Pop superstar Justin Bieber surprised his fans by releasing his first spiritual set, the six-song Freedom, around 6 p.m. ET on Easter Sunday (April 4). With less than five full days of availability in its first tracking week (ending April 8), the set earned 7,000 equivalent album units, according to MRC Data, and enters Billboard’s Top Christian Albums chart (dated April 17) at No. 3.
Bieber, who has achieved eight No. 1s on the all-genre Billboard 200 albums chart, including the list’s current leader Justice, makes his first visit to Top Christian Albums.
Freedom sports its title track, with Beam; “All She Wrote” (feat. Brandon Love and Chandler Moore); “We’re in This Together”; “Where You Go I Follow” (feat. Pink Sweats, Moore and Judah Smith); “Where Do I Fit In” (feat. Tori Kelly, Moore and Smith); and “Afraid to Say” (feat. Lauren Walters).
All six songs concurrently reach the Hot Christian Songs chart, which is powered by airplay, sales and streaming data, likewise marking Bieber’s first entries on the survey.
“Freedom” is the chart’s highest debut at No. 20, starting with 1.2 million U.S. streams and 500 downloads sold. It’s followed by “Where Do I Fit It” (No. 22; 997,000 streams); “Where You Go I Follow” (No. 25; 814,000 streams); “We’re in This Together” (No. 29; 758,000 streams); “All She Wrote” (No. 30; 783,000 streams); and “Afraid to Say” (No. 33; 586,000).
