Ke$ha's 'Animal' Debuts at #1; Ends Susan Boyle's Six Week #1 Billboard Reign

Ke$ha, the 22-year-old "TiK ToK" singer, debut album, 'Animal' has premiered at #1 on the Billboard charts, ending Susan Boyle's six week stranglehold on the coveted spot with 'I Dreamed a Dream.' Animal, released last week, sold 152,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Ms. Boyle's "I Dreamed a Dream" took the #2 slot with 93,000 sales, bring it's grand sales total to approximately 3.2 million.

Both women deserve commendations.  "I Dreamed a Dream," attracted older audiences, with 97% of sales being CDs vs. digital downloads. Ke$ha, expectedly, attracted younger and more tech-savvy fans, with 76% of 'Animal' sales being digital. "TiK ToK" has received 2.6 million dowloads. 

Also on the chart this week: Lady Gaga's "Fame" at #3 with 66,000 sales, Alicia Keys's "Element of Freedom" at #4 with 62,000 in sales, and Mary J. Blige's "Stronger With Each Tear" at #5 with 47,000 in sales.

Boyle's I Dreamed a Dream, debuted at number 1 on the charts, remained at number 1 in it's second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth weeks and has also received RIAA-Triple Platinum Certification for shipping over three million units to retailers nationwide. ‘I Dreamed A Dream' continues to break records by becoming the biggest selling album released in 2009.  Also as previously reported, "I Dreamed A Dream: The Susan Boyle Story," which premiered exclusively on TV Guide Network on Sunday, December 13 became its #1 rated television special in history. The television special, which delivered a 1.0 coverage rating (788,500 HH) for the 8:00 p.m. telecast, also over-delivered with the network's key demos. It achieved a triple digit increase (404 percent) with persons 25-54 over the prior year, and the combined 8:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. telecasts reached 4.1 million households and 4.8 million viewers (p18+). 

YouTube additionally announced last week that Susan Boyle's I Dreamed A Dream performance from
Britain's Got Talent is their most watched video of 2009.

'I Dreamed A Dream' was recorded during the summer of 2009. Susan first entered a recording studio in July in Edinburgh, picking songs that resonated with her. The final results shocked both her and veteran producer Steve Mac with its beauty and musical impact. "It was important that I could feel everything I was singing," she says. The 12 track collection features Susan Boyle performing signature songs such as "I Dreamed A Dream", "Cry Me A River," as well as her haunting
rendition of The Rolling Stones' "Wild Horses," Madonna's "You'll See," The Monkees' "Daydream Believer," and "Who I Was Born To Be," an original recording written especially for Susan.

More Articles by This Author...