If nuclear war plunged the world into a state of endless chaos and eternal winter, all the cockroaches would probably go see Alice Cooper. Rock’s greatest showman refuses to stop singing snotty tunes and performing ghoulish shows onstage, even at the age of 73. And while some older rockers seem to soldier on only for the love of the game, Alice is still killing it professionally — as evidenced by the fact that his new album, Detroit Stories, just took the #1 spot on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart.
As reported by Billboard, Alice’s Detroit Stories sold 13,000 copies across all available formats (CD, vinyl LP, digital download) in the week ending March 4th. 9,500 of those copies were sold via CD and 2,000 came via vinyl LP. The remaining 1,500 were digital albums. It’s worth noting that the Top Album Sales chart relates solely to the traditional sale of records and doesn’t account for streaming, which makes sense given that Alice’s fanbase is probably more accustomed to buying physical music as opposed to using online streaming services.
Meanwhile, Detroit Stories also debuted at No. 2 on Hard Rock Albums (beaten out by Queen’s greatest hits record), No. 5 on Top Rock Albums, No. 7 on Independent Albums and No. 18 on Vinyl Albums. In the Billboard Top 200, Alice clocked in at #47, showing that he may have to start trading outfits with Cardi B if he wants to top that specific list.
Alice wasn’t the only veteran act in the Top 10 of the Top Album Sales chart. Also included were Willie Nelson (No. 2, That’s Life; 12,000 sold), Bob Dylan with George Harrison (No. 4, 1970; 11,000), Neil Young With Crazy Horse (No. 5, Way Down In the Rust Bucket; 9,000) and NOFX (No. 7, Single Album; 7,000).
In any event: congrats to Alice Cooper for landing that #1 spot! Maybe we watch this top-hatted dynamo cut his own head off onstage for years and years to come.
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Words by Chris Krovatin
