Swift, Boyle Beat Out Jackson on Albums Chart
In a week with three top-10 premieres — but with relatively few units moved — Taylor Swift was still unstoppable: Her nearly two-month-old album Speak Now soared back to the top of the albums chart with 259,000 sales. The top-selling debut, meanwhile, came from Michael Jackson’s Michael, which landed at Number Three with 228,000 albums sold — well below the 400,000 sales that were projected last month.
Michael was followed in the top 10 by R. Kelly’s Love Letter at Number Six (154,000 sold) and Diddy-Dirty Money’s Last Train to Paris at Number Seven (101,000 sold).
Photos: Michael Jackson Remembered
Otherwise, the week’s charts were largely a reshuffling of the placement we’ve seen over the past month. Susan Boyle’s The Gift slips to Number Two; Jackie Evancho’s O Holy Night rises to Number Four from Five; the Glee Christmas album drops to Five and the latest volume of the show’s soundtrack slips to Number 10.
Rob Sheffield on How ‘Glee’ Became a Pop-Culture Juggernaut
Nicki Minaj’s Pink Friday shows impressive staying power by remaining in the top 10, slipping to Number Eight from Six. Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy continues to slide, falling from Number 14 to 23.
Swift Back at No. 1 on Billboard 200, ‘Michael’ Bows at No. 3 [Billboard]