As expected, Billie Eilish is headed toward another No. 1.
According to first-week sales projections shared by Hits Daily Double, the Grammy-winning artist will likely top the Billboard 200 with Happier Than Ever. The project is expected tomove 200,000 to 225,000 album equivalent units in its first week, about 50 precent of which will come from traditional sales boosted by exclusive vinyl releases at major retail chains.
For comparison, Eilish’s 2019 debut album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? debuted at No. 1 with 313,000 units (170,000 in pure sales).
Ahead of her sophomore album release, Eilish spoke to VEVO about her creative process, which she described as much more “natural and satisfying.”
“Before, I always felt under pressure and anxious and felt like I wasn’t doing enough, right, or doing a good job,” she admitted. “Or this isn’t good enough. I felt like I wasn’t very talented at the time, and I actually feel much more confident in my craft now. And I feel that I’ve worked really hard on that. And I think that this album was made in a very perfect time for me creatively.”
Happier Than Ever spans 16 tracks, all of which were co-written and produced by Eilish’s brother, Finneas. The project will be supported by a 2022 world that kicks off Feb. 3 in New Orleans, followed by stops in NYC, Chicago, Seattle, London, and Berlin.
In other chart news, Prince’s posthumous album Welcome 2 America is projected to move 45,000 to 50,000 units in its first week. His previous posthumous release, 2019’s Originals, debuted at No. 15 with 22,302 total album equivalent units (20,612 in pure album sales.)
