Early sales estimates had already looked a bit underwhelming for Demi Lovato’s “Unbroken,” and the final data is even more discouraging.
Even with a buzzworthy single in “Skyscraper,” big-name production and guest vocals and buzz from the artist’s rehab stint, “Unbroken” only opened to 96,000 first-week sales and a fourth-place finish on the Billboard 200. That tally is actually less than that of predecessor “Here We Go Again,” which net 108,000 sales.
Lovato’s debut album “Don’t Forget” achieved 89,000 sales in its premiere week.
Not all new releases fell short of early projections, however. Veteran Tony Bennett set the record as the oldest artist to top the Billboard 200 on sales of 179,000 for “Duets II.” Though down from the 206,000 total for 2006’s “Duets,” such a total is not a disappointment for a long-standing veteran’s novelty follow-up to a popular novelty album.
Other debut figures, according to Billboard and Nielsen Sound Scan, included NeedtoBreathe’s “The Reckoning” (49,000, sixth on the charts), Mindless Behavior’s “#1 Girl” (36,000, 7th), Gavin DeGraw’s “Sweeter” (34,000, 8th) and Pearl Jam’s “Twenty” (27,000, 10th).