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Post by Emerald City on Feb 24, 2005 18:56:18 GMT -5
David Jenison
The late Ray Charles might have loved company on his final album, but he's all alone at the top of the charts.
After landing five posthumous Grammys on Feb. 13, including the night's two top prizes, Album of the Year and Record of the Years, Ray Charles' duets album, Genius Loves Company, rocketed all the way up to number one.
The disc, out for nearly six months now, finished the post-Grammy week selling 224,000 copies, up a whopping 214 percent, or 150,000 copies from the previous week, according to Nielsen SoundScan numbers released Wednesday.
Though a Top 10 regular, this is the first time Genius Loves Company topped the charts. All told, Genius Loves Company captured a record-tying eight trophies, including three technical prizes for its producers and engineers. Charles' career Grammy total was upped to 17.
Oddly enough, the soundtrack to Ray, the much praised Jamie Foxx biopic about the late singer, experienced only a nominal gain, climbing six spots to 12, but moving about the same number of albums as the pre-Grammy week.
Still, the big winners at the 47th Annual Grammy Awards reaped the spoils at the record stores.
Green Day, who gave a show-stopping Grammy performance and scored the Best Rock Album trophy for American Idiot, moved up a spot to number two with sales of 202,000, a gain of 62 percent over the previous week. Usher, who dueted with James Brown and claimed three awards for Confessions, jumped five spots to number five, moving 110,000, an increase of 27 percent. Best New Artist winner Maroon 5's Songs About Jane leapt 13 spots to nine on 78,000 in sales, a 35 percent bump.
The official compilation, 2005 Grammy Nominees, moved up to a new chart high at number four with 110,000 copies, a 50 percent increase in sales.
Alicia Keys, who took home four Grammys and performed during three different Grammy segments, just missed re-entering the Top 10 as her sophomore disc, The Diary of Alicia Keys, jumped from 47 to number 11 on sales of 74,000, a gain of 148 percent.
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Post by Emerald City on Feb 24, 2005 18:56:44 GMT -5
John Mayer rode his two big wins for Song of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for "Daughters" to an 85 percent bump for Heavier Things, which climbed from 42 to 19 on sales of 60,000. U2's three Grammy wins, backed by two performances on the show, helped blow up How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb 14 spots to number 20 with sales of 57,000--a gain of 42 percent.
Following a Grammy win and a performance of "Heaven," Los Lonely Boys doubled sales of their eponymous debut to 53,000, moving up 29 spots. Kanye West, who had the most nominations, gave a scintillating performance of "Jesus Walks" and took home three Grammys, including Best Rap Album, gained more than 200 percent, with The College Dropout zooming up 66 slots to 33 on sales of 44,000.
Even those who went home empty-handed witnessed sales spikes. Joss Stone, who lost out in the Best New Artist race but whose tribute to Janis Joplin with Melissa Etheridge brought down the house, nearly doubled sales of Mind, Body & Soul, which climbed 43 spots to 42 with sales of 33,000. And host Queen Latifah, who failed to win Best Jazz Vocal Album for The Dana Owens Album, increased her sales by 50 percent to 29,000, moving from 71 to 48.
A few artists whose albums have already sold a gazillion copies failed to hitch on to the Grammy bandwagon. Gretchen Wilson, for example, sold a few thousand copies less of Here for the Party after taking home her trophy. And Jay-Z sold just 500 more copies of 2003's The Black Album after winning for Rap Solo Performance.
With all the Grammy action shaking things up, last week's number one, 3 Doors Down's Seventeen Days, was down to number six. The rest of the Top 10 were: The Game's Documentary at three, John Legend's Get Lifted at seven, Eminem 's Encore at eight and Kelly Clarkson 's Breakaway in the 10 spot.
The week's only new debuts charting were Disneymania 3 at 46, Willie Nelson's Songs at 64 and Intocable's X at 64. Meanwhile, the Hitch soundtrack climbed into the Billboard 200 at 90 as the film spent its second consecutive week atop the box office.
Here's a recap of the Top 10 albums of last week based on sales data tracked by Nielsen SoundScan:
1. Genius Loves Company, Ray Charles
2. American Idiot, Green Day
3. The Documentary, The Game
4. 2005 Grammy Nominees, various
5. Confessions, Usher
6. Seventeen Days, 3 Doors Down
7. Get Lifted, John Legend
8. Encore, Enimem
9. Songs About Jane, Maroon 5
10. Breakaway, Kelly Clarkson
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