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Justin Bieber continues to break records on Billboard’s charts, as his Under the Mistletoe album debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, selling 210,000 in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
The collection is the first Christmas set by a male artist to debut at No. 1 in the chart’s 55-year history and just the eighth holiday album to hit No. 1. Susan Boyle‘s 2010 album The Gift is the only other Christmas effort to open atop the list.
Previous to Boyle, the six earlier holiday albums to top the Billboard 200 were: Josh Groban’s Noel (1997), Kenny G’s Miracles–The Holiday Album (1994), Mitch Miller’s Holiday Sing Along With Mitch (1962) and Christmas Sing-Along With Mitch (1958), Bing Crosby’s Merry Christmas (1957) and Elvis Presley’s Elvis’ Christmas Album (1957).
Further, Mistletoe marks the 17-year-old’s third No. 1 album. He is the first soloist to earn three No. 1s before their 18th birthday. Previously, he was tied with LeAnn Rimes, who notched two No. 1s in 1997 before she had even turned 16. Bieber’s first No. 1 album, My World 2.0., debuted on the April 10, 2010, chart. His second was the Never Say Never: The Remixes EP, arriving on the March 5, 2011, chart.
“Mistletoe” starts with Bieber’s third-best sales week, after the first two frames of his last studio album, My World 2.0. That title bowed with 283,000 and then shifted 291,000 in its second stanza.
But Bieber isn’t the only news this week on the Billboard 200 — not by a long shot. Six total debuts populate the top 10, including the entire top four. It’s the first time the chart’s Nos. 1-4 slots have been debuts since the Feb. 5 tally, when the Decemberists’ The King Is Dead bowed at No. 1.
Rapper Wale arrives at No. 2 this week with his second effort, Ambition, selling 164,000, while Miranda Lambert’s Four the Record starts at No. 3 with 133,000. The aforementioned Boyle begins at No. 4 with her third set, Someone to Watch Over Me (132,000).
For the former two acts, their latest albums bring them their best sales weeks yet and highest-charting sets. Wale’s last release, Attention Deficit, spent just two weeks on the list, peaking at No. 21 with a 28,000 debut. Lambert’s previous best sales start was with the bow of Revolution with 66,000 copies at No. 8 in 2009. Her highest-charting album, until this week, was the No. 6 arrival of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend in 2007.
Boyle’s Someone is her third top five set, following the No. 1 debuts of I Dreamed a Dream (701,000 in 2009) and The Gift.
Rounding out the rest of the six debuts in the top 10 this week is Florence & the Machine’s second album, Ceremonials (No. 6 with 105,000), and Tyrese’s latest Open Invitation (No. 9 with 76,000).
Florence’s debut set, Lungs, climbed to a No. 14 peak in 2010 following the act’s performance of the single “Dog Days Are Over” on the MTV Video Music Awards. Tyrese‘s Invitation brings the actor/singer back to the tally for the first time since 2006’s Alter Ego debuted and peaked at No. 23. Invitation is his highest-charting album, passing up his 2001 set 2000 Watts, which topped out at No. 10.
As for the holdovers in the top 10: Adele‘s 21 slips out of the top four slots for the first time in its 37-week history on the list, falling 4-5 (108,000; up 1%). Coldplay’s Mylo Xyloto tumbles 1-7 in its second week on the chart (104,000; down 76%) while Michael Buble’s Christmas holds together slightly better in its sophomore frame, dipping 3-8 with 89,000 (down 37%). Kelly Clarkson’s Stronger rounds out the rest of the non-debuts in the top tier, moving 2-10 with 51,000 (down 69%).
Over on the Digital Songs chart, Rihanna’s “We Found Love” (featuring Calvin Harris) cools a bit at No. 1, selling 236,000 downloads (down 3%). LMFAO and Adele hold their positions at Nos. 2 and 3, respectively, with “Sexy and I Know It” (203,000; down 1%) and “Someone Like You” (144,000; down 3%).
Flo Rida’s “Good Feeling” has a good jump, climbing 10-4 with 132,000 (up 32%), while Foster the People’s “Pumped Up Kicks” slides 4-5 with 124,000 (down 6%). David Guetta’s “Without You” (featuring Usher) is steady at No. 6 with 123,000 (up 5%) and Maroon 5’s “Moves Like Jagger” (featuring Christina Aguilera) falls 5-7 (120,000; down 5%). T-Pain’s “5 O’Clock” (featuring Wiz Khalifa & Lily Allen) jumps into the top 10 for the first time, zipping 12-8 with 109,000 (up 40%).
Closing out the top 10 is Gym Class Heroes‘ “Stereo Hearts” (featuring Adam Levine), slipping 7-9 with 108,000 (down 1%) and Bruno Mars‘ “It Will Rain,” which rises 17-10 with 97,000 (up 51%). Expect the latter — lifted from the “Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1” soundtrack — to gain more ground in the coming weeks. Its video debuted today (Nov. 9), the soundtrack was released yesterday, and the movie premieres Nov. 17.
Overall album sales in this past chart week (ending Nov. 6) totaled 6.2 million units, up 10% compared with the sum last week (5.6 million) and up 14% compared with the comparable sales week of 2010 (5.4 million). Year-to-date album sales stand at 255.5 million, up 3% compared with the same total at this point last year (247.4 million).
Digital track sales this past week totaled 20.9 million downloads, up 4% compared with last week (20.1 million) and up 5% stacked next to the comparable week of 2010 (19.9 million). Year-to-date track sales are at 1.1 billion, up 10% compared with the same total at this point last year (956.9 million).
Next week’s Billboard 200 competes with the same week in 2010 when: Susan Boyle‘s The Gift launched at No. 1 with 318,000, marking her second chart-topper. Taylor Swift’s Speak Now slipped to No. 2 with 212,000 (down 34%).
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