Scotty McCreery’s debut album, ‘Clear As Day’, landed in the No. 1 spot of The Billboard 200, selling 197,000 albums this week. The last time an American Idol winner’s debut album topped the chart was back in 2003, with Ruben Studdard’s album, ‘Soulful’. Hot diggity Scotty McCreery! Way to go, young man! A nice birthday present for the Garner, North Carolina native, as he turned 18 on October 9.
Of the album being number one, Scotty said:
“My hopes were just to go out there and have fun…Everybody hopes for the number one, but you never really expect it. To see it up there is pretty incredible. My head is just spinning. It started out kind of low: They said 100,000 maybe. Then every day I saw the numbers climbing. It’s wild: It wasn’t a year ago that I was a normal cat, and now I’m number one on Billboard. It’s insane, it really is.”
The last two Idol winners, Lee DeWyze (2010) and Kris Allen (2009), did not fare as well as Scotty did in his first week of sales. DeWyze only sold 39,000 copies, while Allen sold 80,000. McCreery outdid both of them combined in his first week. Of note, DeWyze was dropped by RCA last week.
Additionally, Scotty made Billboard history by becoming the youngest solo male artist to land at the top of the Billboard 200, and the first country artist whose debut album topped the chart.
McCreery’s American Idol win last May was the first time a country crooner won since Carrie Underwood was crowned the winner in 2005. We all know the incredible success Carrie has had following her win. Could McCreery be following in her footsteps?
The Top 10 Albums this week:
1. Scotty McCreery, Clear As Day – 197,000
2. Adele, 21 – 112,000
3. Tony Bennett, Duets II – 71,000
4. Lady Antebellum, Own the Night – 58,000
5. J. Cole, Cole’s World: the Sideline Story – 54,000
6. Lil Wayne, Tha Carter IV – 53,000
7. Feist, Metals – 38,000
8. Rodney Atkins, Take A Back Road – 35,000
9. Jack’s Mannequin, People and Things – 31,000
10. Blink-182, Neighborhoods – 31,000
Congratulations, Scotty!
Photos: www.wenn.com/AdMedia
