The Numbers Are In: Alicia Keys’ ‘Girl On Fire’ Sold…

Published: Tuesday 4th Dec 2012 by Sam
alicia-keys-girl-on-fire-cover

As one of the year’s biggest releases, all eyes are naturally on the commercial performance of Alicia Keys‘ fifth studio album ‘Girl On Fire’.

Backed by a gargantuan promotional campaign, the set has seen its title track hit the top ten of Singles tallies all over the globe.

Was that enough, though, to ensure the album deliver blockbuster first week US sales in the vein of her previous four releases? The answer awaits after the jump…

According to the ever-reliable Hits Daily Double, ‘Girl On Fire’ will open at #1 on the Billboard 200 with sales of…

161,038

In the spirit of keeping it 100, these figures will come as an un-spin-able blow to Camp Alicia. Yes, it’s a #1 and yes the sales are somewhat solid for an R&B release in 2012. But what’s also factually correct is that the numbers are not only lower than the initial 175k predicted, they mark the lowest opening figure for a traditional Alicia Keys album since ‘Songs In A Minor’.

Indeed, the said album (which was released in 2001) debuted with sales of 263,000. Its follow-up, 2003’s ‘The Diary Of Alicia Keys’ blazed straight to #1 after shifting a whopping 618,000 units first week. 2007’s ‘As I Am’ continued Keys’ chart-blazing streak with premiere week sales of 742,000. The 31 year old’s album preceding ‘Fire’, 2009’s ‘The Element Of Freedom’, topped the tally with sales of 417,000.

Viewed this way, not even the recession or illegal downloading can account for such a drastic drop in the space of three years.

So what went “wrong”?

Some will look to “scandal”, but in our drive to keep the focus on the music, we must point to the decision to push the underwhelming title track. It simply wasn’t good enough – especially to lead a project of this caliber. What’s more, in an era where even established acts are scrambling for sales, surely it’d have been safer to proceed with a two-single (and video) approach to usher in the album?

Still, thankfully for Keys, the album boasts a number of tracks that could keep it warm on the charts in the weeks and months ahead. And -make no mistake- it’s now the material that the project’s success is hinged on, for given her “no stage untouched approach”, it’s clear promotion was not the issue. At all. We wish her the best of luck.

Your thoughts?

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  1. Navi December 4, 2012

    Congrats AK well desreve you and rihanna doing great this era, keep it up!!

    • TinaMinaj December 4, 2012

      Really??

    • Jayla December 4, 2012

      YES REALLY, GOOD JOB

  2. HOUSEOFSEX(SCORPIOBABEE) December 4, 2012

    COUNT IT B****** NOT 1 NOT 2 OR 3 BUT FOUR! YOUR FAVES COULD NEVER DO THAT

    • @PWetsh PEGGYHYLS Wetsh December 4, 2012

      My fav have 4 straight #1

    • Nicole December 4, 2012

      Technically it’s 5 because her unplugged album also went to #1

      • Anne December 4, 2012

        Hey Nicole– Still think HDD can predict everyone’s first week except Alicia’s and her ‘real’ sales will come in around 400K? At the risk of sounding like a 5 year old, all I have left to say is…I TOLD YOU SO!

      • Nicole December 4, 2012

        @anne I see you are pressed and following my every word, glad to know I am that important, like I said before they were wrong with TEOF and they were wrong with AIA that my dear is FACT and I was stating the FACTS, not tabloid information, the sales are low overall but high for R&B and this album will sell very well, as she starts releasing the singles, and I think next week numbers will be great as well, so clearly you are about 12 years old because I TOLD YOU SO, just seems very young to me. The Key is it is #1 which is what counts a the moment and the end result of how many albums will sell is what will count once the error is over. Keep following my comments. You will be well informed.

      • Mark December 4, 2012

        Oh you mad. She got you. Don’t play the “I glad you’re my fan” card.

