also 2015 in American music List of Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles of 2015

References

External links Current Billboard 200 chart Billboard Chart Archives – Billboard 200 (2015)