NEW YORK, NY (RCA
Music Group) - As the music industry prepares for their annual Grammy festivities this evening, RCA
Music Group is celebrating another historic week as they dominate the top of the Nielsen SoundScan charts, posting multiple artists in the Top 10 for the sixth consecutive week this year. The impressive sales week gives RCA
Music Group the Number 1 market share overall for current albums with 8.75%, as well as the Number 1 current share for 2006 with 6.86%.
Led by Arista Records' Barry Manilow who debuts at Number 1 for the first time in his remarkable career, RCA Music Group artists Heather Headley, Jamie Foxx and Carrie Underwood all enjoy chart positions in the Top 10 this week.
Barry Manilow's The Greatest Songs of the Fifties is an incredible milestone for the singer, who up until now has never had an album debut in the top spot. It also marks only the second time a Manilow album has reached Number 1 - 1977's Barry Manilow Live was the first. The 29-year stretch between Number 1's is virtually unprecedented, having only been exceeded by Ray Charles and Elvis Presley, according to Billboard Magazine.
Another outstanding debut comes from RCA Records artist Heather Headley, who posts an impressive Number 5 debut with her In My Mind album, selling 95,093 units in its first week of release. This marks the highest charting and one week scan total in Heather's career.
Jamie Foxx, whose J Records album, Unpredictable, has shown amazing staying power, comes in at Number 4 this week. Foxx has not budged from the upper reaches of the charts since its release on December 20, 2005. This week, the Grammy nominated singer racked up another 95,334 in sales, bringing his grand total to 1,326,594 units only after 7 weeks of release.
American Idol Carrie Underwood's debut Arista Records/19 Recordings album Some Hearts remains in the Top 10 as well this week, selling 74,068 units, putting the 22-year-old singer at Number 8 on the sales chart. This marks the 10th week that Underwood has spent at the top of the country charts. Some Hearts has been certified double platinum by the RIAA.
