LOS ANGELES - British rockers Muse stormed to the top of the weekly U.S. Billboard 200 album chart on Wednesday, the band’s first time to notch the coveted No. 1 spot. ‘Drones,’ the seventh album from Muse, sold 79,000 albums, 26,000 songs and was streamed 3.3 million times, totaling 84,000 units, according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan. Taylor Swift’s ‘1989’ held steady at No. 2 this week, selling 64,000 units in its 33rd week on the chart, while Icelandic folk band Of Monsters and Men debuted at No. 3 with ‘Beneath The Skin’ selling 61,000 units. The Billboard 200 chart tallies album sales, song sales (10 songs equal one album) and streaming activity (1,500 streams equal one album).
Last week’s chart-topper, British indie-rockers Florence + the Machine, dropped to No 4 this week. Veteran British rockers The Rolling Stones entered the chart at No. 5 with a re-release of its classic 1971 album ‘Sticky Fingers,’ selling 36,000 units last week. A special vinyl edition of the album, featuring alternate cover art from the record’s original release in Spain, went on sale on Tuesday. Swift’s ‘Bad Blood‘ single continued its hold on the top spot of Billboard’s Digital Songs chart, which measures digital download sales. ‘Bad Blood‘ sold 206,000 copies last week.