The Unsinkable Britney Spears

A couple of years ago, Britney Spears' career was on the slide. Her life itself was careering out of control. This week, she's back at #1 with Circus, which sold 505,000 copies. It's Spears' biggest sales week in more than five years, since her fourth album, In The Zone, opened with sales of 609,000 in November 2003. This week's tally marks a substantial improvement over Spears' last album, Blackout, which opened at #2 in November 2007 with first-week sales of 290,000.
Spears' revival echoes Mariah Carey's comeback from a similar meltdown.



After the failure of her movie Glitter and some erratic public moments in 2001, Carey's days as a superstar seemed numbered. But she came back in 2005 with The Emancipation Of Mimi, which wound up as that year's #1 album. In both cases, the public embarrassments humanized the stars; made them seem more real and relatable. Far from imperiling the artists' careers, the struggles seem to have strengthened the artists' bonds with their fans.


Circus is Spears' fifth #1 album. The pop icon, who turned 27 on Dec. 2, has accumulated five #1 albums at a younger age than any solo artist since Elvis Presley. The King was 25 and 11 months when he landed his fifth #1 album, the G.I. Blues soundtrack, in December 1960. Elton John is in third place on this list. He was 27 and eight months when he landed his fifth #1 album, Elton John-Greatest Hits, in November 1974. (2Pac, who was 25 when he died, has also had five #1 albums, though he scored only two of them in his lifetime.)

Spears is the fifth female solo artist to amass five #1 albums. She follows Barbra Streisand, who is the leader among women with eight #1 albums; Madonna, who is closing in fast with seven; and Mariah Carey and Janet Jackson, who have six each. Circus opens with the seventh biggest weekly sales total of 2008. Among female artists, only Taylor Swift has had a bigger first week so far this year. Spears' album got off to a faster start than the latest albums by Beyonce, Mariah Carey, Miley Cyrus, Madonna, Leona Lewis and Janet Jackson. Not bad for a singer whom many had written off.

The title song from Circus enters Hot Digital Songs at #1, with first-week sales of 212,000 downloads. It's Spears' third #1 hit on this chart, following "Gimme More" and "Womanizer." "Circus" enters the Hot 100 at #3. "Womanizer" topped the Hot 100 two months ago, becoming Spears' first #1 on that chart since her debut release, "...Baby One More Time."


Britney Spears, Circus, 505,000. This new entry is Spears' seventh top 10 album, her entire output except for a 2005 compilation of remixes. This is Spears' sixth consecutive studio album to debut at #1 or #2. More than 118,000 of these copies were sold digitally, making it the week's #1 Digital Album. Only four albums have ever sold more downloads in one week. Nine songs from Circus are listed on Hot Digital Songs, topped by "Circus" at #1.

With Love: Amirul010