Alicia Keys made her long-awaited arrival on the charts this week and moved a quite respectable 405,000 copies of The Element of Freedom… but join me in a collective chorus of “that’s nice, dear” as we applaud reigning Billboard queen Susan Boyle, whose I Dreamed a Dream sits atop the pile once more. Her 659,000 copies add to a total that has now whipped past 2.5 million, and has a more-than-decent chance of overtaking Taylor Swift‘s Fearless for the biggest-selling album of the year. (As though they heard the call, Swift’s fans rose up and consumed that album in bigger numbers than usual this week, giving the young superstar another 230,000 reasons to celebrate this Christmas.)
Keys also holds the honor of knocking Andrea Bocelli out of the No. 2 spot, but his My Christmas held on at No. 3 with another 385,000 copies sold. The only other debut in the Top 10 was Robin Thicke, who racked up 120,000 sales of Sex Therapy. And the juggernauts of Lady Gaga (a combined 234,000 for Fame/Fame Monster) and Glee (soundtracks 1 and 2 combined for sales of 194,000) rolled on.
Do you think Boyle can best Swift atop the year-end charts? Did you buy any of this week’s chart winners as gifts — for yourself or for others? And any chance Mary J. Blige can knock off Boyle next week?
(Follow the Music Mix on Twitter: @EWMusicMix.)
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Not to knock Alicia (or her fans) b/c I think she’s very talented but I’m kind of surprised her album did that well. Any other week (that didn’t have Susan Boyle in it) that would have been #1. Good for you Alicia. I think Susan Boyle might actually overtake Taylor but what is the # that separates the two of them exactly?
Swift has sold 2.9M copies domestically this calendar year (and nearly five million overall from ’08). Between Swift and Boyle is roughly a half a mil. I hope this was helpful.
What’s shocking to me is how this year’s Top 3 from American Idol have basically done nothing, sales-wise. Not even Adam, who was supposed to be the second coming and some sort of Madonna-meets-Elvis by way of Freddy Mercury music savior. Kris, Adam and Allison, all three albums are bsaically on their way to the discount bin…
Your really off about that actually. Kris Allen has his single rapidly climbing the top 40 and billboard charts. He is moving tons of units the last few weeks due to his single doing so well.
Adam has sold almost 400,000 copies domestically. That’s outstanding. His new single is rapidly climbing the charts as well and getting great radio play. It will blow up after the holiday. It’s called Whataya Want From Me.
Daney Gokey is releasing a country album early next year. Allison iraheta is the only one whose album has sold poorly.
So actually Kris and Adam are doing amazing. Adam has sold a ton of units so far and his sales are rising fast.
Official SoundScan as of this week:
Adam Lambert – 354,915 copies sold to date. Not bad, and if a single actually breaks the album will go gold. Otherwise, it’s not “amazing” like Daughtry’s 4+ million sales or Carrie Underwood or Kelly Clarkson, but it’s not a crushing disappointment either.
Kris Allen – 189,910 copies sold to date. Not sure you can spin this as ANYTHING but a colossal failure. Far and away the lowest-selling major-label debut from an Idol winner EVER. (Just to compare, Taylor Hicks had the previous record at 700,000 U.S. sales. His first-week sales of 298,000 are 100,000 more than what Kris Allen has sold TOTAL in more than a month.)
Actually, for all the hype AI8 received (especially Adam Lambert), it is a HUGE disappointment. Both Davids from last year had better record sales around this time. Yikes. This is probably why AI is about to die–they don’t make Kellys or Carries anymore. And their male pop stars (aside from Daughtry) have done almost nothing. Adam is going to be the same. Kris Allen actually has a chance, because nobody remembers him from Idol and all the Adam pimping may help him and Allison in the long run. Funny stuff.
Haven’t you got anything to say about Alicia Keys or Subo? This topic is NOT about Adam, Kris or American Idol. Pointless for you trying to get some attention here.
