The 46-track Broadway cast album of the new musical Hamilton debuted at #12 on the Billboard 200 chart for the week, the highest debut for a cast recording since the chart combined mono and stereo tallies in 1963. It was also the #3 best-selling Rap album, an unprecedented feat for a Broadway cast album.
The last cast album to debut in a higher position on Billboard 200 was Camelot at #4 the week of Jan. 23, 1961. Other cast albums have risen higher in the weeks following release, including Hair, which spent 13 weeks at #1 in 1969
It is impressive indeed. I'm curious to see if they will out-peak the Book of Mormon cast album once the physical album is released (Book of Mormon's cast recording peaked at #03 on the Billboard Hot 200 with 61k units sold that week)
Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.
Didn't Book of Mormon hit #3 partially because they sold the downloadable album for 99 cents on Amazon? Not that it isn't impressive regardless, but it's a little easier to get to the top of the charts when you're selling the whole thing for a dollar.
I am a firm believer in serendipity- all the random pieces coming together in one wonderful moment, when suddenly you see what their purpose was all along.
Pretty great debut considering the physical CDs aren't even available yet and the album costs almost twice as much the average album. I love that we live in a world where the top rap albums are by Fetty Wap, Drake & Future ... and Hamilton.
I think BOM peaked right after the Tonys so it will be interesting to see if Hamilton can match or even surpass them.