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This article first appeared on Billboard.com.
According to estimates from industry sources, the entertainer’s latest album, Unorthodox Jukebox, sold perhaps 40,000 copies in the week ending Feb. 2. That would represent a 164 percent gain compared to the previous week, when it sold 15,000, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
The album’s official sales figures, as tabulated by SoundScan, will be released on Wednesday, Feb. 5 (the same day that the new Billboard 200 chart’s top 10 will be unveiled).
VIDEO: Super Bowl: Bruno Mars, Red Hot Chili Peppers Rock Halftime Show
If Unorthodox returns to the top 10 with 40,000, it will mark the album’s first visit to the top 10 since the Billboard 200 chart dated Sep. 14, 2013, and its best sales week since March 2013.
Unorthodox Jukebox was already aiming to sell around 19,000 in the week ending Feb. 2, thanks in part to Mars’ exposure at last week’s Grammy Awards (Jan. 26). Mars won the award for best pop vocal album on the Grammys, but he did not perform on the show. (He got additional screen time from his nominations in other categories — like record of the year and song of the year — though he didn’t win those races.)
This year’s Super Bowl drew 111.5 million viewers, down from the 109 million that tuned in a year ago.
Last year, Beyonce headlined the Super Bowl halftime show, where she was briefly joined by Destiny’s Child group members Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams. Unlike Mars, Beyonce didn’t have a current album riding high on the charts at the time.
In the week ending Feb. 3, 2013, Beyonce saw her most recent album, 2011’s 4, re-enter the Billboard 200 at No. 100 with 4,000 sold (up 123 percent). The following week — after a full week of sales impact was felt from the game — the album climbed to No. 79 with 6,000 (up 59 percent).
The impact of the Super Bowl on Mars’ music sales — and on the Billboard charts — will be unique compared to all other halftime headliners in the modern era of Super Bowl halftime entertainment.
PHOTOS: Super Bowl 2014: 12 Big Moments
Since 1993, when Michael Jackson headlined the halftime festivities, the main performer on the show has generally been an act with a fairly deep catalog of albums and songs. Mars, however, has released only two albums — Unorthodox Jukebox (released in 2012) and Doo-Wops & Hooligans (2010).
Thus, all of the sales and chart impact felt by Mars will be concentrated on just those two albums (and their respective singles), unlike previous years, where everyone from Beyonce and Madonna to Paul McCartney and Bruce Springsteen saw their post-Super Bowl chart impact spread across multiple albums and songs.
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