Britney Spears :: Charts & Sales History

[Neutral]

^ According to that thread, we also have:

Katie Melua - Piece By Piece - 120,549 (#1)
Beyonce - Dangerously In Love - 113,117 (#1)
Corinne Bailey Rae - Corinne Bailey Rae - 108,181 (#1)

For the person above wondering about Anastacia's self-titled album, that one debuted at #1 with 87,398 copies sold.

[MrLeonix]

Thanks I will add those albums to the list soon. I’m trusting that these figures are reliabe.

[Neutral]

Thanks I will add those albums to the list soon. I’m trusting that these figures are reliabe.

Well all of the figures I posted are from MusicWeek.

[Choley]

Thanks for the info Neutral!

What about Janet Jackson's Janet?I don't think it sold 100k or more but i'd like to know it

[Neutral]

^ I don't have an official figure for Janet, but according to the thread posted on the last page it debuted at #1 with 31,000 copies sold.

[MrLeonix]

+100K debuts in UK by solo female artists:

1. Adele - 25 - 800K
2. Susan Boyle - I Dreamed A Dream - 411K
3. Dido - Life For Rent - 400K
4. Leona Lewis - Spirit - 375K
5. Norah Jones - Feels Like Home - 235K
6. Madonna - Confessions On A Dance Floor - 217K
7. Lady Gaga - Born This Way - 215K
8. Adele - 21 - 208K
9. Whitney Houston - Whitney - 200K
10. Amy Winehouse - Lioness: Hidden Treasures - 195K
11. Duffy - Rockferry - 180K
12. Rihanna - Talk That Talk - 163K
13. Leona Lewis - Echo - 161K
14. Madonna - Music - 151K
15. Madonna - Ray Of Light - 140K
16. Kylie Minogue - Fever - 139K
17. Alexandra Burke - Overcome - 132K
18. Cheryl - 3 Words - 125K
19. Katie Melua - Piece By Piece - 120K
20. Annie Lennox - Medusa - 120K
21. Lana Del Rey - Born To Die - 117K
22. Britney Spears - Greatest Hits: My Prerogative - 115K
23. Emili Sande - Our Version Of Events - 113K
24. Beyoncé - Dangerously In Love - 113K
25. Lily Allen - It's Not Me, It's You - 112K
26. Corinne Bailey Rae - Corinne Bailey Rae - 108K
27. Sinead O'Connor - I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got - 107K
28. Jessie J - Who You Are - 105K
29. Cheryl - Messy Little Raindrops - 105K
30. Susan Boyle - The Gift - 103K
31. Enya - Shepherd Moons - 103K
32. Celine Dion - Falling Into You - 100K

Well guys If more albums appear I will add them to the list for sure but in the meantime I think we can conclude this chapter now,
We can see some interesting stuff:

- 32 solo female albums made the list (so far).

- 18 of those albums come from British women and only 9 from American women, so Britney had just one of the 9 American female albums who managed to pull this in UK chart history.

- Overall "Greatest Hits: My Prerogative" was the 13th biggest female debut of the 2000s decade in UK but suprisingly enough Norah Jones, Madonna, Britney and Beyoncé were the only American female artists who managed to pull this in the 2000s.

- Compared to the hundreds of female #1 albums there are to the few dozens registered +100K debuts we can conclude that it's actually way harder to get a +100K debut in UK than a #1 album, ironically enough what Britney didn't end up getting was the #1 album but she did get a +100K debut in that market which quite compensates and has a different merit.

--

thanks to everyone who collaborated to make the "+100K UK debuts" list, specially to @LostAvenger.

[Neutral]

^ I think it's important to add that Greatest Hits: My Prerogative was one of only 2 albums on that list to debut at #2 instead of #1, the only other album being Jessie J's Who You Are which was blocked by 21.

It's unfortunate that Britney was so unlucky with her album peaks in the UK, but it's actually more impressive that she managed to get a 100,000+ debut there imo.

