Andrea Bocelli Earns First No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 With 'Si

Andrea Bocelli achieves his first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart, as his new studio effort, Si, debuts atop the tally. The set, which was released via Sugar/Decca Records/Verve Label Group on Oct. 26, earned 126,000 equivalent album units in the week ending Nov. 1, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 123,000 were in album sales.  

Andrea Bocelli’s First No. 1: The 26th time’s the charm, as Bocelli bows atop the Billboard 200 with his 26th charting album, Si. The singer has charted on the tally since Dec. 20, 1997, when Romanza debuted at No. 114, on its way to a No. 35 peak on Dec. 19, 1998. All told, Si marks Bocelli’s ninth top 10 effort.
Bocelli has come quite close to No. 1 previously: he’s peaked at No. 2 twice, with My Christmas (five weeks at No. 2 in 2009) and Passione (one week at No. 2 in 2013). The former spent five consecutive weeks stuck in the runner-up slot. In its first two weeks at No. 2, Bon Jovi’s The Circle and John Mayer’s Battle Studies debuted at No. 1, respectively. Then, in My Christmas’ third week at No. 2, Susan Boyle’s debut album I Dreamed a Dream bowed at No. 1 and spent six straight weeks at No. 1.

First Classical No. 1 in 10 Years: Si also debuts at No. 1 on both the Classical Crossover Albums chart and the overall Classical Albums chart. (The latter tally combines both classical crossover and traditional classical efforts.)
In turn, Si is the first classical album to be No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart since Jan. 5, 2008, when Josh Groban’s classical crossover holiday effort Noel spent its fifth and final week atop the tally. Si is the first classical set to debut at No. 1 since the vocal quartet Il Divo bowed at No. 1 with Ancora, another classical crossover effort, on the Feb. 11, 2006-dated chart.