Niall Horan arrives atop the Billboard 200 chart with his debut solo album, Flicker. The set, which was released through Capitol Records on Oct. 20, starts with 152,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Oct. 26, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 128,000 were in traditional album sales.
Horan is the third member of group One Direction to notch a solo No. 1 album, a feat matched only by The Beatles. Horan follows fellow One Direction member Harry Styles (with his self-titled debut earlier in 2017) and former group member Zayn (with his debut album, Mind of Mine, in 2016). The Beatles spun off multiple solo No. 1s from George Harrison (two No. 1s), John Lennon (three No. 1s) and Paul McCartney (six No. 1s, including efforts alongside his band Wings).
Flicker’s debut frame was powered largely by album sales, as it racked up 128,000 in traditional album sales, along with 6,000 in TEA units and 17,000 in SEA units. (Of its 128,000 sold, 90,000 were CD sales, and 38,000 were digital albums.)
Further, Flicker’s first-week sales were bolstered by a concert ticket/album sale redemption promotion in association with Horan’s tour.