Just over a week after winning 11 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, the Broadway hit Hamilton has achieved yet another distinction.
Billboard.com reports that the original cast album, which has already sold more than a million copies and earned a Platinum Record honor, has catapulted to No. 3 on the Billboard 200 Chart announced this week, though dated July 2. Billboard reported that Hamilton is now one of only three Broadway cast recordings to reach the Top 10 in the last half century. The last OBC album to do so was The Book of Mormon in 2011, which also landed at No. 3.
No. 1 for the week was Drake's Views.
Hamilton didn't have far to go to reach that milestone. It debuted last fall at No. 12 on the Billboard 200 (the highest debut for an OBC since 1961), and stood at No. 11 on the list as recently as May 28. Billboard reports that it has spent the last 14 weeks in the top 20.
The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the United States, “based on multi-metric consumption, which includes traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA).”
The Grammy-winning cast album released last fall earned a Platinum Record honor May 25 from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), meaning that it has sold in excess of one million copies—a very rare achievement for a Broadway cast album in modern times. It earned a Gold Record, for albums that sell 500,000 copies, earlier this spring.
The #Hamilton Original Broadway Cast Recording has officially been Platinum certified. #Hamiltunes #RiseUp pic.twitter.com/Xd1wCN3bGT
— Hamilton (@HamiltonMusical) May 25, 2016
Among other recent cast albums to be certified Platinum were the OBCs of Jersey Boys, Wicked and Rent.
Hamilton also reportedly has recouped its initial investment and is now a true hit. The website Broadway Journal reported that the show has paid back its investors' entire $12.5 million capitalization. The report has not been confirmed by producers.
(Updated June 21, 2016)
