Usher released his ninth studio album, Coming Home, on Friday after a five-year hiatus. Despite featuring some of the hottest names in the music industry, such as Summer Walker, 21 Savage, Latto, Burna Boy, H.E.R. and The Dream, the first week sales projections are disappointing.
According to HDD, “Coming Home” is expected to sell only 78K units in its first week, which would place it at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart, behind Noah Kahan’s “Stick Season” and Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign’s “Vultures Vol. 1.” This is a vast improvement to Usher’s previous album, Hard II Love, which sold 38K units in its first week in 2016, and debuted at No. 5 on the chart.
“Coming Home” was released on Friday (Feb. 9), two days before his headlining Super Bowl Halftime show. While the performance didn’t reflect on his latest album sales, Usher’s Spotify streams increased by 550 percent in the days following the show. Forbes estimates that Usher earned $52.2 million in exposure from the Super Bowl Halftime Show.
Usher also made headlines for his personal life, as he tied the knot with his longtime girlfriend Jennifer Goicoechea in a private ceremony hours after the Super Bowl.
