Alejandro Fernández is making history…
The 48-year-old Mexican singer, nicknamed as “El Potrillo,” has earned his seventh No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums chart as Hecho en México debuts at the top spot on the tally dated February 29.
With his new coronation, Fernández becomes the first act to achieve No. 1s on the Top Latin Albums chart in the 1990s, ‘00s, ‘10s, and ‘20s, starting with his first chart entry and 12-week ruler Me Estoy Enamorandoin 1997.
Hecho en Mexico, Fernandez’s 16th studio album, opens with 12,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending February 20, according to Nielsen Music/ MRC Data. Of that total, 10,000 were in album sales, mostly due to a concert ticket/album sale redemption offer with his upcoming tour, while the bulk of the remainder was generated by streaming activity.
“I’m super excited with this achievement,” Fernández tells Billboard. “‘Hecho en México’ is an album that connects the Latin community wherever we are. I’m proud to take our Mexican music to the rest of the world and it will be an honor to reconnect with the audience which always supports me during my Hecho en México tour.”
Top Latin Albums ranks the most popular Latin albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units. Units comprise traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA).
Hecho en Mexico, which was released on February 14 via Universal Music Latino/UMLE, registered a little over 1,000 SEA units in the week ending February 20. That equates to 2 million on-demand streams for the set’s tracks.
The mariachi effort is the first regional Mexican album to debut at No. 1 on Top Latin Albumsin over three years. Jenni Rivera’s Paloma Negra Desde Monterreywas the last set to achieve the feat in November 2016 with 4,000 in sales, before Top Latin Albums flipped from an album sales-only ranking to a consumption chart.
Fernández returns to take the crown after almost three years. He last scored a No. 1 in April 2017 with Rompiendo Fronteras. His last No. 1 debut, however, was in 2014 when Confidencias Realesarrived atop the list with a little over 3,000 units.
Two tracks preceded the new album on Hot Latin Songs-which blends airplay, digital sales and streams. “Caballero,” the set’s lead single (No. 20 peak) and “Te Olvidé,” which was premiered live atPremios Los Nuestro2020 on February 20, debuts at No. 43 on the current chart week.
Over on Regional Mexican Airplay, “Caballero” topped the list for one week (January 11-dated list) while “Te Olvidé” ascends to the top 10.
Beyond his Top Latin Albums coronation, Fernández celebrates another victory as Hecho en Mexicoarrives at No. 1 on Regional Mexican Albums; his first leader since 2009.
On the Bilboard 200chart, Hecho en Mexicoopens at No. 65, Fernández first chart appearance since 2017.