Nicki Minaj Goes After Little Mix Amid Blackfishing Backlash Against Jesy Nelson

Nicki Minaj made it loud and clear that she stands by Jesy Nelson after she’s faced accusations of Blackfishing.

The accusations of Blackfishing — levied against non-Black influencers and celebrities when they alter their appearances to look Black when they’re not — against Nelson arose following her hip-hop-leaning debut solo single “Boyz,” featuring Minaj, and its accompanying music video, which features her spray tan, multiple wigs, fuller lips and what some have called a “Blaccent” when she sings, “So ‘hood, so good, so damn taboo.” Nelson — a white British woman who left Little Mix, one of the best-selling U.K. girl groups, in December 2020 after nearly a decade, citing mental health reasons — recently revealed she hasn’t spoken to the group’s remaining members since her departure.

U.K. musician and comedian NoHun claimed on his Instagram Story and later on TikTok that Leigh-Anne Pinnock, the only Black member of Little Mix, had allegedly sent him DMs about Nelson blocking her, Jade Thirlwall and Perrie Edwards on the social media app (after reports claimed they had all unfollowed her the day after her “Boyz” single dropped) and suggesting he make a video about her “being a black fish.”

While Nelson found herself under scrutiny, Minaj came to her rescue during an hourlong Instagram Live conversation on Monday (Oct. 11). And in the same vein as the rapper’s “Boyz” verse (“Jesy, we got all the jelly bitches actin’ real messy”), Minaj had some choice words to say to Pinnock and the rest of the group about the alleged DMs.

“Sweetheart, take them text messages and shove it up your f—ing a–,” she said with a fake smile. “Don’t try to come out and ruin anyone. Let her enjoy this time. If you was in this woman’s group and you ain’t taking about this sh– for 10 years, and as soon as you see she got a video come out with Nicki Minaj and Puffy, now you sending the stations text messages and all this shit … print them text messages out, bust your a– open and shove it up your motherf—ing a–. And stop trying to hurt people and kill people’s lives and careers. … If you want a solo career, baby girl, just say that.”

The “Anaconda” MC continued shaming the women for allegedly attacking Nelson after they spent the last decade becoming one of the most successful girl groups in the world with more than 50 million records sold worldwide, saying they only chose to air their grievances after her exit.

“It’s just hard for me because I was in a group with two women of color for nine years and it was never brought up to me up until the last music video,” Nelson told Minaj, referring to their 2020 music video for their U.K. No. 1 single “Sweet Melody,” which was the last video Little Mix shot as a foursome and the first time Nelson claims Pinnock mentioned Blackfishing accusations to her.

After the Instagram Live video wrapped, Minaj tweeted, “Don’t call things out when they benefit your personal vendetta to ppl. Call them out immediately once you see it chile. Don’t wait a decade after you’ve made millions with the person.”

Last week, in an interview with Vulture, Nelson said she had never faced Blackfishing accusations “the whole time I was in Little Mix. … And then I came out of [the band] and people all of a sudden were saying it. I wasn’t on social media around that time, so I let my team [deal with it], because that was when I’d just left. But I mean, like, I love Black culture. I love Black music. That’s all I know; it’s what I grew up on.” (Vulture also stated that Nelson canceled two follow-up interviews to specifically discuss the Blackfishing claims, while the singer’s publicist sent the publication a statement about how Nelson “would never intentionally do anything to make myself look racially ambiguous.”)

Watch Minaj and Nelson’s entire IG Live conversation below.

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Billboard Buys: These Apple AirPods Alternatives Are Just $39

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Apple’s AirPods remain the industry leader when it comes to true wireless earbuds, but not everyone wants to shell out the $200 it costs for a pair of the popular white buds. That’s why we’re fans of Back Bay Audio’s new Tempo 30 earbuds, which deliver many of the same performance features as AirPods, all for just $39.99.

The Tempo 30 Wireless Earbuds are a great AirPods alternative, both in terms of sound quality, battery life and overall value. The Back Bay Audio earbuds deliver a whopping eight hours of music on a single charge (up to 32 hours with the included charging case), and can be worn safely through rain, sweat and even in the shower, thanks to the buds’ IPX7 waterproofing technology. The earbuds’ internal “nano-coating” keeps the moisture out — and the tunes playing on.

Audio-wise, we’ve tested the Tempo 30 earbuds against our AirPods Pro, and they’re surprisingly powerful, with full, wide-ranging sound and clear, crisp details (no muffled tracks here). The audio is plenty loud too, and if you really want to turn it up, you can switch from Back Bay’s “Signature Sound” mode to their new “Bass Mode” for extra motivation.

