Strange but true: in a career that spanned nearly 50 years, spawned dozens of hit songs, and touched millions of lives, David Bowie has never had an album top the Billboard 200. He’s gotten close—2013’s The Next Day hit #2.

Not for long. With the world’s grief flowing following Bowie’s shocking death from cancer, listeners are gobbling up Blackstar, the album that thrilled critics upon its initial release but gained stunning new meaning as a carefully planned swan song just two days later. According to Billboard’s projections, the album is shooting rapidly up the charts and should displace Adele’s 25 at the head of the list by the end of the month. It’s just another testament to how much impact the man of many personas had on music fans of all ages, and evidence that he’ll never really be gone so long as his songs are still moving people.

You can read our obituary for Bowie here, and here you’ll find our review of Blackstar.