Twenty One Pilots have achieved a significant milestone with their new studio album, “Breach,” which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart dated September 27. This marks the biggest week for any rock album in six years and the duo’s best week ever, accumulating 200,000 equivalent album units in the United States in the week ending September 18, according to Luminate. “Breach” is the band’s second album to reach the top spot, and their first No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in over a decade, since “Blurryface” in June 2015. This latest success follows their previous top 10 entries, including “Clancy” (No. 3, 2024), “Scaled and Icy” (No. 3, 2021), and “Trench” (No. 2, 2018).

The majority of “Breach’s” impressive opening week was driven by traditional album sales, with 169,000 copies sold. This represents Twenty One Pilots’ biggest sales week ever and the largest for any rock album in six years, surpassing the 248,000 units sold by Tool’s “Fear Inoculum” in its opening stanza in 2019. The album's commercial performance was significantly bolstered by its diverse physical formats, including more than 15 vinyl variants, which collectively sold 72,000 units, setting a new record for the band on vinyl and marking the largest vinyl sales week for a rock album in the modern era since Luminate began electronic tracking in 1991.

Photo Credit: Billboard

Additionally, “Breach” was released across three deluxe CD editions with collectible packaging, a standard CD, a digital download, and a deluxe digital download edition featuring a bonus track, “Drag Path,” alternative cover art, and a PDF booklet. Streaming equivalent album (SEA) units contributed 31,000 units, translating to 40.68 million on-demand official streams, which is also the band’s best streaming week to date. The album was preceded by its lead single, “The Contract,” which hit No. 1 on the Alternative Airplay chart, becoming Twenty One Pilots’ 12th leader. The band has also commenced “The Clancy Tour: Breach 2025,” which began on September 18 in Cincinnati and will continue across the U.S. and Canada until October 26.

The Billboard 200 chart measures the most popular albums in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption, compiled by Luminate. Equivalent album units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA), and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). One equivalent album unit is equal to 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. Luminate, as the independent data provider, rigorously reviews and authenticates all data submissions, removing any deemed suspicious or unverifiable before final chart calculations are published.

In other chart news, Ed Sheeran secured his eighth top 10 album on the Billboard 200 as his new album, “Play,” debuted at No. 5 with 71,000 equivalent album units. Of this total, 51,000 were album sales, 19,000 were SEA units (equaling 24.26 million on-demand official streams), and 1,000 were TEA units. “Play’s” strong sales were also supported by extensive physical releases, including over 10 vinyl variants (one signed), four standard CD variants (two signed), two deluxe CD editions with bonus tracks (one signed), a deluxe CD boxed set, and various digital album options.

Photo Credit: Google

The album’s lead song, “Azizam,” achieved top 10 positions on Pop Airplay, Adult Pop Airplay, and Adult Contemporary charts, and reached No. 28 on the Billboard Hot 100. Elsewhere in the top 10, the “KPop Demon Hunters” soundtrack fell to No. 2, Morgan Wallen’s “I’m the Problem” held steady at No. 3, Sabrina Carpenter’s “Man’s Best Friend” dipped to No. 4, Justin Bieber’s “SWAG” moved to No. 6, Alex Warren’s “You’ll Be Alright, Kid” dropped to No. 7, SZA’s “SOS” was down to No. 8, Morgan Wallen’s “One Thing at a Time” descended to No. 9, and sombr’s “I Barely Know Her” remained at No. 10.