Sleep Token Scores First No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 With ‘Even in Arcadia’

Sleep Token scores its first No. 1 album, and first top 10, on the Billboard 200 with the chart-topping arrival of its fourth full-length studio release, Even in Arcadia.

The set, which is the English rock band’s major-label debut, bows atop the list dated May 24 with 127,000 equivalent album units earned in the United States in the week ending May 15, according to Luminate — marking the act’s best week by units ever. It’s also the biggest week by units for any rock album in nearly a year, and the biggest for any hard rock album in two years. Further, the set’s streaming numbers are so big that it scores the largest streaming week ever for a hard rock album.

Sleep Token released its first single in 2016 and made its overall Billboard chart debut in 2019. The band previously scored one entry on the Billboard 200 with Take Me Back to Eden in 2023, debuting and peaking at No. 16. That set has earned 819,000 units in the U.S. to date, and its dozen songs (six of which were top 10 hits on Billboard’s Hot Hard Rock Songs chart) have generated 935 million on-demand official streams in the U.S. The band was among Billboard’s year-end top 10 on Top Hard Rock Artists in both 2024 (No. 8) and 2023 (No. 5).

In early 2024, the act signed to RCA Records after previously releasing music on the indie label Spinefarm. The masked band — whose members have remained anonymous through the group’s career — made its debut on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 songs chart in March with the new album’s “Emergence.” Two more pre-release songs from the set debut on the tally: “Caramel” (a career-best No. 34 high for the band) and “Damocles.”

Sleep Token’s No. 1 debut coincidentally comes just two weeks after another masked hard rock band from Europe, the Swedish act Ghost, landed its first leader with the chart-topping debut of Skeletá (May 10 chart).

Also in the top 10 of the latest Billboard 200, Kali Uchis achieves her third top 10-charting set with the debut of Sincerely, at No. 2.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new May 24, 2025-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on May 20. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.

Of Even in Arcadia’s 127,000 first-week equivalent album units, album sales comprise 73,500 (it debuts at No. 1 on Top Album Sales), SEA units comprise 53,000 (equaling 68.89 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs; it debuts at No. 1 on Top Streaming Albums) and TEA units comprise 500. Sales of the album were bolstered by its availability across six vinyl variants, a standard CD, two deluxe CD boxed sets (containing a CD and a branded hoodie) and a standard digital download album. All configurations contained the same 10 songs.

Even in Arcadia is just the fourth No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in 2025, of 13 total, to also simultaneously be No. 1 on both Top Album Sales and Top Streaming Albums, following Lady Gaga’s MAYHEM (March 22), Kendrick Lamar’s GNX (Feb. 22) and The Weeknd’s Hurry Up Tomorrow (Feb. 15).

Prior to Even in Arcadia, the last rock album to have a larger week, by equivalent album units earned, was Zach Bryan’s The Great American Bar Scene, in its first full week of release, with 137,000 units (July 20, 2024-dated chart). The last hard rock album to score a larger week was Metallica’s 72 Seasons, which debuted with 146,000 units on the April 29, 2023 chart.

In terms of streaming numbers, Even in Arcadia posts an eye-popping — and historic — sum for a hard rock set. Its SEA figure of 53,000 equates to 68.89 million on-demand official streams of its 10 songs. That’s the biggest weekly streaming sum for any hard rock album ever. The last rock album overall with a bigger streaming week was The Great American Bar Scene, when it tallied 77.76 million during its fifth week on the chart, dated Aug. 10, 2024.

Even in Arcadia sold 73,500 copies — with vinyl comprising 47,000 of that figure. That’s the largest vinyl sales week for the band, and the biggest for a hard rock album on vinyl in the modern era (since Luminate began tracking sales in 1991). (It trumps the previous record, set only two weeks ago by the debut of Ghost’s Skeletá with 44,000.) It’s also the second-largest sales week in the modern era for a rock album, following the opening week of blink-182’s One More Time… (49,000; Nov. 4, 2023).

With Even in Arcadia debuting at No. 1 just two weeks after another hard rock album was tops — when Skeletá debuted at No. 1 on the May 10 chart — there have been two No. 1 hard rock albums in less than a month. That hasn’t happened in more than a decade. The chart last had two hard rock No. 1s in less than a month’s time nearly a dozen years ago, when Queens of the Stone Age’s …Like Clockwork and Black Sabbath’s 13 debuted at No. 1 in successive weeks (June 22-29, 2013).

Rock and hard rock albums are defined as those that are eligible for, or have charted on, Billboard’s Top Rock Albums and Top Hard Rock Albums charts, respectively.

Finally, Sleep Token is the fifth act in 2025 to score a first No. 1 this year, following Ghost (with Skeletá), Ken Carson (More Chaos), Tate McRae (So Close To What) and PARTYNEXTDOOR (with the Drake collaboration set $ome $exy $ongs 4 U). In all of 2024, there were five acts that got their first No. 1s: Ty Dolla $ign (with the Ye collab Vultures 1), TWICE (With YOU-th), Sabrina Carpenter (Short n’ Sweet), Jelly Roll (Beautifully Broken) and Yeat (Lyfestyle).

Going back another year, there were also five acts in 2023 that got their first No. 1s that year: TOMORROW X TOGETHER (The Name Chapter: TEMPTATION), Karol G (MAÑANA SERÁ BONITO), NewJeans (2nd EP ‘Get Up’), Zach Bryan (Zach Bryan) and ATEEZ (THE WORLD EP.FIN: WILL).

At No. 2 on the Billboard 200, Kali Uchis’ Sincerely, debuts with 62,000 equivalent album units earned. It’s the artist’s third top 10-charting effort, following Orquídeas (No. 2 in 2024) and Red Moon in Venus (No. 4 in 2023). Of the 62,000 units earned, album sales comprise 38,000 (it debuts at No. 2 on Top Album Sales), SEA units comprise 24,000 (equaling 32.45 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs; it debuts at No. 18 on Top Streaming Albums) and TEA units comprise a negligible sum.

The first-week sales of Sincerely, was aided by its availability across 10 vinyl variants (including signed editions), three CD variants (including a signed edition), a cassette and a standard digital download album (all containing the same tracklist), as well as a deluxe download with two bonus tracks.

A trio of former No. 1s is next on the Billboard 200, as SZA’s SOS is steady at No. 3 (51,000 equivalent album units; down 3%), Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time is a non-mover at No. 4 (48,000; up 6%), and PARTYNEXTDOOR and Drake’s $ome $exy $ongs 4 U climbs 7-5 (47,000; up 17% following its vinyl release). Fuerza Regida’s 111XPANTIA falls 2-6 in its second week (just over 43,000; down 43%), while Kendrick Lamar’s chart-topping GNX dips 5-7 (43,000; down 4%), and Sabrina Carpenter’s former leader Short n’ Sweet falls 6-8 (40,000; down 2%).

The Weeknd’s former No. 1 Hurry Up Tomorrow vaults 27-9 with 38,000 equivalent album units earned (up 82%), largely owed to sales generated by the release of new CD and vinyl editions of the album. Rounding out the top 10 of the Billboard 200 is Bad Bunny’s Debí Tirar Más Fotos, which falls 1-10 with 38,000 units (down 55%), a week after it hopped back to the top following its release on vinyl.

Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.