Noah Kahan Gets First No. 1 Album with ‘The Great Divide’

Noah Kahan We officially have our first number one album.

29-year-old singer-songwriter fourth regular album, great schismYou’ve reached the top of the Billboard 200, the magazine announced Sunday. One of the most hotly anticipated albums of 2026, great schism It earned 389,000 album units in the first week, billboard report. It’s the album’s third biggest week of the year.

great schism It achieved healthy physical sales of around 175,000. But streaming has led to the Vermont native’s rise. Streaming units accounted for 212,000 of the album’s 389,000 units in its first week. The album has the biggest streaming week for an album in 2026, Kahan’s biggest streaming week and the biggest streaming week for a rock album since Billboard began measuring the unit in 2014.

great schism plays a follow-up role On Kahan’s breakthrough hit album, stick seasonIt helped the Vermont native transition from a club act to an arena headliner. The 29-year-old was eliminated after releasing his album in late January. music A video for the title track, the first single, during a commercial break at the 2026 Grammy Awards.

Less than 24 hours after the release of the 17-track album Kahan. Surprisingly, an extended version was dropped., The Great Schism: The Last Bug. The expanded version of the album included four new tracks: “Lighthouse”, “Staying Still”, “A Few of Our Own”, and “Orbiter”, bringing the final track count to 21.

leading to next great schismFollowing the release of , Kahan released two pre-released singles, “The Great Divide” and “Porch Light”. The singer said it before. The Hollywood Reporter He and his team reportedly had many long conversations about why the title track should be released first on the album. “We realized we wanted to lead through storytelling first. great schism I think it’s really emblematic of the storytelling of the rest of the record.” Kahan said.

“It’s the best way to get into the record from a storytelling and sonic perspective. I think it offers something a little different than a lot of what’s out there. stick season“,” he continued. “Musically, there’s a bit more going on, it’s getting a bit more rocking, and I think that’s really fun because that’s the direction I want to go.”

Kahan last month A Netflix documentary was released, Noah Kahan: Out of Body. The 90-minute film, directed by Nick Sweeney, follows the singer as she prepares for the film. great schism After hitting the jackpot, you are at a crossroads about what to do. “I don’t want to get stuck in one way. I ended up having to let it go because it was so hard to write everything because of the fears that were running around in my head,” the singer said. neck.

“We wanted to capture the feeling of Vermont on this album. There are so many quiet, beautiful moments in Vermont that you just have to hear to experience,” he later added. “Some of the songs were recorded in a way that really captured that feeling.”