    • HALF AMAZIN December 4, 2012

      Sure its number one…….But oh how the mighty have fallen. 160K??? Her albums have never. Alicia’s music fell off tremendously after The Diary.

      • danny b December 4, 2012

        what are you talking about? As I Am opened with 700K+ first week and was the highest first weeks sale of that year. Please sit.

      • Shelly December 4, 2012

        Well honey the mighty have fallen all around the R&B arena, like someone said earlier this album will continue to sell just like all of her albums do, she is not a one week wonder, sell 400-500K and then fall off, she has the highest debut for an R&B album so that tells you what is going on with the industry. I have no doubt that this album will become a classic.

      • HALF AMAZIN December 4, 2012

        @danny b
        Ill give you a head start to get the f*** off my comment. I’m talking about the quality of her music in my opinion. You want to talk about sales tho? Explain why nobody’s buying her s*** anymore? Hmm? Ok zip it b****

  3. Monstarebel (THE UNAPOLOGETIC PRINCE) December 4, 2012

    Congratulations to you,you F****** homewrecker… (:

    • HALF AMAZIN December 4, 2012

      Who cares if she took that lady’s husband. Her music is sucking this album and the last

    • IM A FREE B*TCH December 4, 2012

      oh and Rihanna sales dropped by how many percent?!

    • Common Sense December 5, 2012

      Alicia is a home wrecker and Rihanna is a desperate women beating man lover.

  4. @PWetsh PEGGYHYLS Wetsh December 4, 2012

    Less than r**** lol

    • Tracy December 4, 2012

      Yep but I think in the end she will sell way more albums than Rihanna. Slow and steady.

    • Dimples December 4, 2012

      Actually right now!!! Alicia’s album is outselling Rihanna’s Album, Rihanna first week sells are at about 141,000 and sum and Taylor Swift’s album is outselling her album to. Love Rih Rih by the way.

      • Dimples December 4, 2012

        Second Week I mean

  5. Nicole December 4, 2012

    A Big Congrats to Alicia, this Album will stay on the charts for months and months to come as she starts releasing her incredible singles. Longevity is Key, the R&B arena is struggling right now but this album has staying power.

    • Anne December 4, 2012

      I guess both you and Alicia HOPE this album has staying power but that remains to be seen. We’ll see, the weeks to come will reveal whether it actually does or not. I have not listened to the whole album so I have no opinion on whether it has staying power or not, but so far I’ve heard nothing to make me jump to that conclusion or make that assumption. “Fire We Make” is the only single that I like so far but I don’t know if it will be a strong, sales inducing single.

      • IM A FREE B*TCH December 4, 2012

        f*** off anne. what u doing on a alicia post if u hate her so much?!

  6. the real xoxo December 4, 2012

    well done Alicia!

    • FAF December 4, 2012

      DEATH!!!!!!

  7. TAYLOR SWIFTS NUMBER 1 FAN!!! December 4, 2012

    Rihanna is down to number 6. Im suprised that wasnt mentioned seing as grapejuice loves hating on Rihanna!

    Taylor is staying sold at nmber 2.. selling another 135,000 this week.

  8. HALF AMAZIN December 4, 2012

    160K????? Hmmmmm…bring back Alicia from Songs In A Minor and The Diary.

  9. MC December 4, 2012

    Congrats but ~170k for you is really low. What has the world come to? She did a lot of promo so that’s not the problem……this is really sad 🙁

    • MC December 4, 2012

      *161k

    • unnami December 4, 2012

      it’s not her fault, it’s dying music bussines

      • MC December 4, 2012

        Not with Gaga selling 1.1m in one week and Taylor selling 1.12m & 1.24m twice! And def not when Adele just went Diamond in the U.S. and 1D selling 500k + too…..its def R&B/POP artists that suffer and arists that have been around for a while and are in their 30s….

  10. Kerry Johnson December 4, 2012

    Alicia & Rihanna>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Beyonce 🙂

    • stony December 4, 2012

      you’re just pathetic with your rihanna stanning attitude f****** piece of s***

    • Dimples December 4, 2012

      Whats your point ???

