Judas Priest Earn Their Highest Ever U.S. Chart Debut With 'Firepower'

Judas Priest show no signs of slowing down and are firing on all cylinders. After almost 50 years, Rob Halford and the gang are breaking their own records and their latest album, Firepower, has given them their highest debut on the charts, landing at #5 on the Billboard 200. This is their 18th album and was released back on March 9th, beating out 2014's Redeemer Of Souls, which peaked at #6, 2008's Nostradamus landed at #11 and 2005's Angel Of Retribution debuted at #13.

Billboard reports that the heavy metal legends moved 49,000 units of the album in its first week. Firepower's chart position got a boost from sales through their concert ticket/album sale redemption that coincided with their current North American tour. 2005's Angel Of Retribution sold 54,000 copies in traditional album sales its first week.

The album also landed on the #5 position on the UK charts, Judas Priest's first time in the top ten since their classic album British Steel reached #4 in 1980.  

In other Priest news, guitarist Glenn Tipton announced that he has retired from touring due to his battle with Parkinson's disease. 

Billboard provided a history of Judas Priest's position on the charts: 

Title, Peak Position, Peak Date

 Stained Class, No. 173, April 22, 1978

Hell Bent for Leather, No. 128, April 28, 1979

Unleashed in the East (Live in Japan), No. 70, Nov. 10, 1979

British Steel, No. 34, July 12, 1980

Point of Entry, No. 39, May 23, 1981

Screaming for Vengeance, No. 17, Oct. 30, 1982

Defenders of the Faith, No. 18, Feb. 25, 1984

Turbo, No. 17, April 26, 1986

Live, No. 38, July 11, 1987

Ram It Down, No. 31, June 18, 1988

Painkiller, No. 26, Nov. 3, 1990

Metal Works ’73 - ‘93, No. 155, June 5, 1993

Jugulator, No. 82, Nov. 15, 1997

Demolition, No. 165, Aug. 18, 2001

 Angel of Retribution, No. 13, March 19, 2005

Nostradamus, No. 11, July 5, 2008

A Touch of Evil: Live, No. 87, Aug. 1, 2009

Redeemer of Souls, No. 6, July 26, 2014

Firepower, No. 5, March 24, 2018

Photo Credit: Getty