Mariah Carey hits career high
Mariah Carey "E=MC2" posted not only the highest sales week of the year, but a personal career high mark for herself as well. "E=MC2" (Island Def Jam) sold 463,000 copies in the week ended Sunday, according to Nielsen SoundScan data, making it her sixth No. 1 album. Sales surpassed the previous best of 2008, Jack Johnson's "Sleep Through the Static," by 88,000 sales. Of her sales total, 50,000 were digital downloads.
Carey launched a significant television campaign prior to the album's release. She appeared on "American Idol", "Saturday Night Live", and "Oprah" in addition to other shows. Friday, she will perform in Times Square on "Good Morning America" and then appear on "Regis & Kelly". Album's debut single "Touch My Body" was her 18th to reach No. 1.
Carey's previous album, "The Emancipation of Mimi", arrived at No. 1, selling 404,000. The six chart-toppers tie her with Madonna and Janet Jackson for second place behind Barbra Streisand's eight. Madonna's "Hard Candy" will be released Tuesday and will likely debut at No. 1.
Like a weekend for a major summer blockbuster, most labels got out of the way of Carey's tax day release. Country tyros Lady Antebellum sold 43,000 copies of their self-titled Capitol Nashville debut to open at No. 4. Thrice and Rush bunched up at Nos. 17 and 18, selling 21,000 copies of their new albums, "The Alchemy Index, Vol. 3 & 4: Air & Earth" (Vagrant) and "Snakes & Arrows: Live" (Atlantic).
Selling 19,000 were Children Of Bodom's "Blooddrunk" (Fontana/Universal) at No. 22 and the Naked Brothers Band's "I Don't Want to Go to School" (Nickelodeon) at No. 23. Tristan Prettyman's "Hello" (Virgin) sold 18,000 in its first week to open at No. 27.
Leona Lewis' "Spirit" dropped a slot to No. 2 selling 95,000 units, a little less than half the amount it did in its first week. (Variety)
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