Justin Bieber's "Purpose" defeated One Direction's "Made In The A.M." for the title of No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart. The pop star also earned his sixth No. 1 album and fifth No. 1 album debut, according to Billboard.
The 21-year-old singer sold 649,000 copies of "Purpose," while One Direction's Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson sold 459,000 copies of "Made In The A.M." It was the first time since December 2009 that the No. 1 and No. 2 albums both sold more than 400,000 copies in one week, according to Rolling Stone. "Purpose" also saw the biggest opening since Taylor Swift released "1989" last year, and was the largest opening for a male since Eminem's "The Marshall Mathers LP 2" came out in 2013.
While One Direction was bested by Bieber in the United States, back home in the United Kingdom, the band hit the top spot, selling 93,000 copies compared to Bieber's 90,000, according to Entertainment Weekly. "Made In The A.M." was the band's fourth No. 1 album in the U.K. and was also this year's fastest selling album.
"Purpose" and "Made In The A.M." were both milestone albums the singers: "Purpose" is Bieber's first record in three years, and "Made In The A.M." is One Direction's first album since Zayn Malik left the group last spring.