    • Mark December 4, 2012

      I like all of them, no need to choose one over the other. Why do people do that and why do they have to down the other. It’s you who’s missing out on good music. I bought all their albums, I’m good.

  11. checkingbitches December 4, 2012

    Rihanna doing great this era? Since when is a 70% drop in album sales only in the 2nd week, doing great?

    • Tracy December 4, 2012

      Exactly, what’s the use in getting all your sales up front and then falling off? she wills struggle to go gold.

  12. Queen Whitney,Queen Diana,Queen Tina,Queen Aretha,Queen Patti,Queen Chaka,Queen Donna,Queen Madonna,Queen Patsy,Queen Ella,Qeen Judy,Queen Billie: Legendary Status get in b****** December 4, 2012

    161K + is #1 album sales in the us?
    Wow times have really changed.
    Anyway lol at Alicia and these terrible debut sales….after her second album she turned into trash….Girl on fire is worse than run the world(flops)…:D

    • unnami December 4, 2012

      there was numner one in this year which have 45k sold.

    • Mel December 4, 2012

      You do realize the AS I AM sold 700K first week and went on to sell millions and garner some of her best work yet?

      • Dimples December 4, 2012

        Right!!

  13. unnami December 4, 2012

    rihanna -70% hahah

    • CHUDDS December 4, 2012

      Alicia is lucky that her album wasn’t released last week because she would’ve gotten that #2 spot. Let’s see how much SHE sells in her second week, then we’ll see who gets the last laugh.

      • Anne December 4, 2012

        That’s why she waited until after Black Friday. She knew she would lose in a match against Rihanna. That’s sad but true. Otherwise, she would have come out the week of Black Friday to get the extra sales. But she had to wait until there was no competition so she could at least debut at number one.

  14. Kerry Johnson December 4, 2012

    Rihanna kicked the s*** outta of beyonce lol

    • King B > Rihanna December 4, 2012

      Ride King B d***!

      • Kerry Johnson December 4, 2012

        She rode mines too 🙂

    • King B > Rihanna December 4, 2012

      You really need some good d*** in your ass to relieve all that sexual tension.LMFAO!

    • Dimples December 4, 2012

      LOL

  15. King B > Rihanna December 4, 2012

    Low sales for AK but the album is stellar.

  16. Kerry Johnson December 4, 2012

    I’m horny 🙂

    • stony December 4, 2012

      you’re a h** like your r**** hihiiihi

  17. Mrs Robyn Brown (BEYONCE’S WEAVE) December 4, 2012

    So nothing yet on Rita Whora whoring activity? Ok Samantha, it’s really funny though, your fav is the biggest w**** and FLOP in the industry, will you then stop trying to make her happen? I think that’s the longest 15 min she’s ever gotten.

  18. Courtney December 4, 2012

    some of you are really dumb aren’t you most artists now a days have at least a 60% drop in sales the 2nd week and their have been plenty of #1 albums that sold lower to debut at #1 than Alicia did. it’s a natural decline from album to album that happens to every artist she’s also getting older so the label is promoting it’s younger artists more than they do her

  19. mr.m December 4, 2012

    FLOP ON FIRE!

  20. Petra December 4, 2012

    Congrat keys but this shows the current state of rnb music and i wonder why red is still selling huge the songs are almost thesame but everything comes to luck and blessin even if u have all the promo wit that said this doesnt discredit the fact that alicia keys and bey are talented ann
    d put out good materials

    • TAYLOR SWIFTS NUMBER 1 FAN!!! December 4, 2012

      How’re the songs on red almost the same? That’s a load of poop!
      I knew you were trouble, is unlike anything Taylor has ever done before!
      So many Taylor haters…

      • TAYLOR SWIFTS NUMBER 1 FAN!!! December 4, 2012

        I want Taylor swift back at number 1 next week!!!

        Taylors fans need to make this happen!!!

