Sam Smith’s 'The Thrill of It' Is No. 1 at Billboard 200

Reuters.com: Sam Smith’s “The Thrill of it All” scored the British singer’s first No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 album chart, edging out new releases by Maroon 5 and Blake Shelton, according to data from Nielsen SoundScan on Monday.

Taylor Swift’s latest single, “Call It What You Want,” led the digital songs chart, which measures online singles sales, with some 67,000 units sold.

Swift’s “Reputation” album sold more than 717,000 copies on Friday, its first day of release, according to BuzzAngle Music data, and is expected to debut at the top of the Billboard 200 chart next week.

Smith’s “The Thrill of it All” sold more than 237,000 units in its first week to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

Billboard said it was Smith’s best sales week ever in the United States.

The Billboard 200 chart tallies units from album sales, song sales (10 songs equal one album) and streaming activity (1,500 streams equal one album).

Maroon 5’s “Red Pill Blues” album took the No. 2 spot with sales of some 122,000 units for the week, while country singer Shelton’s “Texoma Shore” debuted in fourth place.

The new releases sent last week’s chart-topper, country star Kenny Chesney’s “Live in No Shoes Nation,” down to sixth place.

Rapper Chris Brown’s “Heartbreak on a Full Moon” retained its No. 3 spot, while “Without Warning,” the collaboration between rappers 21 Savages, Offset and producer Metro Boomin, slipped one place to No. 5.