Billie Eilish’s ‘Hit Me Hard and Soft’ Opens at No. 2 as Taylor Swift Continues to Top Albums Chart

The results are in: Billie Eilish came in second place in the race against Taylor Swift on this week’s albums chart. Eilish’s third studio effort, “Hit Me Hard and Soft,” debuts as her highest-performing album yet with 339,000 units earned and over 193 million streams.

“The Tortured Poets Department” meanwhile logs a fifth straight and total week at No. 1 with 378,000 equivalent album units in the United States, per data provide by Luminate. The album led with strong sales numbers following the release of six new digital album download variants and a new CD variant, along with the re-release of four deluxe CD editions and the signed CD edition of the album.

Swift’s album was the top-selling effort of the week with 210,000 units. Eilish, meanwhile, logged 191,000 units with its vinyl sales accounting for 90,000 of that sum.

The pop juggernauts are also similarly hitting the ground running with massive tours — Swift is set to start the European leg of her record-breaking “Eras Tour” while Eilish is embarking on a world tour starting in September in Quebec. Eilish will continue with a run of North American dates set through December before hitting Australia, followed by Europe, the U.K. and Ireland throughout the next year.

Outside of the top two, Morgan Wallen’s chart-topping “One Thing at a Time” (a March 2023 release) makes a return to No. 3 following a surge induced largely by the popularity of Wallen and Post Malone’s new single, “I Had Some Help.” Wallen also holds the No. 6 spot on the list with his 2021 release, “Dangerous: The Double Album.”

Gunna’s “One of Wun” moves to No. 4 after spending its debut week at No. 2, and Future and Metro Boomin’s pot-stirring “We Don’t Trust You” slips to No. 5. (48,000; down 10%). Noah Kahan’s “Stick Season” is at No. 7 while Zach Bryan’s self-titled album is at No. 8 and SZA’s “SOS” moves to No. 9. Benson Boone’s “Fireworks & Rollerblades” rounds out the Top 10 at No. 10 with 33,000 units.