It’s been ten years since Prince topped the Billboard 200 chart, but he’s headed there posthumously: Billboard reports that Prince’s 2001 greatest-hits album, The Very Best of Prince, will be No. 1 on Sunday’s chart, just three days after the artist’s death and with only one day of eligibility for the week. Chart-watchers predict the album could sell upward of 150,000 album equivalents (possibly 100,000 in pure sales) thanks to the extreme scarcity of Prince’s catalogue online and on streaming. They say his greatest-hits album was downloaded about 85,000 times yesterday on iTunes alone, where it was already No. 1 immediately following his death.
Purple Rain has also sold more than 40,000 albums on iTunes, which means Prince will likely occupy more than one spot on the Billboard 200 — and there’s no telling how many of his songs will chart on the Hot 100. (“Purple Rain†was also the No. 1 song on iTunes yesterday.) If The Very Best does go No. 1, it’ll be his fifth album to do so (it previously peaked at No. 66) and first since 2006’s 3121; his Batman soundtrack, Around the World in a Day, and Purple Rain all previously went No. 1. Back in January, David Bowie got the first No. 1 of his career in the U.S., a week after his death.