Petal Blossoms at No. 1 on the Billboard Charts

Ariana Grande’s eighth studio album, Petal, officially debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. With 295,000 units sold, it marks her biggest sales week by units in the 2020s and her seventh No. 1 album overall. That leaves her tied with her “Rain on Me” collaborator, Lady Gaga, as well as Janet Jackson in fifth place for the most No. 1 albums by a solo female artist.

The Hairspray Live! star reacted to the milestone on her Instagram Story, posting the news with the message “Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

The achievement comes just after Grande concluded the North American leg of her Eternal Sunshine Tour on Friday night in Chicago. She’ll next head to London’s 02 Arena, where she will close out the tour with ten shows from August 15 to September 1. Then the singer plans to take a step back from the public eye amid intensified public scrutiny over her health.

Just days after Petal’s release, a representative for Grande confirmed the singer would be dropping out of a planned West End production of Sunday in the Park With George that she was set to star in with her fellow Wicked alum Jonathan Bailey, adding, “Ariana will be taking a step back from visibility after she completes the Eternal Sunshine Tour. She looks forward to finishing the tour and ending it on a high note, both healthily and happily, and then taking a much-deserved break from public-facing work and appearances, which has led to endless, ongoing public scrutiny. This tour has been a beautiful experience for her. She loves her fans and has loved every minute of this tour so much.”

Apart from Sunday in the Park With George, next up on Grande’s docket would have been the promotional rollout for the movie Focker-in-Law, out November 25. But thankfully, Grande can rest easy and take all the time she needs, knowing America’s sweetheart Skyler Gisondo has got that press tour covered.