Red Hot Chili Peppers Score Second No. 1 of 2022 on Top Album Sales Chart With ‘Return of the Dream Canteen’

Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Return of the Dream Canteen debuts atop multiple Billboard album charts (dated Oct. 29). The set, which is the band’s second studio effort of 2022, bows at No. 1 on Top Album Sales, Top Rock & Alternative Albums, Top Rock Albums, Top Alternative Albums, Top Current Album Sales, Tastemaker Albums and Vinyl Albums. The set sold 56,000 copies in the U.S. in the week ending Oct. 20, according to Luminate.

Notably, on the Top Album Sales chart, the Peppers have scored a pair of No. 1s in 2022 (Unlimited Love and Return of the Dream Canteen) – making it the first group with two No. 1 rock albums on the chart in less than 12 months since 2005. That year, System of a Down doubled-up at No. 1 with Mezmerize and Hypnotize. (The Peppers have logged their two 2022 No. 1s six months and two weeks apart; System of a Down notched theirs in 2005 six months and a week apart.)

In total, the Peppers have logged four No. 1s on Top Album Sales: Canteen, Unlimited Love, The Getaway (2016) and Stadium Arcadium (2006).

Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now Luminate. Pure album sales were the sole measurement utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album units and streaming equivalent album units. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.

Top Rock & Alternative Albums, Top Rock Albums and Top Alternative Albums rank the week’s most popular rock and alternative albums, rock albums and alternative albums, respectively, by equivalent album units. Top Current Album Sales lists the week’s best-selling current (not catalog, or older albums) albums by traditional album sales. Tastemaker Albums ranks the week’s best-selling albums at independent and small chain record stores. Vinyl Albums tallies the top-selling vinyl albums of the week.

Of Return of the Dream Canteen’s 56,000 copies sold, vinyl sales comprise 26,500 – 48% of its first-week. CD sales comprise 21,500 – 38% of its debut frame. The album’s robust vinyl sum was driven by over 10 available variants, including exclusive versions for Target, independent record stores and the Peppers’ webstore.

The album was led by the single “Tippa My Tongue,” which hit No. 1 on both the Rock & Alternative Airplay and Alternative Airplay charts. On the latter, it’s the 15th No. 1 for the group, extending its record for the most No. 1s in the chart’s history.

Stray Kids’ MAXIDENT falls to No. 2 in its second week on Top Album Sales, with 25,000 sold (down 78%). The 1975 collect its fourth top 10-charting effort on the list with Being Funny in a Foreign Language, as the band’s new studio set bows at No. 3 with 20,000 sold.

Backstreet Boys’ first holiday album, A Very Backstreet Christmas, launches at No. 4 on Top Album Sales with nearly 20,000 sold. It’s the 11th consecutive top 10 for the group – the entirety of their charting releases. It also opens at No. 1 the Top Holiday Albums chart, which ranks the week’s most popular holiday albums by equivalent album units.

Alter Bridge debuts at No. 5 with Pawns & Kings (14,000 sold) – giving the rock act its fourth top 10. NCT 127’s 2 Baddies falls 4-6 with 7,000 (down 40%), Beyoncé’s former leader Renaissance tumbles 2-7 with nearly 7,000 (down 86%) and Harry Styles’ chart-topping Harry’s House rises 13-8 with 6,500 (down 2%).

Rounding out the top 10 is the debut of Lil Baby’s It’s Only Me (No. 9; a little over 6,000) and TWICE’s former No. 1 Between 1&2: 11th Mini Album (11-10, 6,000; down 16%).

In the week ending Oct. 20, there were 1.680 million albums sold in the U.S. (down 11.4% compared to the previous week). Of that sum, physical albums (CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, etc.) comprised 1.32 million (down 13.7%) and digital albums comprised 360,000 (down 1.8%).

There were 644,000 CD albums sold in the week ending Oct. 13 (up down 9.9% week-over-week) and 666,000 vinyl albums sold (down 17.1%). Year-to-date CD album sales stand at 27.402 million (down 7.8% compared to the same time frame a year ago) and year-to-date vinyl album sales total 30.698 million (up 2%).

Overall year-to-date album sales total 74.832 million (down 7.6% compared to the same year-to-date time frame a year ago). Year-to-date physical album sales stand at 58.523 million (down 2.8%) and digital album sales total 16.309 million (down 21.6%).