Beyoncé’s ‘B’Day’ Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top R&B Albums Chart

Beyoncé’s sophomore album, B’Day, is still reaching new heights two decades after its release. The project has debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top R&B Albums chart, dethroning Michael Jackson’s Thriller from the top spot. It’s worth noting that the R&B Albums chart was launched in 2013.

B’Day’s domination follows its 20th anniversary reissue on Sept. 4. According to industry reports, the 5x platinum album sold 37,000 equivalent units in the last week, with 16,000 in pure sales. With B’Day’s new reign, Beyoncé now has six No. 1s on the Top R&B Albums chart.

Here is an overview of Beyoncé’s No. 1s on billboard’s Top R&B Albums chart, ranked by longest run:

• Lemonade, 19 weeks at No. 1 (2016)
• Beyoncé, 11 weeks at No. 1 (2013)
• Renaissance, 9 weeks at No. 1 (2022)
• The Lion King: The Gift (Soundtrack), 2 weeks at No. 1 (2019)
• Beyoncé: More Only (EP), 1 week at No. 1 (2014)
• B’Day, 1 week at No. 1 so far (2026)

Elsewhere on the charts, B’Day re-enters at No. 8 on the Billboard 200. B’Day previously topped the chart when it debuted with 541,000 copies sold in its first week of sales. Additionally, the project re-enters at No. 2 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and No. 4 on Top Album Sales, while it debuts at No. 2 on Top Vinyl Albums and No. 19 on Top Streaming Albums.

The B’Day (20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) includes rare B-sides, unreleased vault tracks, and Spanish-language collaborations. Among the highlights are the Pharrell Williams-assisted “Can I Watch You,” “Lose Your Mind” and “My First Time,” a song originally intended for Dangerously In Love. The anniversary edition also includes “Morning Dew (Donk),” released July 4, which is No. 1 on the adult r&b airplay chart for a second week.

Reflecting on B’Day 20 years later, Beyoncé said, “I wanted the album to be big, percussive, hard, up-tempo, and energized, and it was important to me that we used live instrumentation.” She added, “Hip-hop was taking over at the time, but I was fighting to preserve the bridges, melodies, and harmonies that have always been at the heart of R&B. The goal was to blend those two worlds through the art of sampling.”