NASHVILLE, Tenn.--(ENTERTAINMENT
WIRE)--Dec. 3, 1997--Garth Brooks debuts at the top of the
Billboard Top 200 and Country Albums charts this week with his
new release "Sevens."
The album, his seventh studio release, sold a phenomenal 896,932 copies in its first week and scored the top-selling debut week of any album released so far in 1997.
When Brooks received the news he said, "It's a nice start, and the game has definitely begun!"
Pat Quigley, President and CEO of Capitol Nashville, commented, "While the numbers are certainly attributable to Garth, I think he would be the first to say that `Garth Brooks' is many people. So we'd especially like to thank radio, retail, the manufacturing plant, and all the people behind the scenes who made this extraordinary week possible."
Until this week, the three 1997 releases with biggest first week sales were: Notorious B.I.G.'s "Life After Death" (689,535 units); Wu-Tang Clan's "Wu-Tang Forever" (612,069 units); and Puff Daddy's "No Way Out" (560,862 units).
According to SoundScan, which began monitoring U.S. record sales in 1991, first week sales of Brooks' "Sevens" are second only to first week sales in December 1993 by Pearl Jam's "Vs.," which sold 950,377 units. The other albums topping the 800,000 mark in their debut week are: Pearl Jam's "Vitalogy" (877,000 units in December 1994); The Beatles' "Anthology I" (855,473 units in November 1995); and Snoop Doggy Dogg's "Doggy Style" (802,858 units in September 1993).
Prior to this week, Brooks' personal record for first week sales was 520,000 units of "The Hits," released in December 1994. Brooks was the first artist to debut at No. 1 on both Billboard's Top 200 and Country Albums charts with "Ropin' The Wind" in 1991. He repeated this feat with "The Chase" (1992) and "In Pieces" (1993).
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