Eminem Still Untouchable On North American Pop Charts
Rapper Eminem easily held off a sub-par debut by hard rock band Korn to rule the U.S. pop charts for a fourth consecutive week, according to sales data issued on Wednesday.
“The Eminem Show” sold about 530,000 copies in the week ended June 16, as its total rose to 2.9 million copies, the best-selling release of 2002, according to sales tracker Nielsen SoundScan. Eminem records for Interscope Records, a unit of Vivendi Universal .
California band Korn’s “Untouchables” proved to be optimistically titled as it sold 434,000 copies in its first week to open at No. 2. Korn’s previous album, “Issues,” debuted at No. 1 in November 1999 with sales of more than 570,000 copies.
Elsewhere, edgy veteran David Bowie’s new album “Heathen” opened at No. 14, his best performance since 1984’s “Tonight” peaked at No. 11. “Heathen” is Bowie’s first album for Columbia Records after he left EMI Group Plc’s Virgin Records last December complaining about “bumping heads with corporate structure.” Columbia is a unit of Japanese electronics giant Sony Corp.
Bowie’s publicist said in a statement that “Heathen” debuted in the top 10 in 11 countries: Denmark (No. 1), Norway (No. 2), France (No. 3), Germany (No. 4), Austria (No. 4), the U.K. (No. 5), Italy (No. 6), Ireland (No. 6), Sweden (No. 6) Canada (No. 9) and Japan (No. 10).
Sony’s Epic label released the Korn album, as well as another new entry at No. 13, a soundtrack tied to MTV’s reality phenomenon, “The Osbournes.” The album features a few songs from addled paterfamilias Ozzy Osbourne, as well as a cover version of Madonna’s “Papa Don’t Preach” from his youngest daughter, Kelly.
The top 10 contained one other new release, Florida punk quintet New Found Glory’s “Sticks & Stones” at No. 4. The group records for Vivendi Universal’s MCA Records unit.
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