We found the Tempo 30 Earbuds great for taking calls on the go too, thanks to their dual microphones. And with six(!) different fit options, it was easy to find a pair of eartips that stayed securely in our ears. Even while going on a run or hitting the treadmill at the gym, our Tempo 30 Earbuds stayed in our ears comfortably.

Back Bay Audio’s Tempo 30 Earbuds are one of the best AirPod alternatives on the market, beating Apple when it comes to battery life, waterproofing and price. The AirPods Pro do offer noise-cancelling technology, though if you just need a pair of everyday earbuds for music and calls, the Tempo 30 Wireless Earbuds will do just fine.

At just $39 here, they’re a whopping $140 cheaper than the AirPods’ current listed price too, so if you’re looking for a cheap AirPods alternative, it’s a no-brainer.

Find out more about the Tempo 30 Earbuds and pick up a pair for $39.99 right now at BackBayBrand.com. Two colors are available: black and rose gold.

Billboard is picking a weekly deal to share with our readers. Check billboard.com each week for our Billboard Buys product.

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Deon Estus, Wham! & George Michael Bassist Behind the Hit ‘Heaven Help Me,’ Dies at 65

Deon Estus, the longtime bass player for Wham! and George Michael behind the 1989 hit song “Heaven Help Me,” died Monday (Oct. 11) at age 65, according a post on his official social media accounts.

“It is with real sadness I post that Deon Estus passed away this morning,” reads a post on Estus’ Twitter page. “Deon was mostly known as the third member of Wham! Deon was passionate about music and loved interacting with his loyal fans.”

His partner Brenda Kaye Pearce shared this message to Facebook on Monday: “My dearest, closest partner and significant other of 4 years transitioned and all I can remember is our last conversation the day before. My heart will need time to heal. R.I.P. Deon. Love you forever.”

Estus — born Jeffery Dean Estus in Detroit in 1956 — had a top five hit on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Heaven Help Me,” which reached No. 5 in April 1989. The song, which was co-written and featured background vocals from Michael, who also solely produced it, peaked at No. 3 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Adult Contemporary charts.

“Heaven Help Me” was released from Estus’ only album, Spell, released in 1989 and which also produced the Dance Club Songs hit “Me or the Rumours” and the top 20 Adult Contemporary title track.

In addition to his work with Wham! and Michael, according to Estus’ bio, he played bass with Tina Turner, Elton John, Marvin Gaye, Frank Zappa and Annie Lennox.

In an interview with Billboard following the Christmas Day death of Michael in 2016, Estus said, “I’m still in shock. It hasn’t quite hit me yet, but it helps to talk about it and to think about all those fantastic tours, all those records, all the people he’s helped and all the things he’s done, which is a lot. I was blessed to have known him.”

Watch Estus perform “Heaven Help Me” on the Netherlands’ CountDown in 1989 below:

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Eric Church Invites Morgan Wallen to Perform With Him at Philadelphia Concert

When Eric Church announced last week that his two “special solo sets” in Pennsylvania as part of his Gather Again Tour would include a few surprises, he wasn’t kidding.

During his concert at Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center on Saturday, Church first welcomed “Burning House” hitmaker Cam to sing with him, and later invited Morgan Wallen to the stage.

Church and Wallen performed a handful of  Wallen’s songs including “Sand in My Boots,” “Whiskey Glasses” and “Quittin’ Time,” as well as the Church hits “Record Year” and “Homeboy.”

Church is a co-writer on Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album, contributing to the track “Quittin’ Time” alongside Luke Laird and Josh Thompson. Over the past several months, Wallen has posted images from his offstage moments hanging out with Church, including golfing trips and jam sessions.

Despite the apparent close friendship between Church and Wallen, Church also denounced Wallen’s use of a racial slur earlier this year, telling Billboard during an interview in April, “That was indefensible. I was heartbroken when it happened. I think Morgan’s trying to work on that and on himself. And I hope he does.” Following the incident, Church also sent Wallen a note telling him to “hang in there.”

After TMZ released video of a drunken Wallen uttering a racial slur outside of his Nashville home in February, Wallen’s music was temporarily pulled from country radio and from several top streaming playlists, he was suspended from his record label Big Loud/Republic, and disqualified from several awards shows. However, Wallen’s “Sand in My Boots” currently resides just outside the top 20 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart. Since its January release, Dangerous: The Double Album spent 10 weeks atop the all-genre Billboard 200 chart and still lives in the top 10.

