My Chemical Romance’s ‘The Black Parade’ Finally Hits No. 1 on the Billboard 200 After 20 Years

Summary

My Chemical Romance scores its first Billboard 200 No. 1 as 'The Black Parade' rockets from No. 139 to the top on the November 7-dated chart

The 20th anniversary deluxe reissue earned 78,000 equivalent album units, driven overwhelmingly by physical sales

Two decades after the album stalled at No. 2, its trip to No. 1 now stands as the longest wait ever for an album

My Chemical Romance has landed its first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200, with The Black Parade vaulting 139-1 on the November 7-dated chart following the release of the 2006 album’s 20th anniversary deluxe reissue. The set pulled in 78,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. during the tracking week ending October 29, a 653 percent jump, per Luminate. The Black Parade first debuted and peaked at No. 2 and had remained the band’s highest-charting album until this week.

Physical buyers did the heavy lifting behind the surge, with pure album sales accounting for 68,000 of the week’s units, up 2,082 percent. That total sent the record soaring 29-1 on Top Album Sales, marking the group’s first week atop that chart as well. Vinyl alone moved 42,000 copies, the best vinyl week of the band’s career, helped by a rollout spanning more than 20 physical variants across vinyl, CD and cassette, including signed editions, all of which are combined for charting purposes. Streaming equivalent albums contributed another 10,000 units, up 34 percent and equal to 10.14 million on-demand official streams, while track equivalent album units added a negligible amount.

The milestone rewrites a pair of chart records in the process. Reaching No. 1 two decades after release is now the longest wait ever for an album, topping the 15-year, nine-month gap set by Toby Keith’s 35 Biggest Hits after his death in 2024. Counting from the band’s Billboard 200 debut with Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge on the June 26, 2004-dated chart, My Chemical Romance waited 22 years and four months for a leader, making it the third act this year to go at least a decade between first entry and first No. 1. Jhené Aiko did it in September with Westside Whimsy, 12 years and 10 months after her 2013 debut, and Megadeth followed a near-40-year path to No. 1 with its self-titled set in February. The 139-1 leap is also the biggest jump to the top since Taylor Swift’s Fearless (Taylor’s Version) climbed 157-1 on the October 16, 2021-dated chart on the back of signed CD and vinyl editions.

Former chart-toppers fill every slot from No. 2 through No. 6 this week. Olivia Rodrigo’s you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love slips 1-2 with 64,000 units, down 15 percent, while Morgan Wallen’s I’m the Problem holds at No. 3 with 53,000, off three percent. Ella Langley’s Dandelion stays put at No. 4 with 47,000, down four percent, Noah Kahan’s The Great Divide rises 6-5 with 39,000, down three percent, and Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl dips 5-6 with 35,000, down 18 percent.

The lower half of the top 10 sees mostly downward movement as Zach Bryan’s Young Manhood and Other Donatable Organs drops 2-7 in its second week with 33,000 units, a 49 percent decline. Kahan’s Stick Season holds steady at No. 8 with 32,000, down three percent, Drake’s HABIBTI slides 7-9 with 31,000, down 10 percent, and Olivia Dean’s The Art of Loving slips 9-10 with 30,000, down seven percent.