Unless any other albums are missing (such as Madonna's earlier albums), then I guess the only female who will add to this list in the future will be Adele...

[TSDK]

Britney barely sells anything anymore. I don't think she has a market she can still call her main one. Glory managed high(ish) peaks in some countries because music sales are so low nowadays. The US - a market she could routinely rely on in the past - barely acknowledged Britney Jean and Glory. Her personal life gets more attention. It's sad. It's not like she's too old for radio to want to play her.

[MrLeonix]

I don't think she has a market she can still call her main one.

Brazil will always stan her, "Glory" is eligible to Platinum there.

Glory managed high(ish) peaks in some countries because music sales are so low nowadays.

Albums such as "Head Above Water" by Avril Lavigne, or "Liberation" by Xtina were also released on dead periods yet they still missed the Top 10 in most markets. So yeah "Glory" didn't find longevity but I wouldn't discredit the good peaks.

The US - a market she could routinely rely on in the past - barely acknowledged Britney Jean and Glory.

Well "Work Bitch" is eligible to 2x Platinum in the US while "Make Me" peaked at #17 and went Platinum, those are not big results but for sure better than several of her female peers from her time such as Alicia Keys, Avril Lavigne, Xtina, etc yet I don't see you in their threads posting the same thing despite them having much worse results.

Her personal life gets more attention. It's sad. It's not like she's too old for radio to want to play her.

Radio basically still plays her songs more than pretty much every of female her peers (Except for P!nk or Beyonce). So get informed next time.

[MrLeonix]

It's unfortunate that Britney was so unlucky with her album peaks in the UK, but it's actually more impressive that she managed to get a 100,000+ debut there imo.

I totally agree with this.

[Instinct]

Britney barely sells anything anymore. I don't think she has a market she can still call her main one. Glory managed high(ish) peaks in some countries because music sales are so low nowadays. The US - a market she could routinely rely on in the past - barely acknowledged Britney Jean and Glory. Her personal life gets more attention. It's sad. It's not like she's too old for radio to want to play her.

Yes, she's such a flop that her most recent singles are struggling to chart, unlike so many other divas from her generation. I mean, her last platinum single was released like 5-6 years ago, right? When was the last time one of her lead singles went Top 20? 2006?

Her personal life definitely gets more attention than her music career. That's why her latest tour didn't have any sold out shows & was, in fact, half empty. She's definitely one of those divas that struggle to sell out 3k capacity venues & barely pull $300k per show. And her albums also struggle to debut in the Top 3 even with the help of ticket bundles.

[JeremySpears]

Yes, she's such a flop that her most recent singles are struggling to chart, unlike so many other divas from her generation. I mean, her last platinum single was released like 5-6 years ago, right? When was the last time one of her lead singles went Top 20? 2006?

Her personal life definitely gets more attention than her music career. That's why her latest tour didn't have any sold out shows & was, in fact, half empty. She's definitely one of those divas that struggle to sell out 3k capacity venues & barely pull $300k per show. And her albums also struggle to debut in the Top 3 even with the help of ticket bundles.

[MrLeonix]

Ugh, I really gave him the benefit of the doubt and even generated some analysis to his post . . please don't tell me he's a Xtina fan

[Ewokguy15]

MrLeonix, maybe you should compile a list of the biggest female UK albums who missed the top spot, that would be a fun list! Seeing as you have been talking about Britney’s #2 peaks.

[MrLeonix]

MrLeonix, maybe you should compile a list of the biggest female UK albums who missed the top spot, that would be a fun list! Seeing as you have been talking about Britney’s #2 peaks.

We did that list already and Britney rocks!

We should do some French lists too , that'd be fun right?

[Ewokguy15]

When was that list done? I would love to see it?

[MrLeonix]

When was that list done? I would love to see it?

Well there are 206 pages in the thread, have fun looking up

[Ewokguy15]

I don’t think it was ever done because you would only ever compile lists that make Britney look better than certain other people.

