In Death, Jackson Is King of the Charts
415,000 albums sold in the four days after singer found dead
By XANA O'NEILL
Updated 7:50 AM PST, Wed, Jul 1, 2009
Even in death the King of Pop is a chart-topper.
Sales of Michael Jackson's records have soared since he died last Thursday as his sudden death has sparked a resurgent interest in his music.
He holds the top nine positions on Billboard's Top Pop Catalog chart with "Number Ones" at No. 1, selling more than 108,000 copies -- a whopping 2,340 percent boost in sales.
About 415,000 Michael Jackson albums were scooped up in the four days following his death compared to the 10,000 copies that U.S. retailers sold in the previous week, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing Nielsen's SoundScan.
More than half of those sold were digital downloads -- and he has sold 2.3 million digital songs since his death. In the previous week, he sold 37,000 songs.
The most popular albums are "Number Ones," "The Essential Michael Jackson" and "Thriller," which is the second best-selling album in U.S. history behind The Eagles' "Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975."
Retailers sold 1,000 copies of Jackson 5 albums in the week prior to Jackson's death and sold 32,000 since he died, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Death of a musician often boosts sales: Following Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain's 1994 suicide, the band sold 68,000 copies the next week compared to 29,000 the previous week, according to the Journal.
First Published: Jul 1, 2009 7:14 AM PST
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