Lady Gaga’s million-plus, first-week debut is a freak exception in today’s music industry.
And, it took a 99-cent bonanza to make it happen. But once upon a time, this sort of outlandish sales performance was more commonplace – and all part of a recording bubble that peaked during the early 2000s.
Anyway, here’s a list of every album that managed to sell more than one million units in one week – in the US alone. Each received Platinum certification from the RIAA, based on Nielsen Soundscan sales counts.
*January, 1993:
The Bodyguard: Original Soundtrack Album, 1,016,000.
*December, 1998:
Garth Brooks, Live Garth. 1,085,000.
*June, 1999:
Backstreet Boys, Millennium, 1,134,000
*April, 2000:
*NSYNC, No Strings Attached, 2,416,000
*June, 2000:
Britney Spears, Oops!… I Did It Again, 1,319,000
*June 2000:
Eminem, The Marshal Mathers LP, 1,760,000
*November, 2000:
Limp Bizkit, Chocolate Starfish & the Hot Dog Flavored Water, 1,055,000
*December 2000:
Backstreet Boys, Black & Blue, 1,591,000
*January, 2001:
Beatles, 1, 1,259,000
*August, 2001:
*NSYNC, Celebrity, 1,880,000
*June, 2002:
Eminem, The Eminem Show, 1,322,000
*February 2004:
Norah Jones, Feels Like Home, 1,022,000
*April 2004:
Usher, Confessions, 1,096,000
*March, 2005:
50 Cent, The Massacre, 1,141,000
*June 2008:
Lil Wayne, Tha Carter III, 1,006,000
*November, 2010:
Taylor Swift, Speak Now, 1,047,000
*May, 2011:
Lady Gaga, Born This Way, 1,108,000
And, here’s a stunning infographic of it all…