At the Nov. 10 Country Music Association Awards, Wallen’s lone nomination is in the album of the year category, for Dangerous: The Double Album (he was disqualified from being nominated in any individual artist categories, such as male vocalist of the year, and has been banned from attending the ceremony.

Church, meanwhile is nominated for five trophies heading into November’s ceremony, including a nod for entertainer of the year.

This isn’t the first major headlining show Wallen has guested at so far this year: In July, Wallen joined Luke Bryan onstage at Bryan’s headlining show at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena (along with Jason Aldean and Florida Georgia Line’s Tyler Hubbard). In September, Church also welcomed Wallen as a guest performer during a private event to celebrate the opening of the Nashville-based The Twelve Thirty Club, which was launched by Justin Timberlake and restaurateur Sam Fox.

Wallen is also gearing up for four of his own headlining shows later this year, including two stops in Alabama, one in Tennessee and one in Georgia.

Wallen recently shared the powerful new song “Don’t Think Jesus” that he says was penned by songwriters Jessi Alexander, Chase McGill and Mark Holman and inspired by his own story.

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Travis Barker & Kourtney Kardashian Make Skulls Seem Romantic With Disneyland PDA Video

Every day seems like Valentine’s Day for Travis Barker and Kourtney Kardashian, who are not shy about showing their love to the world. But their latest PDA post is appropriately Halloween-themed.

On Monday (Oct. 11), the blink-182 drummer posted a video of him carrying and kissing Kardashian next to a pirate ship at Disneyland, a timely backdrop for the superstar couple to get into the spirit of spooky season. And a Misfits track seems to have soundtracked their date.

“I want your skull,” he captioned the clip, borrowing the first line of the chorus of Misfits’ “Skulls,” which Kardashian completed in the comments section with the follow-up lyric “I need your skull.” Kudos to them for making a hardcore punk song that starts off with, “Corpses all hanging headless and limp/ Bodies with no surprises/ And the blood drains down like the devil’s rain/ We’ll bathe tonight” seem like a romantic ballad.

“Skulls” was released in 1982 from the horror punk band’s debut studio album Walk Among Us, which peaked at No. 6 on Billboard’s Vinyl Albums chart.

Kardashian’s younger sister Kim poked fun at the couple’s countless PDA moments on the ‘Gram in “The People’s Kourt” sketch from her Saturday Night Live hosting gig over the weekend. Kim portrayed her sister, while SNL’s Mikey Day played the role of Barker in the five-minute video.

See Kardashian and Barker’s real-life PDA post below, and listen to “Skulls.”

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Timothee Chalamet Shares ‘Wonka’ First Look

Timothée Chalamet offered a first look at Warner Bros.’ upcoming film Wonka.

Taking to social media Sunday, the actor shared a photo of himself on set, dressed in character as the chocolatier, donning a top hat and topcoat.

“The suspense is terrible, I hope it will last …WONKA,” Chalamet captioned the photo on Instagram, paying homage to Gene Wilder’s line in the original 1971 adaptation. In another photo, Chalamet shared a photo of Wonka’s cane, with a purple and red wrapped present sitting on top.

Warner Bros. also shared the images on their social media channels. The film’s principal photography recently began in London.

Earlier this year it was announced Chalamet had signed to star as young Willy Wonka in Warner Bros.’ reimagining of Roald Dahl’s classic children’s book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Warner Bros. described the prequel — the film is set to take place before the events of the book — as a “vivid, mythical beginnings of the imaginative young inventor before he becomes the renowned scrumdiddlyumptious Mozart of chocolate.”

Paul King, the director of the Paddington movies, will helm the musical with David Heyman and Luke Kelly producing.

Rowan Atkinson, Sally Hawkins, Keegan-Michael Key and Olivia Colman are set to star in the film.

This article originally appeared on The Hollywood Reporter.

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Olivia Rodrigo Opens Up About ‘Life-Changing’ Therapy: ‘I’ve Learned So Much About Myself’

Olivia Rodrigo is making her therapist proud.

Back in January, when the hit singer-songwriter had just released her breakthrough smash “Drivers License,” she humbly tweeted, “can’t wait to tell my therapist that ppl like the song.”

In an interview just a few months later, Rodrigo reflected, “When it first came out, my therapist called me and she was like, ‘Girl, I’ve been married for 10 years, I’m 40, but this song makes me cry.’”

