Paul McCartney Earns First No. 1 Album in Over 36 Years on Billboard 200 Chart With 'Egypt Station'



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2018

'Egypt Station' Arrives At #1

"Thanks to all our fabulous fans and the whole team behind this record for making it number one - yippee! Love Paul x "
- Paul McCartney, 16th September 2018

Paul’s First Ever U.S. #1 Solo Debut and Third Solo #1 Album

“**** Make a list of all the songwriters who were composing great tunes in 1958. Now make an overlapping list of the ones who are still writing brilliant songs in 2018. Your list reads: Paul McCartney.” – Rolling Stone

Paul McCartney’s Egypt Station (Capitol Records) has entered the Billboard 200 at #1, making it the third Non-Beatles / Wings McCartney effort to top the US chart and Paul’s first Stateside #1 since 1982’s Tug Of War. Earning  153,000 equivalent album units, Egypt Station is Paul's first solo album to enter the chart at #1. Since beginning a new and profound direction on his creative journey with the 1970 release of his debut solo album, McCartney, Paul has sold over 100 million albums and singles worldwide.

The 18-time GRAMMY® winner launched Egypt Station with an intimate show at New York City’s Grand Central Station on September 7, which was live streamed as a YouTube Originals concert special - available for viewing HERE! The previous evening, McCartney visited The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and performed his Top 10 AAA hit 'Come On To Me'.

Explaining the album’s concept, Paul says, “I liked the words ‘Egypt Station.’… I think of it as a dream location that the music emanates from.” The title is taken from the piece of art featured on the cover, which Paul painted in 1988.

Egypt Station has won praise from critics around the world. In a four-star lead review, Rolling Stone said, “Macca keeps adding new gems to his songbook, with nothing to prove except he’s the only genius who can do this… (And, oh yeah - in his spare time, he happens to still be the greatest live performer on Earth.)”  London’s Sunday Times, Q Magazine and MOJO also awarded the album four stars.

The New York Times’ Jon Pareles observed, “McCartney contemplates mortality and pain while still trying to offer love and strength.”  TIME declared Egypt Station “Essential… a document of McCartney’s spirit, which is still irrepressible more than five decades after The Beatles made their debut.”  NPR said, “This is his best album in maybe 20 years.”  People noted, “Egypt Station is a tour through the imagination of one of our greatest artists  - what’s not to love? It’s a celebration of all the things that make McCartney great: hope, exuberance, open mindedness and sweet melody. These days, we need all of these more than ever.”

GQ reveals “The Untold Stories of Paul McCartney” in the magazine’s October cover story. Writer Chris Heath observed, “Paul McCartney is driven….If you imagine that by now McCartney might have reached the point where he would relax and look back with cozy satisfaction on his life’s achievements… well, then you’re already very wrong about both who Paul McCartney is and who he ever was.” In this accompanying video, McCartney breaks down his most iconic songs. Cover stories have also run in the London Sunday Times Culture section and MOJO.

Additionally, Spotify has announced the release of Paul McCartney & Spotify Singles: Under the Staircase. Recorded at Paul’s intimate Abbey Road Studio 2 gig earlier the summer, Under the Staircase features live versions of songs spanning Paul’s entire career - Beatles, Wings, solo catalogue numbers plus some of the first live performances of Egypt Station material - plus a feature length concert film.

Paul will headline the Austin City Limits Music Festival on October 5 and 12. He will return to the US in 2019 for the Freshen Up tour. See below for confirmed dates.

Paul McCartney – The Freshen Up Tour – 2019 US Dates:
5/23: New Orleans, LA - Smoothie King Center
5/27: Raleigh, NC - PNC Arena
5/30: Greenville, SC - Bon Secours Wellness Arena
6/01: Lexington, KY - Rupp Arena
6/03: Fort Wayne, IN - Allen County War Memorial Coliseum
6/06: Madison, WI - Kohl Center
6/11: Moline, IL - TaxSlayer Center
6/26 : Phoenix, AZ - Talking Stick Resort Arena

www.rollingstone.com
On the Charts: Paul McCartney Returns to Number One After 36 Years With ‘Egypt Station’
Beatle notches eighth Number One of solo/Wings career and first since 1982’s ‘Tug of War’
By DANIEL KREPS
SEPTEMBER 17, 2018


Paul McCartney returned to the top of the Billboard 200 for the first time in 36 years as his album 'Egypt Station' opened at Number One.
Invision/AP/REX/Shutterstock

Paul McCartney returned to the top of the Billboard 200 for the first time in 36 years as his latest album Egypt Station opened at Number One.

Egypt Station sold 153,000 total copies, including 147,000 traditional copies, in its debut week to give McCartney his first solo Number One album since 1982’s Tug of War. In addition to his charts record-setting work with the Beatles (19 Number One albums), McCartney has eight Number Ones as a solo artist/Wings member.

As Billboard reports, Egypt Station is the first McCartney album to ever debut at Number One – the previous seven chart-toppers ascended to the position – and scored McCartney’s best sales week since 2007’s Memory Almost Full; Egypt Station‘s sales were aided in part by a package that paired ticket sales to the upcoming Freshen Up Tour with redeemable copies of the new album.

Elsewhere in the Top 10, Mac Miller’s Swimming, released in August, jumped back into the Top 10 at Number Six as fans remembered the late rapper who died at the age of 26; Swimming was Number 71 the week prior to Miller’s death.

Eminem’s Kamikaze dropped one spot to Number Two, followed by a pair of debuts: Lauren Daigle’s Look Up Child entered at Number Three with the best opening week sales for a Christian music album since 2009 (115,000 copies) and rapper Russ’ Zoo opened at Number Four.

Drake’s Scorpion followed at Number Five, with Travis Scott’s Astroworld (Number Seven), Post Malone’s Beerbongs & Bentleys (Number Eight), $uicideboy$’ new album I Want to Die in New Orleans (Number Nine) and Ariana Grande’s Sweetener (Number 10) closing out the Top 10.

McCartney’s return to Number One should be short-lived as Carrie Underwood’s new album Cry Pretty is expected to claim the top spot next week.






www.nytimes.com
Paul McCartney Tops Eminem for His First No. 1 Album in Over 3 Decades
By Joe Coscarelli
Sept. 17, 2018


Paul McCartney’s “Egypt Station” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard chart.CreditCreditKamil Krzaczynski/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Before this week, Paul McCartney, a Billboard behemoth with the Beatles, had not achieved a No. 1 album of his own in 36 years. To do it this time, he had to take on Eminem.

“Egypt Station,” the new solo album by Mr. McCartney, managed to inch past the second-week sales of Eminem’s beef-driven surprise album “Kamikaze,” selling a total of 153,000 album equivalent units, including 147,000 in traditional sales and 6 million streams. “Kamikaze” fell to No. 2 with 136,000 units, primarily from its 100 million streams.

Like many top-selling albums of late without a large streaming base, “Egypt Station” was boosted by packages that included the album as an add-on with concert tickets or merchandise. The album is also the first-ever solo McCartney release, including his work with Wings, to reach the top of the chart in its first week (a rarity before sales tracking changed in 1991). Mr. McCartney’s last album to reach No. 1 was “Tug of War” in 1982.

Also on the chart this week, the Christian singer-songwriter Lauren Daigle debuted at No. 3 with “Look Up Child,” earning the best first-week sales for a Christian release in nearly a decade, according to Billboard. At No. 4 is the rapper Russ’s “Zoo,” which also benefited from a merchandise and ticketing bundle, followed by Drake’s enduring “Scorpion” at No. 5 in its 11th week.