During the December 11-17 tracking week, Justin Bieber’s “Purpose” became the fifth album to sell over 1 million US copies in 2015.
During the December 18-24 tracking week, Sam Smith’s “In the Lonely Hour” became the sixth.
According to preliminary sales data from Hits Daily Double, the 2014 release sold roughly 20,648 copies during the most recent tracking week. Up markedly from the 10,964 sold during the previous week, the tally brings “In The Lonely Hour” comfortably past the million mark for 2015.
The album had sold approximately 993,000 copies going into the tracking week.
While the more authoritative Billboard/Nielsen data will differ slightly from that reported by Hits, the difference will not jeopardize the achievement. “In The Lonely Hour” clearly sold more than 7,000 weekly copies.
Smith’s album joins Taylor Swift’s “1989,” Drake’s “If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late,” Ed Sheeran’s “x,” Adele’s “25,” and the aforementioned “Purpose” on the list of million-plus sellers for 2015.
Like “In The Lonely Hour,” the Swift and Sheeran album are also 2014 releases.
With 2014 sales included, “In The Lonely Hour” boasts a cumulative US sales total of about 2.22 million.