US: Jackson shoots to top of Billboard charts
Thu Jul 2 03:47:13 EST 2009
WASHINGTON, July 1 AFP - Michael Jackson is back on top of the Billboard charts.
Billboard says albums by the pop singer who died suddenly last week at the age of 50 will occupy nine of the top 10 spots on the Top Pop Catalog Album chart being released on Wednesday.
Jackson's album "Number Ones" was No. 1 on sales of 108,000 copies during the week which ended on June 28 followed by "The Essential Michael Jackson" and "Thriller" on sales of 102,000 and 101,000 respectively.
Billboard, in an article on Billboard.com, said that last week, "Number Ones" was the only Jackson title on the chart. It was at No. 20 on sales of 4,000 copies.
Billboard said Jackson's 1979 "Off the Wall" was at No. 4 on sales of 33,000 copies followed by "Bad" on sales of 17,000.
The Jackson 5's "The Ultimate Collection" was fifth on sales of 18,000 copies followed by "Dangerous," "Greatest Hits: HIStory - Volume 1" and "The Ultimate Collection".
Billboard said the only non-Jackson-related album in the top 10 was a reissue of the soundtrack from the movie "Woodstock", which was at No. 10 on sales of 8,000 copies.
Billboard said Jackson's solo albums sold 415,000 copies this past week compared with sales of just 10,000 copies in the week that ended June 21.
It said Jackson's catalogue had sold only 297,000 copies the entire year through June 21.
Billboard noted that sales of the top three selling Jackson albums were higher during the week than that of the best-selling album on the Billboard 200 charts, "The E.N.D." by the Black Eyed Peas, which sold 88,000 copies.
Billboard also said there 2.6 million digital downloads of songs by Jackson and the Jackson 5 during the week, up from the previous week's 48,000.
