UPDATE: Taylor Swift's 'Fearless' rockets to No. 1
Teen "American Idol" runner-up David Archuleta makes an impressive debut near the top of the pop chart this week with his first album, but he couldn’t come close to America’s teen sweetheart, Taylor Swift, who pummeled the competition with her sophomore album, “Fearless.”
Swift’s album sold 592,000 copies during its first week in stores, according to Billboard, the highest for a country release since the veteran Eagles sold 711,000 copies of “Long Road Out of Eden” last year at this time. It’s also the best debut for any female artist this year.
"I found out about my album going to No. 1 when my mom woke me up this morning and said that Ryan Seacrest was on the phone and wanted to congratulate me...," Swift said in an e-mail to Pop & Hiss today. "The final numbers are beyond my wildest dreams -- I never expected this! This is a beautiful day, and I want to thank every single person who went out and bought my CD this week."
Archuleta’s self-titled album landed at No. 2 on the national chart, with sales of 183,000 copies. He also came in second last season to David Cook, whose post-“Idol” album, “David Cook,” was released Tuesday and will chart next week.
How hot is Swift, who turns 19 next month, about two weeks before Archuleta’s 18th birthday?
Not only does she have the fourth highest debut sales week of 2008 — behind only Lil Wayne, AC/DC and Coldplay — but she also holds the distinction of charting seven singles this week on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, six of them debuting simultaneously on Thursday. That puts her in a tie with Hannah Montana (Miley Cyrus) for the most charted singles by a female artist in the same week. In addition, that will mean that 11 of the 13 songs on “Fearless” have made it into the Hot 100.
Her six Hot 100 debuts are led by “White Horse,” which was featured in the season premier of "Grey's Anatomy" and will chart at No. 13. That gives Swift her sixth Top 20 single debut this year, the most by any artist in the 50-year history of the Hot 100 list.
Other Top 10 album debuts this week include Vol. 29 of the “Now That’s What I Call Music!” hits compilation series, entering at No. 3 with sales of 172,000 copies, while rapper T-Pain lands at No. 4 for “Thr33 Ringz” on sales of 162,000.
Enya’s first holiday album, “And Winter Came,” gives the Irish singer a Top 10 entry, starting at No. 8, with first week sales of 92,000 copies, and a Christina Aguilera hits collection, “Keeps Gettin’ Better,” a Target exclusive, enters at No. 9 with sales of 73,000 copies.
-- Randy Lewis
This item has been updated with a new quote from Taylor Swift.
Photos: Taylor Swift, courtesy Gary Friedman/Los Angeles Times; David Archuleta, courtesy Getty Images
