Neil Diamond debuted for the first time ever on the Billboard Top 200 this week. Diamond’s Rick Rubin produced album Home Before Dark sold 146,000 copies its first week, nudging Madonna’s Hard Candy down two spots to Number Three.
The crazy thing is that the last time Diamond came close to Number One spot was in 1973 with the soundtrack to Jonathan Livingston Seagull, when it topped at Number Two.
So is that after all these years ladies still swoon over Diamond’s 68 year old body? Most likely not, but an appearance on American Idol two weeks back supposedly did the trick.
Here are the other chart holders this week:
2. Toby Keith, "35 Biggest Hits" 103,000 3. Madonna's "Hard Candy" 94,000 4. Clay Aiken "On My Way Here" 94,000 5. Mariah Carey "E=MC2" 87,000 6. Leona Lewis "Spirit" 76,000 7. Gavin DeGraw “Gavin De Graw” 66,000 8. Josh Groban "Awake Live" 58,000 9. Dierks Bentley "Greatest Hits: Every Mile a Memory" 43,000 10. Luis Miguel "Complices" 32,000
I haven’t done a record sales update in a while. Now I remember why. The numbers are so depressing.
