Taylor Swift is back at #1 on the Billboard 200, but the October 10 chart also brings a career breakthrough for Tinashe, a new Top 10 album for Kenny Chesney and a high-profile return for Alice in Chains. Farther down, ENHYPEN makes the largest positional gain, while Miley and Lizzy McAlpine take enormous falls.
Comparing the new list with October 3 reveals 20 albums that were absent a week earlier, replacing 20 departures. Among the 180 albums carried over, 106 rise, 69 fall and five stay put; the busiest action includes brand-new releases, returning favorites and several older albums making substantial gains.
Taylor Swift Returns to #1 With The Life of a Showgirl
Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl jumps 20 places from #21 to #1. Billboard reports that the September 25 Encore expansion, with four additional songs, helped lift the album to 173,000 equivalent units for the week ending October 1, up 619 percent.
This is its 13th total week at #1, with the original album and expanded edition counted together. Swift’s lift extends beyond that project: Midnights rises from #104 to #76, a 28-place gain that ranks second among this week’s climbers.
Olivia Rodrigo Climbs as Tinashe Scores Her First Top 10 Album
Olivia Rodrigo moves from #5 to #2 with you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love. She also has two older albums gaining ground: Sour rises 11 places from #42 to #31, and Guts jumps 21 positions from #59 to #38.
That gives Rodrigo three albums in the Top 40. Her newest release is the highest, but the movement of Sour and Guts makes this a broader catalog rebound rather than a week in which only one record is attracting attention.
Tinashe’s POPSTAR Debuts at #6
Tinashe enters at #6 with POPSTAR, her first Top 10 album and highest Billboard 200 placement. Her previous best was Aquarius, which peaked at #17 in 2014; Quantum Baby, released in 2024, reached #199.
The new album therefore moves her into a level of chart success she had not previously reached. It is also the highest-positioned arrival absent from last week’s list, coming in ahead of Chesney, Alice in Chains, Ms. Rachel and &TEAM.
Kenny Chesney Arrives at #7, and Alice in Chains Returns at #14
Kenny Chesney’s Silver Sands Marina debuts at #7, giving him his 17th Top 10 album. Billboard reports about 35,000 equivalent units, with almost 30,000 coming from album sales.
That sales-heavy opening also puts Silver Sands Marina at #1 on Top Album Sales. It follows “Carry On,” which reaches #1 on Country Airplay on the October 10 chart, giving Chesney a new album near the top and a song leading the country radio ranking.
Alice in Chains Brings Unplugged Back to #14
Alice in Chains returns at #14 with MTV Unplugged. This is an older album reappearing, not a brand-new live record: the chart lists 34 total weeks and a previous peak of #3.
Its return is one of the week’s most striking rock placements, ahead of long-running releases by Nirvana, Linkin Park, Metallica and many others. The “Nutshell” performance below comes from the Unplugged session represented by the returning album.
Ms. Rachel and &TEAM Enter the Top 20 as Familiar Leaders Shift
Ms. Rachel debuts at #16 with I’m So Happy, while &TEAM arrives at #20 with Mark On Me. Together with Tinashe and Chesney, those are four first-week releases entering within the first 20 positions.
Their arrivals share that part of the chart with returning MTV Unplugged and several former leaders. Michael Jackson’s Thriller sits at #19, down one place, and Karol G’s No Me Arrepiento de Sentir Tanto slips from #16 to #17.
Noah Kahan Has Two Albums in the Top 10
The rest of the Top 10 mixes small moves with major arrivals: Ella Langley’s Dandelion falls from #2 to #3, Morgan Wallen’s I’m the Problem stays at #4, and Noah Kahan’s The Great Divide moves from #6 to #5. Olivia Dean’s The Art of Loving rises three places from #11 to #8, returning to the Top 10.
Kahan also advances from #10 to #9 with Stick Season, giving him two Top 10 albums. Drake’s ICEMAN moves from #9 to #10, while Wallen’s One Thing at a Time rises from #13 to #11 and SZA’s SOS climbs from #15 to #12.
ENHYPEN Leads the Gainers, With Swift and Drake Close Behind
The biggest positional jump belongs to ENHYPEN’s THE SIN : BLISS, which rises 35 places from #196 to #161. It moves away from the bottom five after sitting just four positions above the final chart slot last week.
Swift’s Midnights follows with its 28-place rise, while Drake’s Nothing Was the Same jumps 26 places from #159 to #133. Those are the three largest gains among albums present in both weeks, even though none of them finishes in the Top 50.
Summer Walker and Cigarettes After Sex Climb
Cigarettes After Sex’s self-titled album climbs 25 positions from #197 to #172. Summer Walker’s Over It rises 24 places from #187 to #163, completing the five biggest positional gains.
These are gains for individual albums, and other records by the same artists can behave differently. Drake’s Take Care slips from #23 to #24 and Thank Me Later falls from #78 to #81, even as Nothing Was the Same makes its much larger advance.
