[Smells Like News] Susan Boyle Snags Fastest-Selling Album In U.K. For 2009

'Britain's Got Talent' breakout star is poised to hit #1 in the U.S. this week as well.
By Gil Kaufman


Susan Boyle's <i>I Dreamed A Dream</i>
Photo: Sony Music Entertainment

Susan Boyle is mega. The once unknown, shy Scottish singer has completed her rocket ride from obscurity to worldwide fame by landing the fastest-selling album in Britain this year. According to Reuters, Boyle's I Dreamed a Dream entered the British charts at #1 on sales of 410,000, giving her the biggest first-week sales for a debut album in U.K. chart history, beating out previously hyped debuts by the Arctic Monkeys and Leona Lewis.

Boyle, 48, recently made news when the album, a mixture of her most famous covers and some holiday-appropriate standards, snagged the record for the biggest global CD pre-order in the 14-year history of Amazon.com. In addition to covers of the Rolling Stones' "Wild Horses" and Madonna's "You'll See," the 12-song disc — which sold more than 130,000 copies in its first day in England — features covers of the hymns "Amazing Grace," "Silent Night," and "How Great Thou Art," the Monkees hit "Daydream Believer," and one original song, "Who I Was Born to Be."

The album has hit #1 in Australia and Ireland and is expected to be #1 in the U.S. this week as well, with experts predicting its 600,000-plus first week will easily outsell its closest competition, Adam Lambert's For Your Entertainment. HITS Daily Double pegged potential Boyle sales between 625,000 and 675,000, which would also give Boyle the biggest first-week sales of 2009 in the U.S., easily beating Eminem's 608,000 bow for the eagerly anticipated comeback album Relapse. HITS predicted that Lambert should easily take the #2 position with 210,000 to 230,000 in sales.

Boyle's album has reportedly sold more than 2 million copies in its first week and will be the subject of an upcoming TV Guide Channel documentary, "I Dreamed a Dream: The Susan Boyle Story," scheduled to air on December 13 and feature performances and an interview with Boyle as well as friends and supporters, including mentor and "Britain's Got Talent" judge Simon Cowell.

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Posted By sysop to Smells Like News at 11/30/2009 08:38:00 AM

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