I’m confused, Sarah T. Of course she was going to sell a lot. Her last album sold over 700,000 in it’s first week. So you shouldn’t be surprised she sells albums.
What chart is Whataya Want From Me on? Definitely not Billboard’s Hot 100.
Actually it is – it’s #72 on the Hot 100 according to Billboards website and his CD is #29 on the Top 200.
I was shocked when Alicia Keys cd wasn’t #1 !!
Congrats to Susan Boyle ..
Alicia is great .. Just purchased Mary J new cd .. OMG cd is HOT !!!
Queen Blige did an incredible cd !!!
Umm…can someone please tell me who is buying Susan Boyle’s album and why?
Stocking Stuffers for Moms, Aunts, Sisters, Grandmas and other assorted Old Ladies. For easy listening good times.
I bought it for myself because I like listening to someone who can sing. Pretty simple actually.
I bought it because it’s lovely. Her voice is wonderful and, shock, you can actually understand the words. Her timing is flawless – a truly wonderful singer. I guess I’m one of those old ladies who has finally heard something I want to spend money on. Face it, young uns, there are a lot of us baby-boomers around, with a bit of money to spend on music that we like. BTW, loved TellyB’s comments about Adam Lambert. He’s already old news. Oh, yes, Susan’s album is selling despite no radio play time. Imagine that. To the naysayers, I say sour grapes and get over it.
I bought Susan Boyle’s cd for a gift and I bought Andrea Bocelli’s cd and dvd for myself. I think the PBS showing of his concert helped sales of both.
This whole Susan Boyle thing is a sham. First of all you can buy the CD for like $5 at a lot of places and I’m sure as heck the record company has probably bought like 100,000 a week to just give away.
Nothing against her directly but I don’t know one single person who owns it or has bought it as a stocking stuffer.
Maybe you should get out more??
You just can’t stand the fact that she’s selling a lot of CD’s.
Why is that?
Why does it bother you so much?
How is it affecting your life?
BTW, please tell me where I can but it for $5.
OK why was Susan going back and forth with Lady Ga Ga for 1st and 2nd on I-Tunes. I like the Stones, Creed, Breaking Benjamin, Halestorm, Pink, and I bought Susan’s CD None of my friends would ever think of buying any of those CDs. I agree with Kathy , get out more.
Where can I find it for $5.00? I search. That will be great if you can let me know the link so I can save some money.
It’s $3.99 on Amazon MP3.
I’d buy it for $5.
P.S.
Go Alicia Keys!!! Never fails to impress.
Alicia’s “problem” is that so far, the 2 singles from this album have had only moderate success. I’m not sure why that is. I’m not counting her smash Jay-Z song. I think Alicia will have good sales over the long run. I bought Susan Boyle’s album and I know many who have. While her album lacks a beat and pizazz, what it does have is charm, a gifted vocal, and some very touching sentimentality.
I saw Alicia in concert at Youtube and I wasn’t impressed with her as a live singer and performer. She seemed to run out of steam voice-wise the longer the concert went on. I think she’s a better writer & pianist.
Yeah, not a great live singer – very quickly gets shrill, off-key, shrieky.
Looking at next week, there’s no chance for MJB to top Susan. I’m a huge fan of Mary and Alicia, but they’re being hurt by radio largely ignoring their new material (really a shame in Alicia’s case, as “Doesn’t Mean Anything” is terrific). Mary’s previous efforts that sold like hotcakes this time of year had monster singles behind them, which isn’t the case this time. And while I know radio is not playing Susan Boyle or Andrea Bocelli, their target demo is the senior set, who will still purchase music. Pop artists appeal to younger fans, who will simply obtain them online for free before they even hit the streets, so their sales just can’t match up. The only other genre that is as resilient and largely unaffected by downloading is country, which is why Taylor and Carrie are enjoying such success.
Yeah, “Doesn’t Mean Anything” hasn’t been getting much radio play (at least not where I live). But I’m starting to hear Alicia’s next single on the radio a lot, I think it’s called “Sleeping with a Broken Heart.” It’s really good and I think it will be a big hit for her.
