BULLETPROOF BILLIE

It has been 16 weeks since Billie Eilish's debut album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? was released. Can you guess what the second biggest album last week was? And the week before? In fact, the Darkroom/Interscope superstar's album has charted in the top three all 16 weeks since release, except for one, when it finished fourth. Showing no signs of slowing down, last week Billie’s album received a 20% increase in sales and 15% increase in streams, while eclipsing 1b in airplay.

Of all the boundaries Eilish has broken in her rise to Gen-Z icon, redefining "long-tail" and "album artist" might be the most impressive. The 17-year-old has yet to top the Hot 100, although she's closing in on Top 40 and should have her first Pop #1 and second Alternative #1 in a week. And despite the traditional chart-topping single to lead in the album―fans didn't hear current hit, "bad guy," until the day her album was released―it still debuted #1 with an astounding 313k. Sixteen weeks later, the track is finally peaking.

One could make the case that Eilish's brand is so strong, even if she didn't have radio "bad guy" would still be performing well. That's not incorrect. But with radio finally championing the young star, and the addition of the Justin Bieber-assisted remix, Eilish finally has her smash single. “bad guy” has a total activity number of activity 3.3m units, while approaching 300k in pure sales.

Earlier singles “when the party’s over” and “bury a friend” are well over 2m in total activity, with sync-friendly “you should see me in a crown” approaching that mark.

Eilish’s debut has topped the album chart three non-consecutive weeks and has a real shot at #1 nearly every week. When We All Fall Asleep is approaching 2x platinum, with 1.7m units in total activity. The album only trails Ariana Grande’s thank u, next in YTD activity.

With “bad guy” headed for #1 at Top 40, sold out dates all over the world (with more arena dates to come) and enough acclaim to make Grammy noms a realistic goal, Eilish’s breakout year is only just beginning.

Label boss Justin Lubliner couldn’t be reached for comment, and has suspiciously stopped returning HITS phone calls after we requested 19 Darkroom hoodies.