King Elvis Tops U.S. Charts; American Idol Reigns
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A collection of Elvis Presley’s No. 1 hits shot straight to the top of the charts this week, showing the King of Rock ‘n Rock still rules even 25 years after his death, while a new “American Idol” also continued to reign supreme.
For the week ended Sept. 29, Presley’s “Elvis 30 Number One Hits” compilation, released by Bertelsmann AG’s RCA Records on Sept. 24, sold 500,318 units, according to Nielsen Soundscan, marking the first time an Elvis album has debuted at No. 1 in the United States.
With the help of a $10 million massive, global marketing and promotion campaign by RCA and its parent BMG, the collection, featuring songs like “Don’t Be Cruel,” “Jailhouse Rock,” and “Return to Sender” also debuted at No. 1 in Spain, Belgium, Argentina, New Zealand, Ireland, Denmark, Sweden, Chile, Switzerland, Austria and the United Arab Emirates.
“Elvis-mania” took hold this summer as thousands of fans paid homage to the King on the 25th anniversary of his death and grooved to a hot-selling new remix of the song, “A Little Less Conversation,” which is also on the new CD.
“It is clear that our campaign has been effective in reaching a huge range of music fans in every corner of the globe,” said Joe DiMuro, senior vice president, Strategic Marketing for BMG, the parent company of RCA.
Geoff Mayfield, director of charts for Billboard, said that RCA was inspired by the success of rival EMI Group Plc Capitol’s compilation of No. 1 hits by the Beatles a few years ago.
Meanwhile, a single by bubbly 20-year-old “American Idol” champion Kelly Clarkson who wowed a national TV audience on the Fox network’s summer reality series, remained at No. 1 on the latest Hot 100 singles chart from Nielsen SoundScan, for a second week in a row.
“A Moment Like This,” the song she performed on the final episode of the show, paired with the song “Before Your Love” on a double-A-side record, sold 146,000 copies in the latest week, according to Nielsen Soundscan, bringing the single’s total sales tally to 384,000 since its release on Sept 12.
Back on the latest pop album chart, country trio Dixie Chicks’ latest album, “Home,” held at to No. 2 with sales of 133,845 copies, bringing its five-week tally to more than 1.6 million units.
Canadian teen pop ingenue Avril Lavigne’s debut album remained at No. 3 with sales of 124,308 copies in the latest week.
Meanwhile, heavy metal band Disturbed slipped from No. 1 to No. 4 with its sophomore release “Believe,” selling 117,809 units, and bringing its total to about 402,038 units.
Rounding out the top five was rapper Nelly’s “Nellyville” release, which sold 114,296 units in the latest week.
A new release by rock and soul artist India.Arie called “Voyage to India” landed at No. 6, selling 109,481 units, followed by Eminem’s third major-label LP, “The Eminem Show,” which has spent 19 weeks lodged in the upper echelons of the pop charts.
“Nellyville” and “The Eminem Show” have chalked up respective sales tallies of 3.5 million and 5.9 million copies.
Three new releases rounded out the top 10, with “Sea Change” by alternative rocker Beck at No. 8; “Up” by Peter Gabriel, former frontman of the 1970s band Genesis, at No. 9 and “Lost Tapes” by rapper Nas at No. 10.
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