Olivia Rodrigo's "you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love" held off a surging Michael Jackson reissue to notch a fourth week at No. 1 on this week's Billboard 200, beating "Thriller" by just 2,000 units in one of the closest chart races of the year.
Rodrigo's album moved 57,000 units for the week, pushing its total to roughly 2.08 million since release and tying it for the longest run at No. 1 of any album released in 2026. "Thriller," Jackson's 1982 classic, climbed to No. 2 — its highest Billboard 200 position this century — on 55,000 units, an 89% jump from the week before, according to Billboard chart data compiled by Ratings Game Music. The surge comes a week after this outlet first reported "Thriller's" climb into the chart's upper tier; the catalog album has now closed to within a rounding error of the top spot.
A crowded top five
The rest of the top five showed how competitive the album chart has become heading into the holiday season. Morgan Wallen's "I'm the Problem" held at No. 3 with 49,000 units and a cumulative 7.5 million, a run that included 14 weeks at No. 1 earlier this year. Ella Langley's "Dandelion" was fourth with 45,000 units, and Noah Kahan's "The Great Divide" rounded out the top five with 40,000, each album still drawing tens of thousands of weekly sales and streams months after release.
That depth is notable in an era when new releases typically dominate a chart for a week or two before falling off sharply. Instead, five albums — a pop breakup record, a four-decade-old pop and R&B landmark, and three country and singer-songwriter titles — are all still selling in roughly the same narrow band, suggesting an unusually sticky set of listening habits for late 2026.
Whether Rodrigo can hold on for a fifth week will depend largely on "Thriller's" momentum, which has shown no sign of slowing as it continues to find new listeners decades after its release. The Billboard 200 updates again next week, and with a lead this thin, either side of the race could flip on a single viral moment or a well-timed deluxe reissue.