      • King B > Rihanna December 4, 2012

        Taylor Swift fan will deal that Blown Away shits on every Taylor Swift.When she done ride Harry Styles c*** and than writes the first single of her next album about him and it goes something like he rode my p****,p****,he rode my p****, p**** then you can talk s*** b****.

      • TAYLOR SWIFTS NUMBER 1 FAN!!! December 4, 2012

        Your sound like a really angry carrie underwood fan, who cant deal with the sucess that Taylor swift has!!

        Its nice to know you know who Taylor is dating.. you probs follow everything Taylor does.

        I think your a massive Taylor fan.

      • King B > Rihanna December 4, 2012

        Actually i knew because of Harry Styles cause he is my boyfriend in my head but Carrie Underwood>Taylor Swift and you will deal she will go down as the queen of country of this generation and you will deal plus taylor swift ain’t country so bye.

      • TAYLOR SWIFTS NUMBER 1 FAN!!! December 4, 2012

        ahahaha how sad, you just hating on Taylor, cause shes going out with someone you wish was your boyfriend, but sadly you’ll never have! hahahahaha

    • King B > Rihanna December 4, 2012

      Not hating fool Carrie Underwood is better and you will deal with it.

      • King B > Rihanna December 4, 2012

        And Taylor will never know you to b**** deal.

      • Harry Styles and Niall Horan Are The Sexiest Men In The World! December 4, 2012

        Bye you try so hard this is a urban side,the onlt thing urban about Taylor is the way she run through men and their penis.

      • TAYLOR SWIFTS NUMBER 1 FAN!!! December 4, 2012

        Taylor swift only made 57 million last year… I say only.. its 57 milliion more then you did hahahahahha.

        One direction will be finished within 5 years.

      • Harry Styles and Niall Horan Are The Sexiest Men In The World! December 4, 2012

        You have to be a 15 yrs f**!

  21. Petra December 4, 2012

    Congrat keys but this shows the current state of rnb music and i wonder why red is still selling huge the songs are almost thesame but everything comes to luck and blessin even if u have all the promo wit that said this doesnt discredit the fact that alicia keys and bey are talented rnb diva and coming legends of this era of music.
    Note sales or hype dont equal to quality and that is what i stan for.

  22. Hilly December 4, 2012

    What that’s all? It such a good album!

  23. SHA (F*** The Navy and LAX) December 4, 2012

    Alicia Alicia Alicia Alicia
    First beside the first official single GOF there have been so much confusion as to what the second single is from the beginning of this era everyone thought new day was the first single next thing you know its a 50 cent song then you sing brand new me one day then its not even a king then she is talking about the song that has her son on it which of these songs are the next single and where the hell is the video.That with her underwhelming live performance honestly there’s something going on with her voice she needs to see a vocal coach ASAP and the homewrecking scandal where she denies the claim when it was clear as day that she did which goes against everything her image was built on that is just a few reasons why she will struggle to go gold.

    • Trina December 4, 2012

      STFU this is a whole load of ignorance right here. Have a big a** seat preferably in the ocean somewhere. IDIOT!!!! there will be no struggle to go gold with this album.

      • Dimples December 4, 2012

        Thats the only thing people have on Alicia !!! So just ignore it and let it go, Alicia has. =)

  24. Malik December 4, 2012

    Proud of Alicia , the music industry is messed up b/c if it was 10 years ago this woulve been like #20 . If it was 10 years ago she wouldve sold like 300,000 proves that things are changing when it comes to music

  25. Kyle December 4, 2012

    The sales are low for an Alicia album but I think it will have a longer chart life than “Element of Freedom” had because Alicia seems really passionate about this project and seems to be in it for the long haul. I personally think this is one of her best albums.

  26. Tasha December 4, 2012

    Acne face b****! Flopped! I love GOF tho! I like her CD! With her homewrecking ass! She should of told the truth! But i got her CD! She gone regret doing RaShonda like that! Support her album y’all!

