Music

The pop superstar's '1989' returns to No. 1 with 375,000 equivalent units, while the Young Money femcee's 'The Pinkprint' lands at No. 2 with 244,000.

• Dec 25, 2014

AceShowbiz - As predicted, Taylor Swift's "1989" makes a triumphant return to No. 1 on this week's Billboard 200. The 25-year-old superstar's newest album, which jumps from last week's No. 2, sells 375,000 equivalent units, 331,000 of which are pure album sales while the rest is the combination of track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA).

Swift's first pop effort has so far sold a total of 3.34 million and is close to overtaking the top selling album of 2014 title from the "Frozen (2013)" soundtrack which has sold 3.46 million this year. Now that her "1989" is spending its sixth non-consecutive week at the chart's top spot, the "Blank Space" singer ties with Mariah Carey for the second-most weeks at No. 1 among female musicians. Whitney Houston is still on the lead with 46 weeks.

"1989" easily beats Nicki Minaj's "The Pinkprint", which arrives at No. 2 with 244,000 (194,000 in pure album sales). Trailing behind the Young Money raptress is Pentatonix, whose "That's Christmas to Me" sells another 203,000 copies. Last week's first placer, J. Cole's "2014 Forest Hills Drive", falls to No. 4 with 135,000.

D'Angelo's surprise album "Black Messiah" closes out the top 5 with 117,000 units. The record marks the R&B superstar's first in more than a decade. It follows his two albums "Brown Sugar" which peaked at No. 22 in 1995 and "Voodoo" that landed at No. 1 in 2000.

At No. 6, Sam Smith's "In the Lonely Hour" rises from No. 8 with 102,000. One Direction's "FOUR" keeps its position steady at No. 7 with 101,000. Ed Sheeran's "X" and Garth Brooks' "Man Against Machine" jump one rung to No. 8 and No. 9 with 100,000 and 81,000, respectively, while AC/DC's "Rock or Bust" plunges from No. 5 to No. 10 with 76,000.

1. "1989" - Taylor Swift (375,000)
2. "The Pinkprint" - Nicki Minaj (244,000)
3. "That's Christmas to Me" - Pentatonix (203,000)
4. "2014 Forest Hills Drive" - J. Cole (135,000)
5. "Black Messiah" - D'Angelo (117,000)
6. "In the Lonely Hour" - Sam Smith (102,000)
7. "FOUR" - One Direction (101,000)
8. "X" - Ed Sheeran (100,000)
9. "Man Against Machine" - Garth Brooks (81,000)
10. "Rock or Bust" - AC/DC (76,000)