Bob Dylan becomes first artist with a top 40 album on Billboard 200 charts for seven decades in a row
Bob Dylan has landed his highest-charting album in over a decade on the Billboard 200 chart. 'Rough and Rowdy Ways', Dylan's latest and 39th studio album which released on June 19, debuted at No. 2 on the chart with 53,000 equivalent album units accumulated in the US in the week ending June 25, according to Billboard. The new July 4-dated chart, where Dylan's new album landed at No. 2, will be posted in full on Billboard's website on June 30.
This makes Dylan the first act to have earned at least one new top 40-charting album in every decade from the 1960s through the 2020s, and 'Rough and Rowdy Ways' marks Dylan’s 23rd top 10 album and 50th in the top 40. With an initial sum of 53,000 units, 'Rough and Rowdy Ways' gets 51,000 units in album sales, 2,000 are in streaming equivalent albums units, and a negligible figure are in track equivalent albums units.
Dylan made his Billboard 200 debut nearly 57 years ago with his sophomore LP 'The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan', which arrived on the list dated September 7, 1963, at No. 125. On October 5 that same year, the album peaked at No. 22. For 'Bringing It All Back Home', which peaked at No. 6 on October 9, 1965, Dylan earned his first top 10. His first No. 1 (five in total) was for 'Planet Waves', which he earned on February 16, 1974.
'Rough and Rowdy Ways' was led by the 17-minute hit 'Murder Most Foul,' which debuted and peaked at No. 5 on the Hot Rock Songs chart in April. The track also landed atop the Rock Digital Song Sales chart, marking Dylan’s first No. 1 song on any Billboard chart. Over in the UK, 'Rough and Rowdy Ways' has earned the crown with its No. 1 position on the UK albums chart, making Dylan the oldest artist to reach No. 1 in the UK charts with an album of new material. The album made its debut at the top with 34,000 chart sales, including 29,000 purchased on CD.
At 79, Dylan surpasses Paul Simon who was 74 when his LP 'Stranger To Stranger' went to No. 1 in 2016.