Prince is on track to have the No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart next week, according to Billboard. Sources report that The Very Best of Prince compilation sold around 85,000 copies through iTunes in one day alone. The album could sell more than 150,000 equivalent album units in the week ending April 21, with between 90,000 and 100,000 being purely traditional album sales. If the album does top the list, it will be Prince’s fifth No. 1 ever and first since 2006’s 3121. Earlier in the week, Billboard actually predicted it would be Rihanna's ANTI and Sturgill Simpson's A Sailor's Guide to Earth that would be fighting it out for the top album spot. Even then, both albums were only estimated to sell around 45,000 each in the same amount of time.
However, that was before Prince's untimely passing. In the wake of his death, fans have eagerly been streaming, purchasing, and playing the songs from Prince's decades long career. Prince currently holds every spot on the Top 10 songs chart on iTunes. He also has seven of the top 10 spots on the iTunes Top 10 Albums Chart, including the top six spaces with only A$AP Ferg's Always Strive and Prosper keeping the albums from having a consecutive hold on the list. Prince singles are also doing noticeably well with his track sales expected to reach above 900,000.
Prince's posthumous success shouldn't be too much of a surprise to many who witnessed David Bowie's music collection receive a similar response following his death. Bowie's last record, Blackstar, earned the singer his first No. 1 record after he had passed away and simultaneously became the No. 1 album on both iTunes and Amazon. At the time, Bowie logged nine other records in the Top-200. Clearly, fans understand the best way to tribute their favorite musicians is to celebrate the lives with the music they left behind. Dig into your favorite Prince tracks on the music service of your choice and read about the very important lessons Prince taught us here.
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