The problem is that “Doesn’t Mean Anything” is Alicia’s only good song on the album. Color me disappointed! I loved all of Alicia’s previous albums but she’s lost her “soul.”
thank u so much i have been saying that for the past FRIKKIN year
“Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart” is the best song on her album so I gotta say you’re dead WRONG.
Totally agree with you “C” and “nido”.
It’s possible that Boyle will overtake Swift, but pretty unlikely though it will be close.
Not bad for someone who’s CD was only released Nov. 23, compared with Swift’s who’ll be on the chart for 52 weeks.
Impressive.
Where did EW’s favorite Adam Lambert end up. Dropping like a stone?
It’s down at #30. Not really very surprising. I’ve never heard any of his songs on the radio.
i heard it once. and i legit thought that it was pink. its really immature, but i kinda love it when something ew shoves down our throats tanks.
anyways, love taylor, but it really would be something for susan to top it. i say good for her. seems like a sweet lady who can actually sing!
Nice try bring in Adam Lambert in this discussion!!! The story is not about Adam leave him outta here!!
Actually he’s at #29 after four weeks on the chart so I don’t think that qualifies as dropping like a stone. Especially when you take into account the fact that the American Idol winner, Kris Allen(#56) has dropped even farther down the chart. And poor Allison Iraheta has already fallen down to #148. Because in all honesty, Michael Sleazak has been actively pushing these two Idols albums a heck of a lot more than Adam Lamberts. That’s been really obvious!
Adam Lambert fans said that he was better than AI, and now that he’s doing poorly against the rest of pop radio, you compare him only on the AI level. Hypocrites.
Alicia’s album is amazing and this is a solid debut for her.
“Try Sleeping w/ a Broken Heart” and “Wait TIll You See My Smile” are 2 standout tracks from her album.
Adam Lambert is all hype. his CD sales are weak. so weak. and radio is barely playing his singles.
If you are saying his CD sales are weak, try checking out Kris Allen’s sales!!! You will be surprised!!
Ladies, ladies… there’s room for BOTH of you in the $1.99 bin next to Taylor Hicks, Bo Bice, Katherine McPhee….
……..Tamyra Gray, Melinda Doolittle, Reuben Studdard…….
Alicia is a mega-talented chick, no doubt about it, but… her music has been pretty forgettable as of late. I’m not at all surprised that Susan Boyle outsold her, that’s not to say her album is the greatest one ever made or anything (it’s basically a cover album), but people have come to expect better from Alicia. She has a boatload of Grammys, and is a constant critical darling. Her music is supposed to back up all the praise, otherwise she can come off as being overrated. It’s like she’s resting on her laurels now, she no longer feels the need to put anymore effort into her music, because people will rush out to go buy it because it’s Alicia Keys, talent extraordinaire. Well, no point in being talented if it’s not reflected in your music now, is it? Or in your live performances. Seriously, am I the only one who doubts that she actually plays the piano live half the time? Watch carefully at the 3:22 mark:
… and this is not the only performance I’ve noticed where this happens. What’s the point of her doing that? A talented person shouldn’t need to mime their performance on any capacity. If you’re gonna be a live performer, then be live all the way. Don’t pull any tricks on your audience. That’s dishonest and disgraceful. Pretending to play an instrument live is just as bad as pretending to sing live. I thought Alicia was way above this.
not a huge fan of Susan Boyle but I must admit I do like her version of “Wild Horses.” Alicia Keys is simply amazing and I hope she continues her strong chart performance as she is raw talent. Doesn’t Mean Anything is a good song but not necessary the best choice for the first single. Try Sleeping with a Broken Heart now that is one hot track!
agree w/ you. “try sleeping…” should been the #1 track cuz that song is fire!
I have bought both Fearless and The Fame Monster for myself. Odd combination maybe, but I love them both.