No. 1! Justin Timberlake Tops the Charts Following Controversial Super Bowl Halftime Show

Following its release on Feb. 2, Justin Timberlake‘s latest album Man of the Woods has opened at No. 1, giving the pop superstar his fourth consecutive Billboard chart-topper. The long-player sold 293,000 total copies in its first week, marking the best performance period since Taylor Swift released reputation last November.

Sales were no doubt helped by Timberlake’s performance at Super Bowl LII on Feb. 4. Over one hundred million viewers tuned in to see him sing and dance his way through a medley of hits — including his latest, “Filthy” — from his 20-year music career. In one a somber moment, he played piano and sang alongside a projected film of Prince as the stadium and city glowed with purple lights, paying homage to their native icon.

“We got the actual vocal stems from ‘I Would Die 4 U,’ the actual recordings, and then we got uncut footage from his performance of it in Purple Rain,” Timberlake explained.

“And somehow, some way, by the grace of probably Prince looking down on us, it synced up. It was like this crazy serendipitous moment. I just wanted to use that opportunity to do something special for this city, but most of all, for my favorite musician of all time.”

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But the set was not without controversy. Rumors of a Prince hologram (since denied) enraged fans of the Purple One before the halftime show even began. In addition, Timberlake’s performance of “Rock Your Body” sparked some criticism online as it is the same song that he sang with Janet Jackson during their now infamous “nipplegate” incident at the 2004 Super Bowl. As a result, the hashtag “#JusticeForJanet” began trending during his 2018 Super Bowl set..

Man of the Woods follows 2006’s FutureSex/LoveSounds, and 2013’s double-barreled The 20/20 Experience Parts One and Two to the top of the charts. Timberlake’s solo debut, Justified, just barely fell short at No. 2 in 2002.