‘Encanto’ Soundtrack Beats Adele’s ‘30,’ Takes No. 1 Spot On Billboard 200

KEY POINTS

“Encanto" jumped from No. 7 to No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 in one week
The soundtrack’s popularity is fueled by the song “We Don’t Talk About Bruno”
Disney did not submit “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” for the Oscars

Adele ended her reign on Billboard 200, at least for this week, and bowed out of the top position to give way to the new leader, Disney’s “Encanto” soundtrack.

The soundtrack for Disney’s latest animated movie reached the summit and dethroned Adele’s new album, “30,” which sat atop the chart for six weeks since its release in November 2021.

In one week, “Encanto,” which features music written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, jumped from number seven to number one on the Billboard Top 200, which counts the sales and streams of albums in the U.S. The “Encanto” soundtrack is now the second film or TV soundtrack to reach the peak of Billboard 200 following Disney’s “Frozen II” in December 2019.

The soundtrack’s popularity is fueled by the song “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” which has trended on TikTok since last week. The song was also Spotify’s 19^th most popular song from Dec. 31, 2021, to Jan. 6 garnering almost 14 million streams within the tracking frame. The track also figured at No. 5 on Billboard Hot 100.

Adele’s album slipped to No. 2 on Billboard 200 but her single “Easy On Me” still sits at No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100 for the eighth week.

“Encanto” managed to sell 72,000 album-equivalent units compared to “30” which sold 57,000 units.

Fans may be expecting an Oscar nomination for the track “We Don’t Talk Anymore” given its amazing sprint on the chart, however, Disney did not submit it for the Oscars.

Instead, the production studio opted to submit another song from the soundtrack, “Dos Oruguitas,” an acoustic, Spanish-language ballad for Best Original Song. “Dos Oruguitas” has been shortlisted among 14 other contenders for the title.

Disney could have submitted “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” along with “Dos Oruguitas” to compete for the title but it was a risk, Billboard said, adding it could have split votes on the two songs.

In 2014, multiple tracks were submitted from the films “Boyhood,” “Fault In Our Stars,” “Muppets Most Wanted” and “Rio 2.” However, no songs from those films were nominated in the Oscars. Instead, the nominees for that year were songs that did not have any competition from the same film that they featured in.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences will vote again to narrow down the list to five nominees that will be announced on Feb. 8. Academy Award winners will be announced in March.