Noah Kahan’s The Great Divide Strengthens Its Hold with Third Week at No. 1 on Billboard 200
Noah Kahan’s album The Great Divide has achieved a significant milestone by securing its third consecutive week at the top of the Billboard 200 chart, dated May 23. This accomplishment marks the first time in over a decade that a rock album has maintained the No. 1 position for three weeks. The last rock album to achieve this feat was Mumford & Sons’ Babel, which spent five weeks at No. 1 in 2012-2013.
Historical Context of Rock Albums at No. 1
The last solo rock artist to spend at least three weeks at No. 1 was Jack Johnson with his album Sleep Through the Static, which held the position for three weeks in 2008. The classification of rock albums includes those that are eligible for or have charted on Billboard’s Top Rock Albums chart.
Album Performance Metrics
In the week ending May 14, The Great Divide garnered 132,000 equivalent album units in the United States, reflecting a 19% decrease from the previous week, according to data from Luminate.
In addition to Kahan’s success, the latest Billboard 200 chart also features CORTIS, which has made its first appearance in the top 10 with the debut of GREENGREEN at No. 3. Chris Brown has also secured his 13th top 10 entry with his new album BROWN, which debuts at No. 7.
Understanding the Billboard 200 Chart
The Billboard 200 ranks the most popular albums in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption, as measured in equivalent album units. These units include album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA), and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit corresponds to one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 2,500 ad-supported or 1,000 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The complete chart for May 23, 2026, will be available on Billboard’s website on May 19.
Breakdown of The Great Divide’s Units
Of the 132,000 equivalent album units earned by The Great Divide, 109,000 were SEA units, which represents a 20% decline equating to 111.46 million on-demand official streams of the album’s tracks. The album also recorded 22,000 in album sales, down 85%, while TEA units increased by 18%.
Ella Langley’s previous leader, Dandelion, remains at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 with 100,000 equivalent album units earned, down 3%.
CORTIS and GREENGREEN
CORTIS achieved its first top 10 entry with GREENGREEN, debuting at No. 3 with 87,000 equivalent album units, marking the group’s best week in terms of units. This total includes 81,500 in album sales, which is also a record for the group, as it debuts at No. 1 on Top Album Sales. SEA units for GREENGREEN accounted for 5,500, equating to 5.91 million on-demand official streams of the album’s songs.
The album’s first-week sales were bolstered by its availability in over 20 physical variants on CD and vinyl, each containing collectible items such as photocards and stickers, with some items randomized.
Chart Performance of Other Artists
Morgan Wallen’s album I’m the Problem remains steady at No. 4 on the Billboard 200, earning 85,000 equivalent album units, which is a 2% increase. Michael Jackson holds the Nos. 5 and 6 spots with his former No. 1 album Thriller at No. 5 (66,000 equivalent album units, up 6%) and Number Ones at No. 6 (just over 65,000, also up 6%). Both albums continue to benefit from the success of the Michael biopic film.
Chris Brown’s BROWN debuts at No. 7 on the Billboard 200, marking his 13th top 10-charted project. The album earned 65,000 equivalent album units, with SEA units comprising 60,000, equating to 60.31 million on-demand official streams. The album also debuts at No. 4 on Top Streaming Albums and No. 19 on Top Album Sales, where it was only available for purchase as a digital download.
Upcoming Tour and Additional Chart Entries
Brown’s album was preceded by four hits on the Hot R&B Songs chart, including “Holy Blindfold” (No. 8), “It Depends,” featuring Bryson Tiller (No. 3), “Obvious” (No. 5), and “Fallin’,” featuring Leon Thomas (No. 12). All four tracks also reached the all-genre Billboard Hot 100.
Brown is set to launch a co-headlining stadium tour with Usher starting June 26 at Denver’s Empower Field at Mile High, continuing through December 12 at Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium.
Rounding out the top 10 on the latest Billboard 200 are BTS’s former leader ARIRANG, which falls from 7 to 8 with 44,000 equivalent album units (down 10%), Wallen’s One Thing at a Time, holding at No. 9 with 41,000 (up 3%), and Olivia Dean’s The Art of Loving, which drops from 8 to 10 with nearly 41,000 (down 3%).
Data Verification Process
Luminate, the independent data provider for the Billboard charts, conducts a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. This process includes reviewing and authenticating data, and any suspicious or unverifiable data is removed before final calculations are published.
As reported by www.billboard.com.
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Published on 2026-05-17 23:00:00 • By FAME Delivered News Desk