    • Trina December 4, 2012

      B*tch please take your ignorant a** and go jump in a lake somewhere, you sound like a bipolar b*tch and who the f*ck is Rashonda? you are speaking on sh*t you know nothing about and can’t even get names straight. Dumb B*tch

      • Dimples December 4, 2012

        HAHA

      • Tasha December 4, 2012

        @Trina you S** having b**** go suck a dogs d*** like you usually do! I can say what the f*** i want too! You take your disease ass and go jump in a health clinic! Yea her name is Mashonda! You h***** and c*** warts b****! I was waiting on a mother f***** like you! Your ignorant as f*** too b**** cause if you wasn’t concern you would move on to the next but nah b**** you wanted too try me! So who’s bipolar now? Swizz and Alicia that’s y’all!? Well i don’t give two f**** who it is come on with it mother f*****!

  27. CHUDDS December 4, 2012

    Excuses, excuses, excuses f******!

    Rihanna has never been a big first week seller. Her albums always ended up selling over a million units. On the other hand, Alicia has ALWAYS been a big first week seller….hell a big seller period. There is no excuse for an artist of her caliber to be selling a little over 160k in the first week. She is at the point in her career where she should be selling off of her name alone!

    This goes to show that people are over Alicia’s screaming & homewrecking!

  28. honeychildplease December 4, 2012

    Home wrecking is a full time job…I suppose you couldn’t work long, and hard on her album because of that….well anyways

  29. Dimples December 4, 2012

    Alicia I have faith that this album will prosper sweetie, let the haters hate and bring up the pass, your fans don’t give a flying F#$%k. While they are hating you are still making MONEY HONEY!!!!!!

  30. Harry Styles and Niall Horan Are The Sexiest Men In The World! December 4, 2012

    Beyonce was in the studio working with Justin Timberlake….This should be great

    • Tasha December 4, 2012

      Hell yea! KingB baby! Yes lawd!

  31. Caramelboi December 4, 2012

    Damn Alicia. Well congrats on the #1 album. The sales will pick up with the right single choices and videos. This goes to show u can promote ur ass off and this the thanks u get. Ppl don’t knw good music if it slapped u on the ass. We got to support support support real music eventho I didn’t like the homewrecking s*** I still support her. Its not her best work but its still a good album. Sum of y’all must luv to jersey shore fist pump not to support good music.

  32. BitchICan’tEvenSpellWelfare December 4, 2012

    So who’s fault is it? Black people? You know black people bear the brunt of ALL failure in America. Black people didn’t buy the album. THAT’S the problem.

    Promo.

    Alicia was EVERYWHERE.

    Who is the blame? Can’t blame black people. Who? Who is your NEW scapegoat?

  33. Anne December 4, 2012

    I agree w/ Sam. I think the weak lead single is the problem, not the scandal.

  34. nick December 4, 2012

    come on, who buys cds anymore, she is still #1 on itunes & been all week, plus girl on fire single been top 10, #3 today on itunes, thats what counts., this album is awesome!

    • CHUDDS December 4, 2012

      iTunes sales are included in the tally, so that’s no excuse. This is a flop.

  35. Girrrl December 4, 2012

    Whooo boy I was telling all those psycho Alicia Keys fans that Girl On Fire was a horrible lead single!!! That song and Alicia’s voice caused her to flop. Man that 238,000 is looking mighty good right now and hitting 300,000 in two weeks.

  36. cde December 4, 2012

    at least GOF did better than the dismal Lotus…#I’mjustsaying

  37. Tasha December 4, 2012

    Nah this b**** @Trina try too try me! B****!

