Sabrina Carpenter is running the show this week on the albums chart in the U.S. The pop singer’s new release Short N’ Sweet opens at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, earning the rising talent her first champion on the competitive roster.
Short N’ Sweet isn’t just another No. 1 on the ranking of the most-consumed albums in the country, though. The set blasts in with one of the largest debuts of the year–outpacing some who might have been expected to easily surpass the relative newcomer.
In its first full tracking week of availability, Short N’ Sweet moved just over 362,000 equivalent units. That sum includes nearly 185,000 actual sales, with streaming making up much of the rest of those equivalent copies.
Short N’ Sweet earns the third-largest debut of 2024 on the Billboard 200. Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department still holds the record for the year, as the title launched with 2.61 million copies shifted this spring. That’s not just a high point for 2024—it’s one of the most impressive starting sums ever.
Beyoncé lands in second place, but even she couldn’t compete with Swift. Her first country set, Cowboy Carter, opened at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 407,000 equivalent units.
Carpenter almost didn’t land on the throne this week. She faced incredibly tough competition from Travis Scott, who released his decade-old mixtape Days Before Rodeo to streaming platforms and download stores for the first time. That title missed out on the No. 1 slot by just about 1,000 units. That older effort now claims the fourth-largest start of 2024.
Several very well-known names have earned impressive openings on the Billboard 200 this year, but they haven’t performed as well as Carpenter’s latest. Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft ranks as the fifth-grandest debut on the tally in 2024, with 339,000 equivalent units. Eminem’s comeback The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce) opened with 281,000. Post Malone just ruled with his country project F-1 Trillion, which managed an even quarter-million.