“On Air” Compilation Scores The Beatles Their 31st Top 10 “Billboard” Album

The Beatles are back on the charts.  On Air: Live at the BBC Volume 2, the Fab Four's new compilation of early radio recordings, debuted at #7 on the Billboard 200 after selling 37,000 copies during its first week of release.

This marks The Beatles' 31st album to reach the top 10 of the Billboard tally.  Only three other artists have scored more top-10 albums: The Rolling Stones, with 36; Frank Sinatra, with 33; and Barbra Streisand, who has 32.  Elvis Presley is in fifth place with 27.

The last Beatles record to break into the upper reaches of the Billboard 200 was the 2006 companion album to Cirque du Soleil's Fab Four-themed Las Vegas show, The Beatles LOVE, which peaked at #4.

On Air is a sequel to The Beatles' 1994 Live at the BBC collection, which was reissued this past week in conjunction with the new compilation.  It sold 9,000 copies to reenter the chart at #34.