  38. IM A FREE B*TCH December 4, 2012

    it seems that R&B artistes album sales have been dropping :/
    First week sales:
    Brandy
    Human: 73 000, Two Eleven: 66 856
    Keyshia Cole
    Calling All Hearts: 128 000, Woman To Woman: 96 000
    Ne Yo
    Libra Scale: 112 000, R.E.D: 66 000
    Alicia Keys
    The Element Of Freedom: 417 00, Girl On Fire: 161 038
    THIS JUST PROVES THAT THE MUSIC INDUSTRY IS IN A REALLY SAD STATE NOW! If crap singers like Rihanna can sell so much but A list singers like Keyshia and Alicia are struggling, this just proves what a sad sorry state the music industry is in

  39. Truth December 4, 2012

    The hate on this website…what is wrong with you guys? Stop trying to bring down artist to boast your personal favorites. Its immature. R&B sales are declining there is a huge drought in the R&B industry. Alicia Keys Girl on Fire Album is her BEST album. I love it. All the songs are DEEP. Have you sitting in the dark…CRYING THINKING and S***!. Thats what a real ARTIST DOES….MAKE YOU SIT AND THINK REFLECT! DEEP MUSIC…..REAL R&B.

    LEARN TO LOVE ALL….NO HATE!!!!!!

  40. Teacher December 4, 2012

    Congrats Alicia!

  41. kel December 5, 2012

    i love alicia and at this point i pray she continues topull large units with the album, shame on the fans

  42. Haw December 5, 2012

    Sign…
    Times change..
    The sale lower and lower 🙁
    Go A.K.
    Go buying the music/album rather than downloading it illegally.

  43. TomCarter7021 December 5, 2012

    We have to remember the music industry has changed. Artist like Alicia Keys and Usher etc used to Sale Gold and Platinum units first week. That was before all the things that killed the music buisness (File sharing, Blogs, social media, STANS.) All these things are factors so I am not surprised at her first week sales. Actually these numbers are pretty good.

  44. cocobutta December 5, 2012

    KMT at that damn single but glad she kept up her streak of no.1 albums.
    Alicia needs to go back to basics, especially live because although she wants to enhance her vocal abilities and challenge her croak, her original style of smooth and acoustic flare was her niche.

    I’m not here for her belting so much but like her artistry in general. Element was not it!!!

  45. aishaaguilerakeys December 5, 2012

    Sam, you think the title track wasn’t good enough, yet the single sold a million copies. Personally, I love the song and I love the album, I will continue to support Alicia even if she sold 100 copies the first week.

    • King B>Rihanna December 5, 2012

      just because it sold a million copies does not mean it’s good eventhough i like the song.Commerical success does not mean good quality.

  46. Christina Aguilera December 5, 2012

    Oh how the mighty have fallen. I am the last true DIVA left!

    LOTUS- sliding down a billboard chart near you.

  47. Shaun December 5, 2012

    Congratulations AK!!! Her single Girl On Fire went plantinum this week!!!!

  48. lola December 5, 2012

    Wow, people still don’t get it and are in denial. Alicia’s album is flopping because her career is done and over with. Hardly anyone cares to buy her music anymore. I listened to this album, and from what I can remember, a few songs were very nice, but the rest were just boring. Overall this album is not memorable, that’s why I can’t even remember the songs I liked. Listening to it didn’t make me want to hurry to Itunes and buy a song or two or even the album. Element of Freedom sucked, but did pretty well, I believe it sold 4 million worldwide. I loved Songs in A Minor and Diary of Alicia Keys. She creates “real music” but it’s so, so boring and cliché. We’ve heard this from you so many times Alicia. Not only that, the vibe of the music is out-of-date.

  49. lilkunta March 21, 2013

    what are the sales now? it has been 3 months. i feel AK sales are lower not just bc RB music doesnt sell but BECAUSE OF HER PERSONAL LIFE. AK has alienated her grandmom, auntie fans bc she was knowingly dating and fvcking and sleeping with a married man. she was pregnant by a married man! So much for a woman’s worth hhuhh ?

  50. lollie January 24, 2014

    I really do not think people know what good music is anymore. I went and purchased alicia Keys cd on the first week l loved it. Her personal life has nothing to do with her talent. It seems as if there are people who want to see her suffer or be punished. Leave the judgment to god it is not left up to anyone of us.

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