Jay-Z makes history on this week’s Billboard 200 Album Chart. “The Blueprint 3” crashes in at the #1 spot, scanning over 475,000 copies. This is Jay’s 11th chart topping album, giving him more #1 albums than any solo artist in history. More than Elvis. More than Michael Jackson. More than Billy Joel, Barbra Streisand or any artist in history than…
…The Beatles, who make some chart noise of their own this week. Their recently reissued catalog sells a combined 650,000 copies, with 9 titles landing in the Top Twenty. Granted, none of these titles appear on the actual Billboard 200 because of their age, but they take up 9 of the Top 10 spots on Billboard’s catalog chart. “Abbey Road” is the top seller, followed by “Sgt. Pepper”, “The White Album” and “Rubber Soul”.
Elsewhere on the chart, Raekwon and Brooks & Dunn also enter in the Top 10. It looks like Jay will hold at the #1 spot on next week’s album chart, with a battle forming for second place between British band Muse and Whitney Houston, who will see an uptick in sales thanks to her interviews on the season premiere of “Oprah”.
…and here’s another interesting Jay fact…”Blueprint 3″ opens with 50,000 more copies than 2007’s “American Gangster” did. “Gangster” went on to sell over one million copies.
This week’s Top 20 Albums, courtesy of Billboard & Soundscan
1) Jay-Z “Blueprint 3”
2) Miley Cyrus “Time of Our Lives EP”
3) The Beatles “Abbey Road”
4) Whitney Houston “I Look to You”
5) The Beatles “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”
6) Raekwon “Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2”
7) The Beatles “The Beatles (White Album)”
8) The Beatles “Rubber Soul”
9) Brooks & Dunn “#1s…and Then Some”
10) The Beatles “Revolver”
11) Trey Songz “Ready”
12) Michael Jackson “Number Ones”
13) Black Eyed Peas “The E.N.D.”
14) Boys Like Girls “Love Drunk”
15) Kings of Leon “Only by the Night”
16) The Beatles “Help!”
17) Taylor Swift “Fearless”
18) The Beatles “Let it Be”
19) The Beatles “Past Masters 1 & 2”
20) The Beatles “Magical Mystery Tour”
