Backstreet Boys Leave everybody else behind (USA Today)

Back - Index - Submissions - - What is RSS? Date: Jun 04, 2099 Source: USA Today Submitted By: Krystle Thursday May 27th, 1999 'Millennium' smashes sales Records By Ken Barns, USA TODAY Records were made to be broken -- especially record sales records. Just a week after Ricky Martin scored 1999's top sales week and achieved the best-selling first week ever for a contemporary pop artist, the Backstreet Boys' second album, Millennium, shattered those records and sold more copies in a week than any album in any genre, 1,134,000. The total edged Garth Brooks' record of 1,085,000, the amount his Double Live album sold in it's first week last November. According to SoundScan, which has electronically tabulated record sales since 1991, only one other album in that era has sold more than a million albums in a week; The Bodyguard soundtrack, which tallied 1.06 million during Christmas week of 1992. "It's a wonderful week for pop culture," says Barry Weiss, president for the Backstreet Boys' label, Jive Records. "You've got the Backstreet Boys and Star Wars." He adds, "This is a great thing for the record industry. It shows you that when you make records that appeal to a wide demographic, you can still create a phenomenon." Backstreet has been labeled a teen-idol act, but the audience seems to be broader, says Geoff Mayfield, director of chats for Billboard, which publishes the SoundScan tallies. "Their fan base is mostly youth, but I can't imagine selling that many albums just to kids." More Backstreet Facts: -Nearly one of every 11 albums purchased was a cope for the new Backstreet Boys album -- far above the normal ratio. -Millennium was released simultaneously worldwide and is estimated to have sold over 8 million copies globally. -It matched it's US No. 1 debut by topping charts in Germany, Canada, Austria, Switzerland, Finland, Spain, Mexico, Holland, Greece, Norway and Portugal. -Jive estimates that the album sold close to 500,000 copies in the USA in it's first day -- nearly enough to be certified gold in a day. Comment on this item. Next Item: A sound for the whole family (USA Today) Prev Item: Caitlin and the Boys