And now, in a segment that aired Oct. 10 on CBS Sunday Morning — just as Mental Health Awareness Week culminated — Rodrigo is continuing to speak candidly about going to therapy.

“I hadn’t really started going ’til I was like 16,” she told correspondent Tracy Smith, “and that was a really big, life-changing moment. I’ve learned so much about myself.”

Rodrigo, who recently addressed how fame can affect mental health, acknowledged that there’s “sometimes a stigma around it, too … Sometimes people are like, ‘Oh, you don’t need that. You have so much. Your life is so great. What are your problems?’”

“I think that’s definitely a thing that sometimes older people can do to younger people, too — kind of trivialize what they’re going through just because, you know, ‘Ah, they’re fine, they’re just kids. They’ll get through it,’” she added. “But it feels so real when you’re in it. It’s so valid.”

Among her many chart accomplishments since dropping “Drivers License” at the start of 2021, Rodrigo most recently joined an elite music club, as she became the first artist to have four Pop Airplay top 10s from a debut album since Lady Gaga over a decade ago. “Drivers License,” “Good 4 U,” “Deja Vu” and “Traitor” all ascended to the top 10 of the chart this year. All four songs are on Rodrigo’s chart-topping Sour album, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and took that position for a total of five nonconsecutive weeks.

Watch Rodrigo’s latest interview below.

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Kim Kardashian’s Pop Trio Auditions for Costco in This ‘SNL’ Sketch That Was Cut for Time: Watch

SNL host Kim Kardashian West sang again for this weekend’s show, in a sketch that was cut for time on Oct. 9.

Her “Costco Meeting” sketch, which had her co-starring with Aidy Bryant and Bowen Yang, was uploaded to YouTube on Sunday. The scenario has Kim, Aidy and Bowen in a pop trio that’s introduced to a Costco exec by an intern who has a big idea for the big-box retail store.

The trio is introduced as Glitter Revolution, “a three-person bop factory” in coordinating bubble gum pink outfits, and they try to win over the VP of marketing at Costco with three original tunes aimed at bringing teens into the store: one about “bulk b—-es,” plus a slow jam about the chain’s hot dogs and “Flop Shop,” a takedown of their competitors.

His reaction? “Our teen customers are going to absolutely stan this. I’m closing my eyes and I’m seeing Olivia Rodrigo buying bags of beef Wellington.”

As reported earlier, the reality TV star — who actually had a solo dance-pop single of her own called “Jam (Turn It Up)” in 2011 — showed off some vocals for the first time in a decade on Saturday Night Live for “Ladies Night Song,” a sketch that was televised.

Check out Kim trying out for a job with Costco in the video below.

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Taylor Swift’s ‘Fearless (Taylor’s Version)’ Returns to No. 1 on Billboard 200

Taylor Swift’s Fearless (Taylor’s Version) returns to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart for a second nonconsecutive week atop the list. The album surges from No. 157 to No. 1 with 152,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Oct. 7 (up 1,931%), according to MRC Data. The set vaults back to No. 1 after the Oct. 1 release of a signed CD available only in Swift’s webstore and its vinyl LP. Fearless (Taylor’s Version) debuted at No. 1 nearly six months ago, on the April 24-dated Billboard 200 chart.

Also in the new top 10: Meek Mill’s Expensive Pain arrives at No. 3, while Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga’s second collaborative album, Love for Sale, bows at No. 8.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new Oct. 16, 2021-dated chart [where Fearless (Taylor’s Version) returns to No. 1] will be posted in full on Billboard’s website on Oct. 12. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.

Of Fearless (Taylor’s Version)’s 152,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Oct. 7, album sales comprise 146,000 (up 15,807%), SEA units comprise 6,000 (down 1%, equaling 8.72 million streams of the album’s tracks) and TEA units comprise a negligible number.

Of the 146,000 copies sold for the week, CD sales comprise 77,000, while vinyl LP sales total 67,000. The album sold about 1,000 in cassettes and 1,000 in digital downloads, too. (The album was discounted at digital retail, which spurred a 268% increase in digital album sales, but only 1,000 copies sold for the week.)

Strikingly, 29% of the album’s to-date CD sales were generated in the week ending Oct. 7, concurrent with the availability of its signed CD. The signed CD was only sold via Swift’s webstore, for a limited time, during a pre-order window in late September. (Swift apparently signed so many copies, she “may never write the same again,” as her hand “is now frozen in the permanent shape of a claw.”) Of Fearless (Taylor’s Version)‘s 400,000 total album sales to-date, CD sales comprise 264,000 of that sum — with 77,000 of those CDs sold in the latest tracking week.

