Lana Del Rey Squeaks Out Billboard No. 1 Debut
Lust for Life is truly LIVIIIIIIING — Lana Del Rey's fifth studio album has fought tooth and nail to land Billboard's No. 1 spot.
According to Billboard, Lust is officially Del Rey's second LP to debut at the top spot, having moved 107,000 album equivalent units, 88,000 of which were in traditional album sales. Del Rey barely beat out Tyler, The Creator's Flower Boy, which notched 106,000 in album equivalent units and Meek Mill's Wins and Losses.
This week is also the first time in 2017 that the Billboard 200's top three included new debuts that each moved more than 100,000 units. Bruno Mars, Metallica and Miranda Lambert were the last artists who collectively managed such a big week back in December 2016.
The success is all the more noteworthy considering Del Rey wrote the album without any worry about whether it might alienate her from certain fans — more specifically, the Trump-sympathetic.
“I think you just don’t negotiate when it comes to your work or your art, you just stand totally firm and take the consequences,” she told Complex in a July 26 story. “In terms of losing fans, I don’t care. Period.”
Watch Lana Del Rey Transform Through The Years: