While the Grateful Dead broke up decades ago, the band has continued to rack up chart wins in the U.S. ever since. The group’s archives are filled with countless live recordings and plenty of previously unreleased material, and even the titles that have already performed well can surge in popularity and hit the weekly rankings when the occasion calls for their fan base to show up.
The jam rockers are back on the charts this week with Grateful Dead From The Mars Hotel, which was recently re-released to celebrate its fiftieth anniversary. The set now comes with plenty of goodies for superfans, including a new concert recording, demos, and other tracks that helped make it a bestseller once again.
Grateful Dead From The Mars Hotel debuts on four Billboard charts this frame. It opens highest on the Vinyl Albums ranking, where the title also helps the group reach a special milestone–one that they’ve been working their way toward for more than a decade.
The Grateful Dead has now accrued 20 top 10s on the Vinyl Albums chart. Grateful Dead From The Mars Hotel opens at No. 4, becoming the band’s twentieth placement between Nos. 1 and 10 on the list.
Looking at their full catalog, the Grateful Dead has sent 34 different projects to the Vinyl Albums list, which looks only at the bestselling titles on the format. Only one collection, American Beauty, has soared all the way to the summit.
The band first reached the top 10—and the Vinyl Albums chart in any position—in 2012. In December of that year, they landed at No. 10 with Winterland: May 30th, 1971. At the same time, another title, Dick’s Picks Vol. 2—Columbus, Ohio 10/31/71, missed the top tier by just a few spaces.
In the past tracking period, Grateful Dead From The Mars Hotel sold 14,000 copies, according to Luminate. That’s a huge sum for a title that’s been out in the world for decades, and it’s clear that the re-release with content only die-hard followers would be interested in spurred the huge gain in purchases. Exactly how many of those 14,000 copies were vinyl isn’t clear, but it must have been a sizable sum to place the project inside the top 10 on the Vinyl Albums chart.
The Grateful Dead score the second-loftiest debut on the vinyl-only roster this week. Gracie Abrams launches her new set The Secret of Us at No. 1. In between that rising star and the jam band sit Chappell Roan at No. 2 and Billie Eilish in third place.