As for the vinyl LP sales of Fearless (Taylor’s Version), its 67,000 sold marks the fourth-largest sales week for a vinyl album since MRC Data began tracking music sales in 1991. Her own Evermore holds the record, with 102,000 sold in its first week of availability on vinyl (June 12-dated chart). The debut frames of Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour (76,000; Sept. 4) and Billie Eilish’s Happier Than Ever (73,000; Aug. 14) are in second and third place, respectively.

Fearless (Taylor’s Version) was issued in two vinyl editions: a gold-colored version that was sold through Swift’s webstore and widely available to all retailers and a red-colored edition exclusive to Target.

With the rush in sales for Fearless (Taylor’s Version), its release-to-date sales now climb to 400,000 in the U.S. That makes it the No. 2-selling album of 2021, second only to Swift’s own 2020 release Evermore, which has sold 434,000 copies in 2021. The No. 3-selling album of 2021 is Rodrigo’s 2021 release Sour, with 378,000. Thus, Swift has both the Nos. 1 and 2-selling albums of 2021, as well as the year’s top-selling album released in 2021: Fearless (Taylor’s Version).

For good measure, Swift has three albums among the top 10-sellers of 2021, as Folklore is the No. 7 best-selling album of the year, with 228,000.

With the return of Fearless (Taylor’s Version) to No. 1 after nearly six months, it’s the first album to wait that long between weeks on top since last November, when Luke Combs’ What You See Is What You Get returned to No. 1 after nearly a year. (Earlier in 2021, on the June 12-dated chart, Swift’s own Evermore returned to No. 1 for a fourth week, after nearly five months, following its vinyl LP release.)

Further, with Fearless (Taylor’s Version)’s leap from No. 157 to No. 1, it has the largest positional jump to No. 1 since the April 12, 1997, chart, when The Notorious B.I.G.’s Life After Death rose 176-1 after street date violation sales enabled its debut on the chart a week early.

Lastly, Swift’s total weeks at No. 1, across all nine of her No. 1 albums, now rises to 53. She continues to have the third-most weeks atop the list dating to the chart’s 1956 start. The Beatles have the most, with 132, while Elvis Presley is in second place with 67.

Fearless (Taylor’s Version) is a re-recorded version of Swift’s No. 1 2008 album Fearless. The re-recorded album has 26 tracks, including re-recordings of the original 13 songs on Fearless, along with the six bonus songs added to a 2009 reissue of Fearless (dubbed the Platinum Edition) and the 2010 single “Today Was a Fairytale.” Beyond those 20 re-recordings, Fearless (Taylor’s Version) also has six newly recorded “from the vault” songs that were written for the original Fearless album but were never recorded and released until 2021.

At No. 2 on the new Billboard 200, Drake’s Certified Lover Boy is a non-mover with 110,000 equivalent album units earned (down 19%). The album spent its first three weeks on the chart at No. 1.

Meek Mill collects his seventh top 10 album on the Billboard 200 as Expensive Pain debuts at No. 3. The set earned 95,000 equivalent album units in the week ending Oct. 7. Of that sum, SEA units comprise 82,000 (equaling 110.53 million on-demand streams of the set’s songs), album sales comprise 10,000 and TEA units comprise 3,000.

YoungBoy Never Broke Again’s Sincerely, Kentrell falls from No. 1 to No. 4 in its second week with 71,000 equivalent album units earned (down 48%). Lil Nas X’s Montero dips 3-5 (45,000; down 22%), Olivia Rodrigo’s former No. 1 Sour moves 5-6 (just over 43,000; down 5%) and Doja Cat’s Planet Her is down 6-7 (43,000; down 2%).

Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga’s second collaborative album, Love for Sale, debuts at No. 8 on the Billboard 200. The pair’s first project, Cheek to Cheek, debuted at No. 1 in 2014.

Love for Sale is a covers collection of songs written by Cole Porter. Cheek to Cheek featured renditions of favorites from the American songbook by an assortment of songwriters. Love for Sale starts with 41,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, album sales comprise 38,000; SEA units comprise 3,000 (equaling 3.85 million on-demand streams of the set’s songs) and TEA units comprise a negligible number.

Love for Sale marks Bennett’s sixth top 10 album on the Billboard 200, and Lady Gaga’s 10th top 10.

