Music

The effort has also become the second-largest debut for an album by a woman this year.

• Aug 27, 2018

AceShowbiz - Ariana Grande has scored her third number one album on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart with Sweetener.

The God is a Woman hitmaker has sold 231,000 equivalent album units to take the top spot.

Grande's fourth studio album has become the second-largest debut for an album by a woman this year, following Cardi B's Invasion of Privacy, which debuted with 255,000 units.

Travis Scott's Astroworld falls one spot to number two, while Nicki Minaj's Queen slips from two to three.

Drake's Scorpion and Post Malone's beerbongs & bentleys round out the top five.

Ariana's new album also debuted atop the British charts on Friday, August 24.

Meanwhile, Aretha Franklin has scored her highest-charting album in 50 years 10 days after her death, as her 30 Greatest Hits compilation picked up 52,000 units in the past week to climb to number six on the new Billboard 200 albums list.

It's Franklin's highest charting album since Aretha Now hit number three in 1968.

30 Greatest Hits was released in 1985 but did not chart until 2012, when it spent two weeks on the countdown, peaking at 117.

1. "Sweetener" - Ariana Grande (231,000 units)
2. "Astroworld" - Travis Scott (II) (110,000 units)
3. "Queen" - Nicki Minaj (95,000 units)
4. "Scorpion" - Drake (93,000 units)
5. "Beerbongs & Bentleys" - Post Malone (57,000 units)
6. "30 Greatest Hits" - Aretha Franklin (52,000 units)
7. "All of It" - Cole Swindell (50,000 units)
8. "Young Stoner Life: Slime Language" - Various Artist (41,000 units)
9. "Goodbye & Good Riddance" - Juice WRLD (41,000 units)
10. "Invasion of Privacy" - Cardi B (34,000 units)