The Nielsen Soundscan data is in, and it does not offer a favorable portrayal of Mariah Carey’s “Me. I Am Mariah…The Elusive Chanteuse.”
Carey’s new album opens at number three on the Billboard 200 Album Sales chart with just 58,000 copies sold. According to Billboard, the opening week tally ranks as Carey’s worst for a non-holiday album since Nielsen began tracking sales in 1991.
1991’s “Emotions,” which previously held the low mark for a new Carey release, moved 156,000 copies in its first week.
Among Mariah Carey’s entire non-holiday discography (including her one pre-Soundscan release), only her 1990 self-titled debut opened to a weaker sales count.
“Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel,” Carey’s last release prior to “Chanteuse,” moved 168,000 in its opening frame.
With sales of 84,000 and 65,000, respectively, Coldplay’s “Ghost Stories” and Brantley Gilbert’s “Just as I Am” repeat at number one and two on the Billboard 200.