Bennett achieved his first top 10 in 1962 with I Left My Heart in San Francisco. It climbed from No. 11 to No. 7 on the Monoaural LP’s chart dated Oct. 6, 1962. (At the time, there were two main album charts, a Monoaural LP’s chart, and a Stereo LP’s chart.) Gaga’s first top 10 came on the March 7, 2009-dated Billboard 200, when The Fame rose 26-10.

With Love for Sale’s top 10 arrival, Bennett has a 59-year span of top 10 albums on the Billboard 200 – the longest span of top 10s for a living artist.

Only Nat “King” Cole, who died in 1965, has a greater span of top 10s among all acts: a 63-year and eight-month span between his first top 10, Love Is the Thing, in April of 1957 and his most recent top 10, The Christmas Song, in January of 2021.

The 95-year-old Bennett made his Billboard 200 debut with the simply-titled Tony on Feb. 23, 1957 (when the chart was known as Best Selling Pop Albums).

Rounding out the new top 10 on the Billboard 200 is a pair of former No. 1s: Morgan Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album falls 7-9 (40,000 equivalent album units; up 2%) and Kanye West’s Donda drops 4-10 (39,000; down 20%).

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Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga’s ‘Love for Sale’ Launches Atop Jazz Charts & In Billboard 200 Top 10

Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga’s second collaborative album, Love for Sale, debuts at No. 8 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart and arrives atop both Billboard’s Traditional Jazz Albums and overall Jazz Albums charts (all dated Oct. 16). On Traditional Jazz Albums, its Bennett’s 15th No. 1, breaking him out of a tie with Harry Connick, Jr. for the most No. 1s in the 54-year history of the chart.

Love for Sale follows Bennett and Lady Gaga’s first project, Cheek to Cheek, which reached No. 1 on all three charts in 2014.

Love for Sale is a covers collection of songs written by Cole Porter, including familiar tunes like “Night and Day,” “I Get a Kick Out of You” and “It’s De-Lovely.” Cheek to Cheek featured renditions of favorites from the American songbook by an assortment of songwriters.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. All of the Oct. 16, 2021-dated charts will be posted in full on Billboard’s website on Oct. 12. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.

Love for Sale starts with 41,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Oct. 7, according to MRC Data. Of that sum, album sales comprise 38,000; SEA units comprise 3,000 (equaling 3.85 million on-demand streams of the set’s songs) and TEA units comprise a negligible number.

Love for Sale marks Bennett’s sixth top 10 album on the Billboard 200 and Lady Gaga’s 10th top 10.

Bennett achieved his first top 10 album in 1962 with I Left My Heart in San Francisco. It climbed from No. 11 to No. 7 on Monoaural LP’s chart dated Oct. 6, 1962. (At the time, there were two main album charts, a Monoaural LP’s chart, and a Stereo LP’s chart. The Billboard 200 began as a regularly published weekly chart in 1956, though it wouldn’t become known by its current name, the Billboard 200, until 1992.)

Gaga’s first top 10 came on the March 7, 2009-dated Billboard 200, when The Fame rose 26-10.

With Love for Sale’s top 10 arrival, Bennett has a 59-year span of top 10 albums on the Billboard 200 – the longest span of top 10s for a living artist.

Only Nat “King” Cole, who died in 1965, has a greater span of top 10s among all acts: a 63-year and eight-month span between his first top 10, Love Is the Thing, in April of 1957 and his most recent top 10, The Christmas Song, in January of 2021.

The 95-year-old Bennett made his Billboard 200 debut with the simply-titled Tony on Feb. 23, 1957 (when the chart was known as Best Selling Pop Albums).

Love for Sale also debuts at No. 1 on both Billboard’s Traditional Jazz Albums and overall Jazz Albums charts. On the former, its Bennett’s 15th No. 1, breaking him out of a tie with Harry Connick, Jr. for the most No. 1s in the 54-year history of the chart. (The list began in 1967.) The Traditional Jazz Albums chart ranks the most popular traditional jazz albums of the week, by equivalent album units.

On the overall Jazz Albums chart, which started in 1993, Love for Sale is Bennett’s 10th leader, tying him with Connick, Jr. for the third-most No. 1s. (Kenny G has the most No. 1s on Jazz Albums, with 12, followed by Diana Krall, with 11.) The Jazz Albums tally ranks the most popular jazz albums of the week, by equivalent album units, across all flavors of jazz – including both traditional and contemporary jazz titles.

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