Cancel Yesterday's Story: Streisand Gets Ninth Number One Album

Sometimes sales projections are just that, a best guess as to the outcome of something based on a subset of information and a knowledge of the market. Yesterday we reported that projections showed Paramour winning the sales war against new releases by Barbra Streisand and Mariah Carey with projected sales for the rockers at 185,000 vs. 177,000 and 173,000 for the two vocalists.

Now that final figures are in, those projections were obviously off just a little as Streisand ends up the winner, nailing down her ninth number one. The final figures were:

1. Love is the Answer - Barbra Streisand (180,000)
2. Brand New Eyes - Paramour (175,000)
3. Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel - Mariah Carey (168,000)

According to Billboard, the factor that threw off the projections was how well Streisand sold in non-traditional ways such as through Starbucks, QVC and her own website.

Her run of number ones started 45 years ago with 1964's People with her last being 1997's Higher Ground.

• People (1964)
• The Way We Were (1974)
• A Star is Born (1977)
• Barbra Streisand's Greatest Hits, Volume 2 (1979)
• Guilty (1980)
• The Broadway Album (1985)
• Back to Broadway (1993)
• Higher Ground (1997)
• Love is the Answer (2009)

The album makes Streisand the only artist to have number one albums in five straight decades, breaking the old record of four set by the singer herself. It moves her into a tie for fourth place on the list of artists with the most number one albums with Bruce Springsteen and the Rolling Stones (the Beatles have 19, Jay-Z has 11 and Elvis Presley has 10). She also moves into fourth on the most top ten albums list with 30 (the Rollings Stones have 36, Frank Sinatra has 32 and the Beatles have 31).

Two of the artists that Streisand is battling for most number one albums by a female vocalist also debuted new sets this week. One is Carey while the other, Madonna, comes in at 7 with her hits collection, Celebration, on first week sales of 72,000. Lynyrd Skynyrd's God & Guns ends up at number 17.