Over two decades after its initial 1996 release, Aaliyah’s sophomore album One In A Million has returned to the Billboard charts. The Timbaland and Missy Elliott-produced LP hit streaming services for the first time on Aug. 20, exciting fans worldwide. According to a press release, One In A Million reached No. 1 on the Catalog and Digital Chart and No. 2 on the Independent Chart.
On Monday (Aug. 30), One In A Million also debuted at No. 10 on the Billboard 200, which is the highest ranking the album has ever achieved on the chart. In 1996, the LP debuted at No. 20 on the chart; selling 40,500 copies within its first week. The album went on to peak at No. 18 and ultimately spent 67 weeks on the chart.
Blackground Records, the label that re-released the album, celebrated the feat online.
“For the first time ever, 25 years after its release, Aaliyah’s One In A Million made the Top 10 on the Billboard 200 Chart this week!” the label’s official Instagram account wrote in a post. “Thank you to all of Aaliyah’s fans, both old and new, for the support.”
One In A Million is the first record to be re-released on streaming services via Blackground Records and Empire. Before Aug. 20, only the late star’s debut effort, Age Ain’t Nothing But a Number, was available to stream.
Blackground Records previously announced its intent to release Aaliyah’s third and fourth albums, Aaliyah and I Care 4 U, later this year. After One In A Million hit streaming platforms, Barry Hankerson, Aaliyah’s uncle and co-founder of Blackground Records, thanked fans for waiting “so long” to stream her music.
“Thank you to all of her many fans for keeping her music alive,” he wrote in an Instagram post at the time. “I’m sorry it took so long, but when you lose a family member so unexpectedly, it takes time to deal with that type of grief. I decided to release Aaliyah’s music in order to keep her legacy alive.”
See Blackground Records’ latest post celebrating One In A Million’s debut below.