The Swedish hard rock band Ghost has achieved a significant milestone by securing the No. 1 position on the Billboard 200 albums chart for the very first time. Their latest studio album, titled Skeletá, has made a remarkable debut at the top of the chart dated May 10, garnering an impressive total of 86,000 equivalent album units in the United States during the week ending May 1, as reported by Luminate. Notably, the overwhelming majority of this initial count, approximately 89%, was propelled by traditional album sales, significantly boosted by a surge in vinyl sales figures.
The launch of Skeletá marks a historic moment for Ghost, as it not only sets a record for the band in terms of both equivalent album units and traditional album sales but also signifies their best performance to date in these metrics.
With the release of Skeletá, Ghost achieves another remarkable feat, marking their ninth entry on the Billboard 200. Their journey on this chart began in 2013 with their second album, Infestissumam, which notably reached No. 28, making it their first appearance in the top 40. With Skeletá, the band secures its eighth top 40 entry and fifth album to break into the top 10. Previously, they reached as high as No. 2 with their last studio album, Impera, released in 2022.
The Billboard 200 chart is a reflective measure of the most popular albums in the U.S., based on a variety of consumption metrics as compiled by Luminate. These metrics include album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA), and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each equivalent unit represents one album sale, or the equivalent of 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported streams, or 1,250 paid/subscription streams that occur on-demand. The comprehensive chart for the week dated May 10, 2025, will be fully published on Billboard’s website on May 6. For the latest chart updates, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on social media platforms like X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.
From the Skeletá album’s total of 86,000 equivalent album units in its first week, album sales accounted for 77,000 units, allowing it to debut at No. 1 on the Top Album Sales chart. Additionally, SEA units made up 9,000, which translates to approximately 12.45 million on-demand official streams of the album’s tracks, while TEA units contributed a minimal amount. The album’s initial sales were heavily influenced by its wide availability, with more than 15 vinyl variants, three CD versions, and four cassette options, all sharing the same tracklist but featuring unique collectible packaging.
With Skeletá achieving 9,000 SEA units, translating to an impressive 12.45 million on-demand streams, Ghost has recorded its highest streaming week ever for an album. This achievement surpasses the opening week of Impera, which garnered 7,000 SEA units and 9.11 million streams for its songs.
The album’s promotion was led by the radio single “Satanized,” which has successfully become the band’s 10th top 10-charting hit on the Mainstream Rock Airplay chart as of April. This single is part of a trio of successful tracks that the album produced prior to its official release on the Hot Hard Rock Songs chart. “Satanized” peaked at No. 3 on the March 22 chart, followed closely by “Lachryma” which reached No. 3 on April 26, and “Peacefield” which landed at No. 13 on May 3. Notably, Skeletá represents the first complete project from Ghost since their viral hit “Mary on a Cross” reached No. 90 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2022.
The debut of Skeletá at the top of the Billboard 200 signifies numerous landmark achievements for Ghost. Below is a summary of these impressive accomplishments:
Not only does Skeletá represent Ghost’s best week on record for both equivalent album units and traditional album sales, but it also eclipses their previous high achieved with Impera, which debuted on March 26, 2022, with 70,000 units, of which nearly 63,000 were traditional album sales. Additionally, it’s important to note that Skeletá also boasts the largest streaming week ever for an album from Ghost.
With this remarkable achievement, Ghost has recorded the biggest week of 2025 in terms of either equivalent album units or traditional album sales across any rock, hard rock, or alternative album.
Among the first-week album sales of Skeletá, vinyl purchases accounted for over 44,000 copies. This figure not only marks the largest vinyl sales week for Ghost but also stands as the biggest week for any hard rock album in terms of vinyl sales in the modern tracking era, which began when Luminate started compiling data in 1991. Furthermore, it ranks as the third-largest vinyl sales week in the modern era across all rock albums, only trailing behind the opening weeks of blink-182’s One More Time… (49,000 in 2023) and boygenius’ The Record (45,000 in 2023).
Skeletá has notably become the first hard rock album to top the Billboard 200 in over four years, and it stands as the only rock, hard rock, or alternative album to achieve the No. 1 position in 2025. The previous hard rock album to reach No. 1 was AC/DC’s Power Up, which debuted at the top on the Nov. 28, 2020 chart and spent one week at No. 1. The last rock or alternative album to lead the chart was Coldplay’s Moon Music, which debuted at No. 1 on the Oct. 19, 2024 chart, also spending one week at the top.
Albums classified as rock, alternative, and hard rock are those that are either eligible for or have charted on Billboard’s Top Rock Albums, Top Alternative Albums, and Top Hard Rock Albums charts respectively.
Skeletá not only marks Ghost’s first No. 1 album but also represents the first chart-topping album for their label, Loma Vista Recordings. Additionally, it is a significant achievement for the Concord Label Group, marking their first leader in almost a decade since James Taylor’s Before This World debuted at No. 1 on the July 4, 2015-dated chart. Previously, Loma Vista had reached as high as No. 2 with Impera in 2022.
Skeletá stands out as the only new debut within the top 10 of the latest Billboard 200 chart. The entries occupying Nos. 2 through 7 are all prior No. 1 albums. SZA’s SOS has slipped to No. 2, earning 52,000 equivalent album units (a decline of 1%), while Kendrick Lamar’s GNX has fallen from 2 to 3 with 48,000 units (down 5%). Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time dropped from 3 to 4 with 46,000 units (down 4%), and Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet has decreased from 4 to 5 with 44,000 units (down 8%). Furthermore, PARTYNEXTDOOR and Drake’s $ome $exy $ongs 4 U has fallen from 5 to 6 with 43,000 units (down 6%), and Bad Bunny’s Debí Tirar Más Fotos has dropped from 6 to 7 with 38,000 units (down 3%).
Shaboozey’s Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going has made a significant leap from 45 to 8, accumulating 35,000 equivalent album units (an impressive increase of 110%) following a deluxe reissue on April 25 that added six new songs, bringing the total song count to 18. This album initially debuted and peaked at No. 5 on the June 15, 2024-dated list, and Shaboozey also performed at the Stagecoach Festival on April 26.
Playboi Carti’s chart-topping album MUSIC is positioned at 7-9, with 34,000 equivalent album units (down 11%), while Morgan Wallen’s previous leader, Dangerous: The Double Album, rounds out the top 10 as it slips from 9 to 10 with 33,000 units (down 3%).
Luminate, the independent data provider for the Billboard charts, conducts a thorough review of all data submissions utilized to compile the weekly chart rankings. This process involves the review and authentication of data, ensuring accuracy in partnership with Billboard. Any data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is excluded based on established criteria before the final calculations for the chart are completed and published.
