Mars’ previous No. 1, Unorthodox Jukebox, reached the top in March 2013, nearly three months after its release. The Romantic also represents his fifth top-10 album, following solo projects 24K Magic (No. 2, 2016), Unorthodox Jukebox (No. 1, 2013), Doo-Wops & Hooligans (No. 2, 2010), and the collaborative Silk Sonic project An Evening With Silk Sonic (No. 2, 2021).
The nearly 13-year gap between Mars’ No. 1 albums is the longest for any living solo male artist since Paul McCartney returned to the top in 2018 with Egypt Station, 36 years and three months after his last No. 1 with Tug of War. Before Mars, the previous longest gap for a living male soloist was held by the late Toby Keith, who reached No. 1 posthumously in 2024 with 35 Biggest Hits, 14 years and four months after his previous chart-topper.
Of The Romantic’s 186,000 equivalent album units, 93,500 were pure album sales, 90,500 were streaming equivalent albums (equaling 93.95 million on-demand official streams across its nine tracks, Mars’ best streaming week for an album), and 2,000 were track equivalent albums. Regular album sales propelled the record to No. 1 on the Top Album Sales chart, while streaming strength also debuted it at No. 1 on the Top Streaming Albums chart.
The album’s first-week performance was boosted by a wide physical release, including 10 vinyl variants, a standard CD, cassette, and digital download. Vinyl accounted for 48,000 units, giving Mars his best week on vinyl ever. All formats contain the same nine tracks.
The lead single from the album, “I Just Might,” became Mars’ 10th Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 and his first song to debut at No. 1 on the Hot 100, spending its first two weeks atop the chart. The track also held No. 1 for seven weeks on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot R&B Songs charts.
Trailing Mars in the Billboard 200 top five are Bad Bunny’s DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS (No. 2, 77,000 units, down 10%), Morgan Wallen’s I’m the Problem (No. 3, 75,000 units, up 7%), Don Toliver’s OCTANE (No. 4, 66,000 units, down 3%), and Olivia Dean’s The Art of Loving (No. 5, 60,000 units, down 2%). Last week’s No. 1, Megan Moroney’s Cloud 9, dropped to No. 6 with 55,000 units, down 62%.
Other new top-10 entries include Gorillaz with The Mountain (No. 7, 53,000 units), BLACKPINK with DEADLINE (No. 8, 52,000 units), Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl holding at No. 9 (just under 43,000 units, down 3%), and Mitski with Nothing’s About To Happen to Me debuting at No. 10 (nearly 43,000 units).
Gorillaz earned their sixth top-10 album on the Billboard 200 with The Mountain, supported by nine vinyl variants, four CDs, five cassettes, a standard digital download, and an iTunes-exclusive edition with a bonus track. Of the album’s 53,000 equivalent units, 38,000 came from album sales, 15,000 from SEA units (15.86 million on-demand streams), and a negligible TEA contribution. Gorillaz previously charted in the top 10 with Cracker Island (No. 3, 2023), The Now Now (No. 4, 2018), Humanz (No. 2, 2017), Plastic Beach (No. 2, 2010), and Demon Days (No. 6, 2005). The new album was led by two Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart hits: “The Happy Dictator” featuring Sparks (No. 43 peak) and “The Manifesto” featuring Trueno and Proof (No. 49 peak).
BLACKPINK returned to the Billboard 200 with DEADLINE debuting at No. 8, marking their third top-10 album. The set earned 52,000 equivalent units, including 41,000 in album sales, 11,000 SEA units (11.46 million on-demand streams), and negligible TEA units. CD sales, boosted by 13 collectible variants featuring photocard and poster extras, accounted for 94% of total sales. The album follows their 2022 No. 1 debut BORN PINK and solo projects from members Jennie, Jisoo, Lisa, and Rosé, all of which charted. The lead single “JUMP” peaked at No. 28 on the Hot 100 in July 2025 and spent 10 weeks on the chart.
Mitski’s Nothing’s About To Happen to Me entered the top 10 at No. 10 with 43,000 equivalent units—her best week ever. Album sales totaled 31,000 units, SEA 12,000 units (12.16 million streams), and TEA was negligible. First-week sales were bolstered by seven vinyl variants, two CDs, two cassettes, and a digital download, with vinyl comprising 69% of total sales. The album follows her previous top-10 Laurel Hell (No. 5, 2022) and was preceded by the charting single “Where’s My Phone?” which peaked at No. 11 on Adult Alternative Airplay and No. 38 on Hot Rock & Alternative Songs.
The Billboard 200 ranks the most popular albums in the U.S. each week based on equivalent album units, which combine album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA), and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). One unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold, or 2,500 ad-supported or 1,000 paid/subscription on-demand streams of songs from an album. The March 14, 2026-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard’s website on March 10.