NASHVILLE, Tenn.--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--Nov. 25, 1998--Garth Brooks takes another spot in the record books, with Garth Brooks Double Live achieving the best first-week sales of any album in American music history. According to Soundscan, the 2-CD set sold 1,085,373 units in its first week.
In a week dubbed Super Tuesday by the press, due to the large number of releases by such top-name artists as Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Jewel, and Method Man, Brooks' Double Live is at Number One on the Billboard Top 200 Chart, which includes albums of all musical genres. The record also holds the top spot on the Billboard Country Albums Chart.
Bob Higgins, Chairman of Transworld Music, said, ``Here at Transworld we are very pleased with the first week sales of Garth; it exceeded our estimates. We expect great results with this album throughout the holiday selling season and look forward to this being one of the key albums during the holiday season.''
The remarkable success of Double Live caps a year of incredible achievements for Brooks. His album Sevens was certified 6X platinum by the RIAA, and The Limited Series, a limited-edition, 6-CD boxed set, became the first boxed set to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 Album chart since the inception of Soundscan in 1991. With this month's certification of The Hits at 10X platinum, Brooks became the first solo artist to have three albums with sales of more than 10 million copies each.
Brooks won his fourth Entertainer of the Year Award from the Country Music Association, his fifth Entertainer of the Year Award from the Academy of Country Music, and he picked up a Grammy Award for Best Country Vocal Collaboration, with Trisha Yearwood, for ``In Another's Eyes.'' He also received the Distinguished Artist Award, from Club 100 of the Music Center of Los Angeles, which recognizes prominent members of the cultural community whose professional accomplishments have demonstrated great achievement and wide-reaching influence. Other artists honored this year were Kirk Douglas, Jerry Herman, Ann Reinking and Lalo Schifrin.
Tennessee Governor Don Sundquist said, ``Speaking for Tennessee, a state that understands music, I am proud to congratulate Garth for bringing the world together through his music. Already America's best-selling artist of all time, with Double Live Garth is now the first artist to sell more than one million albums in one week. Garth is an entertainer who touches people in a very personal way, as a songwriter and as a performer. His enthusiasm and dedication cross geographic boundaries to bring people together in a way that only heartfelt music can. We are proud of his strong ties to Tennessee.''
When he heard the news, Steve Ennen, Vice President and General Manager of WUSN-FM in Chicago said, ``A new record, One Million in One Week. Congratulations, Garth. Just goes to show you, good things happen to good people.''
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