Taylor Swift Sits Comfortably At Number 1
 Taylor Swift |
 |
December 24, 2008 11:04 AM ET
Taylor Swift's "Fearless" (Big Machine) begins a third non-consecutive week at No. 1 on The Billboard 200 this week, selling 330,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. "Fearless" trumps big debuts from Keyshia Cole and Jamie Foxx, which open at Nos. 2 and 3, respectively.
Cole's "A Different Me" (Geffen) starts with 322,000, a career-best sales week for the R&B singer. Her 2007 album, "Just Like You," also debuted at No. 2 but with 281,000 units.
Foxx's "Intuition" (J) shifts 265,000 copies. His last album, "Unpredictable," bowed exactly two years ago, starting at No. 2 with 598,000 before rising to No. 1 the following week with 200,000.
Britney Spears' "Circus" (Jive) slips 2-4 with 196,000, a 2% decrease. Beyonce's "I Am ... Sasha Fierce" (Music World/Columbia) drops 3-5 despite a 23% increase to 195,000, while Nickelback's "Dark Horse" (Roadrunner) slides 4-6 on a 24% increase to 194,000.
The Chop Shop/Atlantic soundtrack to "Twilight" is down 5-7 on an 18% increase to 156,000, while Fall Out Boy's "Folie a Deux" (Island) debuts at No. 8 with 150,000. The album, which was originally scheduled for a Nov. 4 release, is the follow-up to 2007's "Infinity on High," which debuted at No. 1 with 260,000.
Cole's "A Different Me" (Geffen) starts with 322,000, a career-best sales week for the R&B singer. Her 2007 album, "Just Like You," also debuted at No. 2 but with 281,000 units.
Foxx's "Intuition" (J) shifts 265,000 copies. His last album, "Unpredictable," bowed exactly two years ago, starting at No. 2 with 598,000 before rising to No. 1 the following week with 200,000.
Britney Spears' "Circus" (Jive) slips 2-4 with 196,000, a 2% decrease. Beyonce's "I Am ... Sasha Fierce" (Music World/Columbia) drops 3-5 despite a 23% increase to 195,000, while Nickelback's "Dark Horse" (Roadrunner) slides 4-6 on a 24% increase to 194,000.
The Chop Shop/Atlantic soundtrack to "Twilight" is down 5-7 on an 18% increase to 156,000, while Fall Out Boy's "Folie a Deux" (Island) debuts at No. 8 with 150,000. The album, which was originally scheduled for a Nov. 4 release, is the follow-up to 2007's "Infinity on High," which debuted at No. 1 with 260,000.
AC/DC's "Black Ice" enjoys a 30% increase to 143,000, taking its total to more than 1.8 million since September. The multi-label compilation "Now 29" falls 7-10 on a 22% increase to 139,000.
Anthony Hamilton returns to the chart with "The Point of It All" (Jive) at No. 12 with 133,000. His last new studio effort, "Ain't Nobody Worryin'," debuted and peaked at No. 19 in December 2005 with 112,000.
Rapper Plies' third Atlantic album, "Da Realist," begins at No. 14 with 114,000. His first and second sets, "The Real Testament" and "Definition of Real," both debuted and peaked at No. 2 (with 96,000 and 215,000, respectively).
The All-American Rejects' "When The World Comes Down" (Interscope) enters at No. 15 with 112,000. The band's last release, 2005's "Move Along," moved onto the chart at No. 6 with 90,000.
Teenage rapper Soulja Boy's "ISouljaBoyTellEm" (ColliPark/Interscope) debuts at a disappointing No. 43 with 46,000; his 2007 debut, "SouljaBoyTellEm.com," began at No. 4 with 117,000, on the strength of the No. 1 Hot 100 hit "Crank That."
Seattle-based rock act Fleet Foxes enjoys its biggest sales week to date with its self-titled Sub Pop debut, which sold 13,500 copies, prompting a 181-118 jump. The group, which performed last week on NBC's "Late Night With Conan O'Brien," won numerous year-end critics' polls, including Billboard's.
At 17.16 million units, album sales this week are up 33% over last week but down 33% from the same week in 2007, when 25.57 million albums were sold.