Hozier, Chris Stapleton and Metallica Also Make Big Gains
Chris Stapleton’s Traveller and Hozier’s self-titled debut each rise 23 places, reaching #123 and #127 from #146 and #150. Gracie Abrams’ The Secret of Us climbs 22 positions from #131 to #109, just behind the leading five gainers.
The gains continue with Brooks & Dunn’s The Greatest Hits Collection, up 20 from #148 to #128, and the Weeknd’s After Hours, up 20 from #155 to #135. These catalog moves are substantial even when the albums remain well below the chart’s first page.
Metallica Climbs 19 Places
Metallica’s self-titled album rises 19 positions from #165 to #146. Metallica closed its October 3 show at Sphere in Las Vegas with “Enter Sandman,” captured in the live video above, during the band’s Sphere residency. The same-sized gain takes The Very Best of Daryl Hall John Oates from #125 to #106, while Koe Wetzel’s The Night Champion climbs 17 places from #175 to #158.
There are smaller but notable advances higher up: sombr’s I Barely Know Her rises from #93 to #78, and Sienna Spiro’s Visitor moves from #28 to #21. Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours edges from #31 to #30, crossing back into the Top 30.
Miley and Lizzy McAlpine Suffer the Week’s Steepest Falls
Miley’s Bass Persuades falls from #1 to #157, a 156-position slide. Last week’s leader is still on the chart, but it has moved from the summit into the lower quarter in one update.
Earth, Wind & Fire’s Greatest Hits drops 58 places from #98 to #156. Harry Styles’ Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally. falls 29 positions from #74 to #103, and Future’s The Real Me slides 28 places from #171 to #199, completing the five biggest drops.
Lizzy McAlpine Falls 145 Positions
Lizzy McAlpine’s Angel has the second-largest decline, dropping 145 positions from #17 to #162. These two falls are dramatically larger than every other decline in the week-to-week comparison.
There are sharper reversals near the top, too: Riley Green’s That’s Just Me falls from #3 to #15, and Jhené Aiko’s Westside Whimsy moves from #8 to #22. Both leave the Top 10, while Ariana Grande’s petal slips seven positions from #20 to #27.
Deftones, Korn and Familiar Pop Albums Reappear
Deftones’ Around the Fur returns at #173, and Korn’s Greatest Hits, Vol. I comes back at #185. Three Days Grace’s One-X, at #186, is a different case: it was already #192 last week and gains six places.
Several other familiar records reappear: Post Malone’s Hollywood’s Bleeding at #71, Dolly Parton’s Ultimate Dolly Parton at #73, Teddy Swims’ I’ve Tried Everything but Therapy (Part I) at #176, the Notorious B.I.G.’s Greatest Hits at #195 and Chris Brown’s self-titled album at #196. Swift also returns with Evermore at #190 and 1989 (Taylor’s Version) at #198.
Leon Bridges Arrives as Other Albums Leave
Other arrivals absent from the October 3 list are Rise Up! Hamilton: The Anthology at #37, Leon Bridges’ Happiness Anytime at #74, Nessa Barrett’s Tough Love at #137 and DDG’s HIT-A-THON at #141. Hermanos Gutiérrez’s Los Ojos del Cóndor arrives at #171, and the Toy Story 5 soundtrack appears at #184.
Some artists lose one album while gaining another appearance: Parton’s Diamonds & Rhinestones: The Greatest Hits Collection departs, and Post Malone’s The Diamond Collection disappears as Hollywood’s Bleeding returns. Kahan’s The Great Divide: The Last of the Bugs EP leaves, although both The Great Divide and Stick Season remain in the Top 10.
Twenty Albums Depart, Including Last Week’s #7
The highest-positioned departure is beabadoobee’s Pylon, which was #7 last week. Also gone are Anthrax’s Cursum Perficio (#27), Carly Rae Jepsen’s Day and Night (#29), Post Malone’s The Diamond Collection (#30), Luke Bryan’s Signs (#41), EVAN’s Death of Me (#49) and Beck’s Ride Lonesome (#67).
The next group consists of Parton’s Diamonds & Rhinestones (#79), Yeat’s COCOON (#88), Kahan’s The Great Divide: The Last of the Bugs (#103), the original Broadway cast recording of Hamilton: An American Musical (#110), Ken Carson’s xperiment (#116) and BE:FIRST’s WATCH ME (#130). Those are departing titles, rather than a claim that every credited artist has vanished from the entire chart.
Dolly Parton Remains as More Albums Depart
The remaining exits are Orville Peck’s Mule (#134), Beyoncé’s B’Day (#145), Fetty Wap’s self-titled album (#173), Tove Lo’s ESTRUS (#184), the Bee Gees’ Number Ones (#191), KATSEYE’s Beautiful Chaos (#195) and Sublime’s self-titled album (#199). Together, those three groups account for all 20 departures.
Swift wins back the top spot, Tinashe reaches a career high, Chesney adds another Top 10 release and Alice in Chains brings Unplugged back into the Top 20. Below them, the biggest gains belong to albums far from the summit, and the biggest drops belong to records that were near it just a week earlier.
