SZA’s SOS rose to the top of the Billboard charts this week, giving the R&B singer her first ever No. 1 album.
The New Jersey native’s sophomore studio release posted 318,000 units in its opening week, earning the fifth-best debut week of the year. According to Billboard, The 23-song project received 405 million on-demand streams, which was the second-largest streaming week ever for an album by a female artist and the third-largest streaming week for any album in 2022.
SOS follows 2017’s Ctrl which opened at #3 on the Billboard 200 chart, earning upwards of 60,000 first-week units. Ctrl has gone on to spend more than 200 weeks on the Billboard 200, and also earned 3x-Platinum certification from the RIAA. The success of her previous release built a high level of anticipation for SOS, and even some added pressure for the TDE songstress. With this week’s announcement, it’s safe to say that SZA’s new album more than lived up to the public’s expectations.
Although there has been a five-year gap between solo LPs, SZA hasn’t totally disappeared from the spotlight. She has released hit singles and collaborative tracks with some of today’s top entertainers. Since Ctrl’s release SZA has charted 15 songs on the Hot 100, including five that entered the Top 10. Those efforts include “What Lovers Do,” with Maroon 5, “All the Stars,” a collaboration with Kendrick Lamar; “Good Days,” “I Hate U,” and the Grammy Award-winning collaboration with Doja Cat, “Kiss Me More.”
In addition to the album reaching the top spot, 21 songs from SOS made it onto this week’s Hot 100. “Kill Bill” led the way by debuting at #3, “Nobody Gets Me” landed in the Top 10 at #10, and the tracks “Blind,” “Low,” and “Shirt” are currently Top 20 songs.
As the perfect exclamation point SZA’s recent success, every date of her first-ever arena tour sold out instantly. The SOS North American Tour kicks off on February 21 at Schottenstein Center in Columbus, OH making stops across North America in Chicago, Toronto, New York, Atlanta, Seattle, Vancouver, and more before wrapping up in Los Angeles, CA, at the Kia Forum on March 22.