Madonna Returns to Number One on the Charts With ‘Confessions II’
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- Confessions II debuted at Number One on the Billboard 200 with 134,000 equivalent album units in its first week, giving Madonna her first chart-topper of the 2020s
- Madonna now has 10 Number One albums, a run that began with 1984's 'Like a Virgin' — making her the only artist with at least one Billboard 200 #1 in each of the 1980s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020s
- Madonna becomes just the fourth artist to amass 10 Number Ones on both the Billboard 200 and the Hot 100, joining the Beatles, Taylor Swift, and Drake
- Her last Billboard 200 #1 was 2019's 'Madame X'; 2012's 'MDNA' also topped the chart, while 2015's 'Rebel Heart' peaked at Number Two
- Rolling Stone's Rob Sheffield called 'Confessions II' Madonna's 'best album in 20 years,' describing it as a 64-minute nonstop groove that flows like a club-DJ set
- Despite decades of hits, Madonna never topped the Billboard 200 in the 1990s — 'Erotica,' 'Bedtime Stories,' and 'Ray of Light' all missed the top spot
Why it matters: Madonna extends a career-spanning chart record no other artist can match: a #1 album in four separate decades, the latest after a 134,000-unit debut. Joining the Beatles, Swift, and Drake as the fourth artist with 10 #1s on both the Billboard 200 and Hot 100 cements her cross-format dominance at age 66, a longevity milestone the industry rarely sees.
