Today's Evil Beet Gossip

If You Can Believe It, People Bought Michael Jackson Albums Last Week

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I expected Jackson album sales to be exceptionally high this week, but I had no idea just how staggering the numbers would be: Based on preliminary sales numbers from Nielsen SoundScan, the top nine positions on Billboard’s Top Pop Catalog Albums chart will house Jackson-related titles when the tally is released in the early morning on Wednesday. Remember, too, that SoundScan’s tracking ends on a Sunday — just three days after Michael’s death. These numbers will be even bigger for the coming week.

“Number Ones” will fittingly lead the pack at No. 1 with sales of 108,000 (an increase of 2,340 percent) while “The Essential Michael Jackson” and “Thriller” are in the second and third slots with 102,000 and 101,000, respectively. Last week “Number Ones” was the only Jackson title on the chart, at No. 20 with 4,000 copies; both “Essential” and “Thriller” re-enter the tally this week.

Additionally, his classic 1979 studio set “Off the Wall” re-enters at No. 4 with 33,000 while his 1987 album “Bad” returns at No. 6 with 17,000. At No. 5, the Jackson 5’s “The Ultimate Collection” debuts with 18,000. Jackson’s fourth studio album for Epic Records, 1991’s “Dangerous,” re-enters at No. 7 with 14,000, and his 2001 compilation, “Greatest Hits: HIStory — Volume 1,” returns to the list at No. 8 with 12,000. Finally, Jackson’s 2004 box set, “The Ultimate Collection,” charts its first week on the Pop Catalog chart, arriving at No. 9 with 11,000.

The lone non-Jackson-related set in the top 10 is a reissue of the “Woodstock” movie soundtrack, which bows at No. 10 with 8,000.

Oh, and BET Awards on Sunday — a last-minute Jackson tribute — brought in over 10M viewers. That’s even higher than the Jon & Kate season five premiere, and will probably wind up being the most-watched show in the network’s history. An estimated 10% of televisions that were on at that time were tuned to the ceremony.

Meanwhile, Michael’s will is expected to be filed in probate court very soon, but details are already starting to leak out: He left custody of his three children to his mother, Katherine, and the remainder of his assets be put in a private trust. His father, Joe Jackson, was not specifically excluded from the will, as had been rumored earlier.

12 CommentsLeave a comment

  • People were going crazy on Ebay buying Michael Jackson Vinyl, Off the Wall sold for $117.00. The minute he died Vinyl sales shot through the roof.. Crazy.

  • I’m just glad all the blacks are rushing in to claim him as theirs again, even though they shunned him before he died. Two weeks ago Jamie Foxx probably wouldn’t have taken his call but now he’s all cryin’ and shit. Fuck you Jamie Foxx and good riddance MJ. Hey, and while you’re at it, why don’t you take Eminem off our hands too!

  • Oh try working at a record store, problem is we can’t mark up our prices and because we barely sold any Michael Jackson before this, all the cd’s are about ten dollars (Australian) and the dvd’s are even cheaper. We could be making a fortune.

    Of course we get about 40 cd’s a day and sell out by 3pm.. I’ve also been abused.. in one instance even spat out because we were sold out.. I tried to explain, many many times, we can get these cd’s for years and even decades to come.. Alas, that made me recieve a cd to the face.

  • Everyone is buying his albums again, and his father is using MJ’s death to promote his record sales. Come on, the jokes they make about his death are better then most of his interviews.

    I live close to the home he grew up in and the mayor of Gary is wanting the family to have a visitation with the body there. So, how many people want to come to a town that has one of the highest murder rates for a funeral?

  • Guess this proves there is a sucker born every minute. I should dig out my old MJ records and sell them to fund my children’s college fund. Waiting on this frenzie to die (no pun intended) ….

  • why are you such a bitch? you got issues…..

    i can beleive it though, i went on itunes and bought some music, that i already had on tape and cd thank you very much.

  • I think everyone could be a little more conscientious (including me) of being tolerant of the human condition, a condition which we all have in common. We all suffer, we all feel pain, and we all feel the same range of human emotions. Everyone has their own personal demons, monsters and angels dwelling within themselves. If there are people out there who are inspired to take their own lives because Michael Jackson is now dead, then I am sure that they had a tremendous amount of suffering in their lives having little and nothing to do with Michael Jackson. Perhaps they felt they related to Michael Jackson because they too felt like an outcast and a stranger in life. Maybe they felt a kinship with him for this reason, and now that he is gone maybe they feel utterly and completely alone. That is one of the worst feelings anyone will ever have. Maybe instead of ridiculing these people, we should do something to make this world a little more tolerant of people who have extreme mental suffering. Perhaps this would help others not feel the need to take their own lives.

    Of course child molestation is a despicable act that should be punishable by law. However, I do not think that any one of us can say with any amount of sensible backing that we know for sure whether or not MJ did commit this crime. We were not there, we cannot know what happened behind closed doors. I do not believe it is my place, nor my right, to make a final judgement on a persons character. Thats’s God’s job.

  • Didn’t follow the later cases, but the first one the charges were brought by the boy’s father. This wonderful dad had no custody rights and hadn’t even seen his son in over a year. The only reason he knew his kid was at neverland was a pic with his kid in it!

  • I feel very good for Michael Jackson and everyone is buying his album again.i m sure people are crazy for his album.

  • @mdeals, if buyed all I want to buy and now all the other can buy Michael, well now its better and he ist dead. I don’t understand the people.