NEW YORK • Pop star Ariana Grande reached No. 1 on the Billboard chart for a third time this week, while Aretha Franklin continued to draw listeners in the week after her death, taking the Queen of Soul to her highest position on the chart in 50 years.

Grande's new album, Sweetener, had the equivalent of 231,000 sales in the United States last week, which included 127 million streams and 127,000 copies sold as a full album, according to Nielsen.

Her 2013 debut, Yours Truly, and its 2014 follow-up, My Everything, both reached No. 1; the 2016 LP, Dangerous Woman, peaked at No. 2. The LP is Grande's first full release since the Manchester Arena bombing last year.

As with several other artists recently, including Travis Scott, Grande's sales were helped by a twist in the sales gimmick of bundling copies of the album with ticket sales - she gave away digital copies of her album when fans bought a US$10 (S$13) "tour pass", which simply gave them access to buy tickets before others. The tour has not been announced yet.

Rapper Nicki Minaj, who slipped from No. 2 to No. 3, complained last week that Scott had benefited from enticing fans to an unannounced tour.

Franklin's 30 Greatest Hits, a compilation from 1985, rose one spot to No. 6, the highest position she has held since 1968, when her album Aretha Now went to No. 3.

Also, this week, Scott's Astroworld falls to No. 2 after two weeks in the top spot, Drake's Scorpion is No. 4 and Post Malone's Beerbongs & Bentleys is in fifth place.

NYTIMES