Beyonce Starts ‘Fierce’ Atop Album Chart (original) (raw)
Beyonce scores her third straight No. 1 debut on The Billboard 200 this week as the double-disc "I Am ... Sasha Fierce" shifts a whopping 482,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen…
Beyonce scores her third straight No. 1 debut on The Billboard 200 this week as the double-disc “I Am … Sasha Fierce” (Music World/Columbia) shifts a whopping 482,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
The album, split between material credited to Beyonce and her new alter-ego Sasha Fierce, has already spawned the hits “If I Were a Boy” and “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It).” Beyonce’s 2003 solo debut, “Dangerously in Love,” started with 317,000, while 2006’s “B-Day” moved 541,000.
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In a week with seven top 20 debuts, Nickelback’s “Dark Horse” (Roadrunner) sold 326,000 to start at No. 2. The Canadian rock outfit spent an astonishing 156 weeks on the chart with its prior album, 2005’s “All the Right Reasons,” which is at 6.97 million to date.
Reigning “American Idol” champion David Cook’s self-titled 19 Recordings/RCA debut arrives at No. 3 with 280,000. That’s more than double the first-week numbers of 2007 champ Jordin Sparks’ self-titled debut, which sold 119,000 copies and has gone on to shift 956,000.
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Last week’s No. 1, Taylor Swift’s “Fearless” (Big Machine), slips to No. 4 on a 63% sales decline to 217,000. New at No. 5 is multi-national vocal group Il Divo’s “The Promise” (Syco/Columbia) with 162,000. The act’s previous album, 2006’s “Siempre,” debuted at No. 17 with 108,000.
Chop Shop/Atlantic’s soundtrack to the runaway hit film “Twilight” is down 5-6 despite a 17% uptick to 125,000. The multi-label “Now 29” compilation slides 3-7 after a 33% decline to 115,000. Walt Disney’s “High School Musical 3” soundtrack drops 7-8 on a 9% sales downturn to 86,000, while Enya’s “And Winter Came” (Reprise) falls 8-9 on a nearly identical sales slide to 83,000.
AC/DC’s “Black Ice” rounds out the top 10 after falling from No. 6. The album sold 73,000 copies in its fifth week of exclusive release via Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club, bringing its total to a remarkable 1.39 million.
Other debuts this week include Dido’s “Safe Trip Home” (RCA) at No. 13 with 51,000 and the Zac Brown Band’s “The Foundation” at No. 17 with 44,000. The new Atlantic signing is enjoying its first country hit with “Chicken Fried.”
The compilation “Cities 97 Sampler Vol. 20,” rounding up live-in-studio performances from the Minneapolis radio station of the same name, debuts at No. 21 with 35,000. The double-disc album features tracks from Jack Johnson, Sheryl Crow and Jason Mraz, among others.
Former 112 member Slim’s solo debut, “Love’s Crazy” (M3 Productions/Asylum) starts at No. 32 with 27,000, while country artist Blake Shelton’s “Startin’ Fires” (Warner Nashville) debuts at No. 34 with 26,000.
At 9.45 million, sales this week are up 6% from last week but down 32% from the same week last year (13.96 million).
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