Inside Music with Melinda Newman

Rihanna scores her first No. 1 album with 'Unapologetic'

Feat comes one week after first single, 'Diamonds' tops Billboard Hot 100

By Melinda Newman Wednesday, Nov 28, 2012 12:04 AM

Rihanna's "Unapologetic"

Credit: Def Jam Recordings

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Seven would seem to be Rihanna’s lucky number. “Unapologetic,” her seventh studio album in as many years, has become her first effort to reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

She scores the feat one week after the album’s first single, “Diamonds,” became her 12th chart topper on the Billboard Hot 100.

“Unapologetic” dropped on Monday, Nov. 19, instead of the usual Tuesday release date, so the title benefitted from an extra day of sales in this week’s Nielsen SoundScan tally (SoundScan measures says from Monday through Sunday). The album sold 238,000 copies, a personal best for the singer, whose previous best week had been with 2010’s “Load,” which sold 207,000 copies in its opening frame to start at No. 3.

All seven of her studio albums had opened on the top 10, including 2007’s “Good Girl Gone Bad,” which peaked at No. 2, according to Billboard.

As Billboard notes, her arrival at No. 1 ends a rather dubious record she’s certainly happy to see end: until today, she was the artist who had scored the most No. 1 songs without having ever achieved a No. 1 album.