Billboard is reporting that Red Hot Chili Peppers’ new album, Unlimited Love, leaps onto the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated April 16) at #1, marking the band’s second leader and first chart-topping effort since 2006’s Stadium Arcadium. The new set was released on April 1 and bows with 97,500 equivalent album units earned in the US in the week ending April 7, according to Luminate, formerly MRC Data. In total, the group has tallied eight top 10 albums on the Billboard 200.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the US based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new April 16, 2022-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on April 12.

Of Unlimited Love’s 97,500 equivalent album units earned, album sales comprise 82,500 (it’s the top-selling album of the week); SEA units comprise 14,500 (equaling 18.96 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs); and TEA units comprise 500.

Notably, Unlimited Love is Red Hot Chili Peppers’ first #1 on the Billboard 200 in nearly 16 years — since Stadium Arcadium spent its first two weeks atop the list (May 27-June 3, 2006 charts). The last act to go longer between #1 albums was Celine Dion, who waited 17 years and nearly eight months between A New Day Has Come (one week at #1 on April 13, 2002) and Courage (one week at #1 on Nov. 30, 2019).

Unlimited Love notches the largest week, by equivalent album units and album sales, for any rock album in over a year. The last larger week by a rock set was registered by Paul McCartney’s McCartney III when it debuted at #2 on the Jan. 2, 2021-dated chart with 107,000 units — of which album sales comprised 104,000.

Unlimited Love notably marks the band's first recording with guitarist John Frusciante since 2006 and first with producer and longtime collaborator Rick Rubin since 2011.

Order the album here.

Tracklisting:

"Black Summer"
"Here Ever After"
"Aquatic Mouth Dance"
"Not The One"
"Poster Child"
"The Great Apes"
"It’s Only Natural"
"She’s A Lover"
"These Are The Ways"
"Whatchu Thinkin’"
"Bastards Of Light"
"White Braids & Pillow Chair"
"One Way Traffic"
"Veronica"
"Let ‘Em Cry"
"The Heavy Wing"
"Tangelo"

"These Are The Ways" video:

"Not The One":

"Poster Child" video:

"Black Summer" video:

(Photo - Sandy Kim)