While we all have our own favorite albums and songs of 2023, there’s only one that had the biggest first week sales, making it the king of the year whether we thought it was the best or not.
A lot of big rock and metal artists released albums this year, so it was pretty jam-packed with solid records. Paramore, Godsmack, Metallica, Sleep Token, Avenged Sevenfold, Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age, Greta Van Fleet, Sevendust, Mammoth WVH, Staind, Blink-182 and The Rolling Stones were just some of the bands that put new albums out, and many of them saw success on the Billboard 200.
Jelly Roll and Hardy are worth noting as well, as their achievements on both the rock and country charts with the albums Whitsitt Chapel and The Mockingbird & The Crow, respectively, have opened the door for a whole generation of genre-blending country-rockers going forward.
We could’ve written about the best-selling album of 2023, but given a lot of them have only come out recently, it wouldn’t be fair to compare their sales to the ones that came out at the top of the year. So we decided to look at which rock or metal band sold the most albums in the first week after its release to determine who made the biggest splash this year.
Which Rock or Metal Album Had the Biggest First Week Sales in 2023?
We went through every big rock and metal album that was released in 2023 and checked their first week sales to compare the results, and it was almost a close call, But, unsurprisingly, Metallica’s 72 Seasons had the biggest first week sales of any rock or metal artist in 2023.
The record debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 after moving 146,000 units, 134,000 of which were pure album sales [via Forbes]. It was only topped by country artist Morgan Wallen’s 2023 album One Thing At a Time, which has spent a total of 38 weeks on the chart since its release and was still sitting at No. 5 at the time this post was written.
Which Other Rock + Metal Artists Had the Highest First Week Sales in 2023?
After Metallica, there were a few other rock and metal albums that sold over 100,000 copies in its first week. Blink-182’s One More Time…, which is their first release with guitarist Tom DeLonge since 2011’s Neighborhoods, landed the top spot on the Billboard 200 with 125,000 units moved.
READ MORE: The 25 Best Rock + Metal Albums of 2023
Dolly Parton’s Rockstar debuted at No. 1 and earned 128,000 units, making it the country icon’s biggest sales week since Luminate began tracking sales in 1991, according to Billboard. Furthermore, The Rolling Stones’ Hackney Diamonds — their first batch of original material since 2005 — landed at No. 3 in its first week after earning 101,000 units.
Congrats to Metallica and all the other artists who had a big year this year. Here’s to hoping 2024 will be full of just as many great records.
30 Best Rock + Metal Songs of 2023
Thousands and thousands (and thousands more) new songs came out this year, but these 30 stand above the rest.
Gallery Credit: Loudwire Staff