I hope Brit has a new album out soon as this thread is just going around in circles! There are only so many countries you can continually update.

[MrLeonix]

I don’t think it was ever done because you would only ever compile lists that make Britney look better than certain other people.

It's not like I consciously try hard though. Let's be real it's very hard to make Britney look bad on a list since she's one of the biggest famale artists ever in many markets. The #2 peaks in UK is like one of her very few "weakness" chart-wise as I'm concerned and even still she's one of the best selling female stars in UK. The fans are not really trying to twist or spin anything, Britney is simply among the best selling artists of all time and that will naturally show on the lists or whatever topic gets discussed.

Anyways, I don't understand your purpose or objective in the thread.

[JeremySpears]

I don’t think it was ever done because you would only ever compile lists that make Britney look better than certain other people.

I hope Brit has a new album out soon as this thread is just going around in circles! There are only so many countries you can continually update.

You came here....for what?

He’s a Britney fan so of course he will make lists that include Britney, right? I mean I don’t give a flying crap about Katy Perry for example so I won’t give you a breakdown of her sales or other people‘s sales compared to hers either.

And let’s be real Britney dominated the 2000s so of course she looks good in those lists. She’s the only one of her peers next to Beyoncé, P!nk and Shakira that was still relevant this decade as well.

So overall I don’t get what you’re trying to do here...

[LostAvenger]

I see some people want to make this thread as messy as the Madame X one The stats are much appreciated!

[JeremySpears]

I see some people want to make this thread as messy as the Madame X one The stats are much appreciated!

Exactly. It’s a Britney Spears charts topic. There is no new music from her to discuss at the moment so if someone finds new figures from her catalogue of course we‘re going to discuss those lol.

[belmont]

I don't understand the point on this Xtina stan last posts But I do understand why this fan base are always fuming about Britney's status and somehow need just one list to look like she flopped or something. Maybe it's hard to see how successful she is and how she overshadowed her peers.

And it's not that hard to see how Britney always rocks on the lists. She is in the top 10 in every list in the industry: albums, singles, awards, touring (gross and tickets). She is successful on streaming by her own catalogue not just because of feats, her last first single went platinum, her last show was a huge success in all terms with most of the dates sold out on the biggest markets on the planet (arenas, stadiums and parks) and also left a incredible legacy, she received a lot of extra awards on this decade because of her legacy and influence (Vanguard Award by MTV, Millennium Award by Billboard, Icon Award by MC, Icon Award by Disney, Ultimate Award by TCA etc) and of course she was able to enter the Hot 100 (with feat and by herself). Not everyone has all of this.

A successful woman.

[MrLeonix]

Yeah, I think certain people need to stop this absurd narrative that Britney is some obscure star these days who's struggling to find a job, who is on Nelly Furtado's same boat and who people don't even know who she is anymore just because she's not selling big units anymore. That's just ridiculous.

She will always be Britney, her albums may not set the charts on fire anymore but still to this date sh*tloads of people will attend her concerts in any market, she has a very decent following on every social media platform too so people still checks her and she still (and will always) generate millions of dollars. There's plenty of room for her in the music industry and she remains a profitable pop star today, let's not act like if she was Macy Gray or something.

Also, in +20 years of career all of her lead singles have been Top 40 hits (and she has quite a lot), for her first two full decades in the business she never knew what is like to miss the Top 40, let alone the Hot 100 chart with a lead single (she never reached that level in 20 years) and that's something she will always have even if she never charts again.

[Ewokguy15]

And some people need to realise that it's been 8 years and 3 months since her last hit album was released and 15 years since she won a Grammy or 9 years for a nom, you go on about how she is still relevant and the thing is she is now a legacy act like the rest of them no better no worse, no one really cares about new Britney music.

Just keep compiling her stats from the 2000s though you must be running out way to make her look better than other artists, as a fan base that is something Britney fans need, no other fan base seems to need this.

I am not comparing Britney to anyone else, she is an individual and I am not comparing her to anyone else.