Blink-182 tops Drake, something Radiohead and Ariana Grande couldn’t do

Radiohead couldn’t do it. Nor could Ariana Grande. Neither could Red Hot Chili Peppers or Blake Shelton.

But Blink-182 could.

The SoCal punk band did the seemingly impossible when it unseated Drake’s “Views” from the No. 1 spot atop the Billboard 200.

Blink-182’s new album, aptly titled “California,” sold 186,000 copies in its first week, according to Nielsen Music.

Of that tally, 172,000 copies came from actual album sales — not streaming equivalent albums — making it the year’s third-largest sales week for a rock album (behind Radiohead’s “A Moon Shaped Pool” and David Bowie’s final opus, “Blackstar”).

“California” is Blink’s first album since 2011’s record “Neighborhoods,” which arrived after the band ended an indefinite hiatus following group discord.

And the group’s latest record is a bittersweet one for fans. It’s the first with new guitarist Matt Skiba, who replaced singer/guitarist Tom DeLonge.

DeLonge, who co-founded the band, departed the group early last year in a messy group turmoil that played out in front of fans.

See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour >>

Last January, band members Travis Barker and Mark Hoppus issued a statement announcing they had drafted Skiba — best known for his work in Alkaline Trio — for a headlining performance at an Orange County festival after guitarist-vocalist DeLonge told them he was sitting out “indefinitely.”

DeLonge then issued a counter statement, denying he ever quit the pop-punk trio. And from there things got pretty loud.

Barker and Hoppus blasted DeLonge in an interview, calling him “ungrateful and disingenuous.” DeLonge then penned a lengthy open letter defending his commitment to the group but detailed contractual provisions and disastrous recording experiences that, he said, pushed him away. While Barker, Hoppus and Skiba began working as a trio, DeLonge focused on other projects. When asked about his estrangement in an April interview with Rolling Stone he said a part of him is bummed, but it “doesn’t consume” him. “I’m doing some of the best stuff I’ve ever been involved in. People look in and they go, ‘How could you walk away from something like that?’ … Well, because I’m more than that. I love those guys,” he said. DeLonge then reached out to the publication a few weeks after the interview saying, “I am currently in the band” and maintaining he never officially quit or was fired.

The new Blink album, its first No. 1 in 15 years, ended a nine-week run at the top for “Views.”

Drake’s latest effort, which instantly went to No. 1 after it was released in late April a week after Beyonce dropped “Lemonade” (and unseating her in the process), landed at No. 2 with an additional 117,000 sold — the vast majority coming from streaming equivalent albums.

The Canadian rapper-singer’s stretch at the top placed it third among hip-hop albums with the most consecutive weeks at No. 1, behind Vanilla Ice’s 16-week stint with his debut, “To the Extreme” and MC Hammer’s “Please Hammer, Don’t Hurt ’Em,” which ruled the charts for 21 weeks.

“Views’ ” rap album record was previously held by Eminem’s 2000 “The Marshall Mathers LP,” which spent eight weeks in the pole position.

For more music news follow me on Twitter: @GerrickKennedy

MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS

Crunching the numbers: How the motion picture academy moved the needle on its diversity push

‘Secret Life of Pets’ chows down on both ‘Dory’ and box office records

More come forward as Fox News CEO fights sexual harassment lawsuit by former anchor