NEW YORK (RCA
Music Group) - In an unprecedented show of Nielsen SoundScan chart dominance this week, the RCA
Music Group weighs in with 6 albums by 6 solo artists inside the Top 23 (and 3 in the top 7 positions) on the all-genre Billboard 200 albums chart (issue dated December 30, 2006) with total cumulative sales of more than 1 million units:
- No 2 debut the self-titled TAYLOR HICKS (Arista/19 Recordings, 298,199 units first week);
- No 6 SOME HEARTS by
Carrie Underwood (Arista/19 Recordings, 199,114 this week);
- No 7 DAUGHTRY by
Chris Daughtry (RCA/19 Recordings, 180,903 this week);
- No 18 WINTERSONG by
Sarah McLachlan (Arista Records, 133,277 this week);
- No 19 debut the self-titled FANTASIA (J/19 Recordings, 132,964 units first week);
- No 23 debut ALTER EGO by
Tyrese aka Black-Ty (J Records, 115,957 units first week).
Individually:
The soulful pop, blues and R&B roots of Birmingham, Alabama's favorite son
Taylor Hicks are finding a world of new fans beyond the 36.4 million viewers who saw him win 2006's 5th season finale of American Idol, and the "Soul Patrol!" legions who cast more than 63.4 million votes for him. A solid month of tv exposure, leading up to (and following) the December 12th album release date, included numerous live performances of "The Runaround" from The Early Show to The
Tonight Show and everywhere in between. The result was a colossal first week of sales for Taylor's auspicious label debut, produced by two-time Grammy Award-winner Matt Serletic.
In its 57th week out, and 18th week at No 1 on the Country side (pushed along by a 4th consecutive No 1 Country hit, "Before He Cheats"), Carrie Under�wood's SOME HEARTS is an industry phenom Album Of The Year and Country Album Of The Year at the Billboard Music Awards earlier this month, where Carrie was also named Billboard 200 Album Artist Of The Year. She was named the Country Music Association's (CMA) Female Vocalist Of The Year and Horizon winner in November, the follow-up to her two honors at the Academy of Country Music (ACM) Awards in May, as New Female Vocalist Of The Year and Single Record of the Year for "Jesus Take the Wheel" which has now been nominated for Song of the Year, Best Country Song, and Best Female Country Vocal Performance at the upcoming 49th annual Grammy Awards, where Carrie is also nominated for Best New Artist. Since its release 56 weeks ago, Carrie has held one of the Top 6 positions on the Country Albums chart, and 18 of those weeks held the No 1 position. In addition, she has been in the Top 40 on the Billboard 200 Album Chart since album release, with 22 of those weeks being in the Top 10.
The self-titled album that introduced the band called DAUGHTRY both fronted by the singer and songwriter Chris Daughtry has been inside the Top 10 since its arrival on November 21st, proving that controversial vote-down on American Idol did not hurt his popularity one bit. On his album, the distinctive hard-rocker stays true to his roots, enlisting top-flight collaborators like Grammy-nominated producer Howard Benson, Brent Smith of Shinedown ("There And Back Again"), Mitch Allan of SR-71 ("All These Lives"), Hinder songwriter-producer Brian Howes (3 songs, including "What I Want," featuring guest Slash on guitar), and Five For Fighting producer-songwriter Greg Wattenberg (the first single, "It's Not Over"). His hit single "It's Not Over" is enjoying major rotation simultaneously at three formats: Hot AC, Top 40 and Active Rock. DAUGHTRY has already sold over 1 million copies in just 4 weeks.
Since joining Arista nearly two decades ago, every one of Sarah McLachlan's original studio and live albums have been certified gold, platinum, or multi-platinum by the RIAA. That string continues with WINTERSONG, her first holiday season album. It has taken over the No 1 seat on the Top Holiday Albums chart ever since its release and is nominated for a Grammy Award as this year's Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. Sarah, whose "Ordinary Miracle" is a highlight of the new Charlotte's Web motion picture soundtrack album (Sony BMG), was seen and heard nationwide on NBC's annual broadcast of the Christmas tree lighting ceremony at Rockefeller Center in Manhattan. The event kicked off a rare but busy tv schedule that climaxed with last Friday's Tonight Show with Jay Leno. WINTERSONG is the No 1 best selling holiday album this year, the second biggest-selling Christmas album of the last five years, and the only holiday album since 2001 to spend two straight weeks in the Billboard Album Chart Top 10
The long-awaited second album by 22-year old Fantasia, also came in at No 3 on the Billboard R&B album chart, making this her second Top 3 R&B album chart debut. With FANTASIA, she presents an artist who has overcome her hard knocks life, dramatized on last summer's The Fantasia Barrino Story: Life Is Not A Fairy Tale, the Lifetime cable channel's second most viewed program of all time. After declaring her independence on 2004's RIAA platinum debut Free Yourself, which was nominated for more than 20 awards including four coveted Grammy nominations, the newly-liberated singer now spreads her wings. Her impressive A-list of contributors includes Big Boi from OutKast on the first Top 40 hit, "Hood Boy," Missy Elliot (on three tunes), Dre & Vidal, Midi Mafia, Swizz Beatz, Kwame, and Sean Garrett (to name a few), plus the historic first-time matchup of Diane Warren and Babyface on the album's closing track, "I Feel Beautiful."
Tyrese Gibson singer, songwriter, model, actor, writer, producer, CEO, and now rapper (Black-Ty), who celebrates his 28th birthday on December 30th, is indeed a renaissance man of countless talents. It was while in Africa filming his third movie, Flight Of the Phoenix, that he experienced a spiritual epiphany which led him back to the MC of his youth while in a rap group called Triple Impact. Two years later, ALTER EGO (his fourth album) became the first double-CD with one disc of R&B songs and the other hip-hop ever to be released by a platinum-selling R&B male artist. His entry at 115,957 units sold is the biggest scan week of his career. ALTER EGO enters the chart at No 4, making this his second Top 10 debut on the R&B album chart. Three new singles herald the project: The melodic ballad "One," produced by the Underdogs; the sensual "Turn Ya Out" featuring Lil' Jon; and the club-banging rap track "Get It In."
