CHASING CHESNEY!!
BNA country superstar Kenny Chesney earns dividends from his top-grossing, nonstop touring and a loyal fan base as his new album, When the Sun Goes Down, bows at #1 with a year-high 571k+ in sales.
Hastings’ George Deahl missed the spittoon by a good three feet with his tobacco chaw and observed: "People have been asking about this Kenny Chesney record since last October. He tours so much that he’s almost got a Jimmy Buffett kind of rabid fan base."
Epic/Immortal rockers Incubus’ Crow flies into the #2 slot, with sales of 325k+, while Columbia/CRG crooner Harry Connick Jr. comes marching in at #5, boasting a total of 134k+. 143/Reprise teen phenom Josh Groban parlayed his Super Bowl appearance, in which he kept not only his shirt, but also his scarf on, into a #4 finish and an incredible 222% one-week boost.
Added Deahl: "Incubus also has that hard-core fan base, and they were so ready for this record. The single is edgy, the video is just amazing and MTV is pounding it."
This week’s chart featured six titles of more than 100k, including Grammy winners Arista’s OutKast (#6). Fellow honorees, Wind-up’s Evanescence (#7), finished just below that mark. The rest of the leaders included last week’s top finisher, Atlantic/Atl G’s Twista (#3), A&M/Interscope’s Sheryl Crow (#8), DreamWorks Nashville’s Toby Keith (#9) and DTP/Capitol’s Chingy (#10).
Other chart newcomers included Interscope’s Barbershop 2: Back in Business soundtrack (#19), Aware/Columbia/CRG’s Five for Fighting (#21) and lostprophets (#36) and Epic/SMS’ You Got Served soundtrack (#45).
Aside from Groban, chart increases of more than 40% were registered by Toby Keith (+40%), Arista Nashville’s Alan Jackson (#12, +52%), MCA Nashville’s Josh Turner (#31, +49%) and Atlantic/Atl G’s The Darkness (#37, +44%),
Next week, it’s all about Blue Note’s Norah Jones. Can she approach 600k in first-week sales? Also on tap, IDJ’s red-hot producer/performer Kanye West, who many are saying could hit 400k.
"We are feeling very bullish on Norah and Kanye West, who will benefit from the Twista connection," concluded Deahl. "Now excuse me while I go stump for Rev. Al Sharpton."
