Kesha Makes Chart-Topping Debut With New Album ‘. (Period)’

Kesha’s new studio album . (Period) makes its mark on Billboard’s charts, as the set debuts at No. 1 on Top Album Sales, Vinyl Albums and Top Dance Albums (chart dated July 19). . (Period) is her first independently released album after a career with Kemosabe/RCA Records. The set was issued through the singer’s own Kesha Records label and distributed by Warner Music Group’s indie distribution arm Alternative Distribution Alliance.

All charts dated July 19 will be posted in full to Billboard’s website on July 15.

With . (Period)’s debut at No. 1 on Top Album Sales, it marks the singer-songwriter’s first No. 1 on the ranking since 2017’s Rainbow, and third leader overall. She also topped the chart with her debut effort, 2010’s Animal. Overall, . (Period) marks her fifth top 10 on the ranking.

. (Period) also debuts at No. 3 on Indie Store Album Sales, No. 3 on Independent Albums and No. 17 on the overall Billboard 200. On the latter, it’s her seventh top 40-charted album.

In its first week of release . (Period) earned 23,000 equivalent album units in the United States, in the tracking week ending July 10, according to Luminate. Of that sum, traditional album sales comprise 15,500, with vinyl purchases totaling nearly 11,000 (her best sales week ever on vinyl). The album was issued across seven vinyl variants, including two signed editions.

Equivalent album units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album.

On the Top Album Sales chart, Kesha is one of just two debuts in the top 10. KATSEYE’s BEAUTIFUL CHAOS holds at No. 2 (12,000 sold; down 59% in its second week), while the rest of the top six titles are former No. 1s. Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet jumps 19-3 (9,000; up 71% after the release of a new vinyl variant), ENHYPEN’s DESIRE : UNLEASH rises 8-4 (8,000; down 19%), Morgan Wallen’s I’m the Problem climbs 11-5 (7,000; down 12%) and Lorde’s Virgin falls 1-6 (6,500; down 84% in its second week). Vulfpeck notches its best sales week ever and first top 10 as Clarity of Cal debuts at No. 7 with 6,500 – nearly all from vinyl purchases. Pressed in just one edition, the set also starts at No. 3 on the Vinyl Albums chart.

Rounding out the rest of the top 10 on the Top Album Sales chart: Barbra Streisand’s The Secret of Life: Partners, Volume Two falls 4-8 (just over 4,000; down 77% in its second week), the KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack jumps 21-9 (a little more than 4,000; down 6%) and Charli xcx’s Brat bounds 45-10 (4,000; up 72% after a new CD variant was released).

Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The Vinyl Albums and Indie Store Album Sales charts rank the week’s top-sellers on vinyl, and at indie and small chain record stores, respectively. The Top Dance Albums, Independent Albums and the Billboard 200 rank the week’s most popular dance, independent and overall albums, by equivalent album units earned, respectively.