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NEW YORK (Top40 Charts) - After an absolutely record-shattering year on the
Billboard charts in 2000, albums released in 2001 had a very tough act to follow.
Although record-setting acts from last year like 'NSync and Britney Spears - who own the records for highest one-week sales (No Strings Attached at 2.4 million) and highest one-week sales for a female solo artist (Oops! & I Did It Again at 1.3 million), respectively -- made creditable attempts at their own marks, it was not to be in 2001.
Instead, a host of smaller records were broken by the likes of the Dixie Chicks, Janet Jackson, Puddle of Mudd, Jaguares, Puya, and Delbert McClinton, among others.
Here's
a rundown of some of the most notable chart . - and record sales -- feats of 2001:
![](https://gs.cdnow.com/graphics/CMS/69/15169.jpg) Crazy Town |
In February, newcomers Crazy Town made history with its debut single, "Butterfly." The song became the first record ever to simultaneously achieve No. 1 on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks, top 10 on Top 40 Mainstream, top 15 on Top 40 Rhythm, No. 1 requests on alternative radio, and No. 20 on The Billboard Hot 100.
March saw
Ken Burns Jazz: Story of America's Music (a five-CD box set released by Columbia/Legacy Recordings/Verve
Music Group based on a 19-hour PBS series of the same name by documentary filmmaker
Ken Burns), become the first jazz box set to be certified platinum by the Recording
Industry Association of America. Along the way, the set also became the fastest-selling jazz box set in history, selling nearly 110,000 copies in its first three months on shelves.
![](https://gs.cdnow.com/graphics/CMS/46/17446.jpg) Janet Jackson |
That same month, Janet Jackson made history with her new single, "All for You," at radio. In its first week on the airwaves, the single was added at every Radio & Record's reporting station across three formats (CHR/Pop, CHR/Rhythmic, and Urban). Additionally, the song debuted at No. 14 on The Billboard Hot 100, the highest debut ever for a non-commercially available single.
![](https://gs.cdnow.com/graphics/CMS/3/19503.jpg) The Strokes |
This year's most buzzed about band, New York's The Strokes, actually set a record in June, months before the release of their RCA Records debut Is This It. The group's The Modern Age EP on XL Recordings/Beggars Group was the highest-ranking EP on the CMJ Top 200 chart in the history of the college radio charting magazine, peaking at No. 13.
![](https://gs.cdnow.com/graphics/CMS/allstar/11812.jpeg) Puya |
Puerto Rican rockers Puya set a new Latin standard in June as well. Its latest effort, Union, became the highest-debuting hard rock act on The Billboard Top Latin Albums chart at No. 10. Also this month, Delbert McClinton's latest effort, Nothing Personal (New West Records) owned the No. 1 spot on The Album Network's Americana Roots Airplay chart for 12 consecutive weeks, surpassing a record set by Steve Earle's Transcedental Blues in 2000.
![](https://gs.cdnow.com/graphics/CMS/50/6650.jpg) Jaguares |
In July, another heavy Latin hitter, Jaguares, pulled off an impressive feat. The band's album, Cuando La Sangre Galopa, simultaneously debuted at No. 1 on Billboard Top Latin Albums chart as well as on the magazine's Heatseekers chart -- a first for a Latin act.
![](https://gs.cdnow.com/graphics/CMS/43/5743.jpg) Diana Krall |
Another jazz mark was set in September. Diana Krall's The Look of Love debuted at No. 9
on the strength of 94,000 in sales on The Billboard 200 -- the first time
in history a traditional jazz artist has debuted in the top 10.
![](https://gs.cdnow.com/graphics/CMS/90/21690.jpg) Puddle of Mudd |
Also in September,
Puddle of Mudd set a new rock standard behind the guided A&R eyes of
Limp Bizkit frontman
Fred Durst. The band's Geffen/Flawless debut,
Come Clean, landed at No. 10 on
The Billboard 200 in its first week - the highest showing ever for a rock band's debut album on the Billboard album chart. A few months later, nu-metal cohorts
Nickelback set a radio record when its hit single "
How You Remind Me" became the first song to surpass the 120 million mark in audience listenership on The Billboard Hot 100.
![](https://gs.cdnow.com/graphics/CMS/26/9326.jpg) Dixie Chicks |
Country superstars the Dixie Chicks set a world record in October. In the 2002 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records, the trio will find its debut, 1998's Wide Open Spaces, listed as the all-time best selling country debut album by a group. The album has sold 11 million copies and counting, according to the RIAA.
![](https://gs.cdnow.com/graphics/CMS/allstar/14101.gif) Ginuwine |
R&B artist Ginuwine also made the record books in October. "Differences," the second single from his latest effort, The Life, became the first single to ever reach No. 1 on The Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart on airplay alone, without the release of a commercial single.
In November, the highly successful Now That's What I Call Music! compilation series made history when two of its releases found themselves in the top 5 on The Billboard 200 at the same time -- the first time in history that two compilations from the same series have achieved that feat. Both Now That's What I Call Music! 8 and Now That's What I Call Christmas were at No. 2 and No. 5, respectively, for the week of Nov. 26.
And last but not least, 'NSync now owns the top two spots on the all-time first week sales list with
No Strings Attached (2.4 million) and
Celebrity (1.8 million). The top 5 debuts on The Billboard 200 in 2001 were as follows: 'NSync's
Celebrity (1,879,955), Creed's
Weathered (887,229) (the highest rock debut of the year), Britney Spears'
Britney (745,744),
Dave Matthews Band's
Everyday (732,720), and Staind's
Break the Cycle (716,003). Meanwhile, DMX's
The Great Depression (439,957) was the top first week seller for hip-hop of the year; Maxwell's
Now (296,388) was the highest R&B album; and Garth Brooks'
Scarecrow (465,523) scored the best first week country sales.