Mary J. Blige, Alicia Keys End Josh Groban's Reign Over 'Billboard' Albums Chart
To be quite honest, it was becoming rather hard to come up with new ways to say the same thing: that Grammy-nominated baritone Josh Groban's latest album, Noël, was once again the nation's top-selling record. Since late November, Groban's LP had consistently outsold the rest of the herd, making his the first Christmas album ever to hold the chart's #1 position for five straight weeks.
Luckily, we have Mary J. Blige. After [article id="1578589"]failing to overpower Groban[/article] in last week's sales race with her new Growing Pains set, the R&B songstress bounced back this week, taking advantage of the shrinking market demand for Christmas classics.
Despite a 68 percent decline in sales, Growing Pains will rise from #2 to #1 in next week's Billboard top 200 album chart, with a reported 204,300 scans, according to the latest SoundScan totals. Groban's Noël shifted 175,700 units and also suffered a steep drop in sales: 77 percent, to be exact. That lands Groban's LP in the #3 spot on next week's chart, right behind second-place finisher Alicia Keys' As I Am, which sold more than 193,200 copies.
"This album means a lot to me, because it shows my appreciation of my growth and the progress I've made," Blige [article id="1571625"]told MTV News recently about Growing Pains.[/article] "This is a next level for me, a new place, and it's a celebration of my weaknesses and strengths."
The week following Christmas was sluggish for the music industry, as total sales of the top 200 albums waned by nearly 6 million from the previous sales week. And, strangely, one of the only new albums debuting on next week's chart wasn't even officially in stores: [article id="1570871"]Radiohead's In Rainbows[/article] opens prematurely, thanks to obvious street-date violations, at #156, with 8,500 sold.
In the chart's top 10, there is little change from the previous week; it's the same old song and dance, with a number of year-long favorites hanging tough. The 26th addition to the Now That's What I Call Music! compilation series climbs two spots to #4 with 98,400 scans, while Chris Brown's Exclusive jumps from #10 to #5 with 86,700 copies sold.
The Eagles' Long Road Out of Eden falls two positions to #6, selling another 85,300 units, while Garth Brooks' Ultimate Hits finishes at #7 with 76,800 sold. Taylor Swift's self-titled debut follows at #8, with sales of 76,700. Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus dips four spots to #9, generating another 73,300 scans. And rounding things out at #10, with 71,600 copies snatched up, is Colbie Caillat's Coco.