As chart disasters go, few can rival the muckiness of Mariah Carey‘s latest effort ‘Me. I Am Mariah…The Elusive Chanteuse’.
US sales forecasts have the set on course to open with the lowest numbers of the singer’s career. And while the final Stateside figures continue to be tallied, the LP is officially D.O.A across the pond in the UK.
Details below…
Beyond opening at #14 on the Official UK Album Chart, the ‘#Beautiful’ led project’s sales have been revealed — and it’s far from a pretty picture.
‘The Elusive Chanteuse’ debuted with a meagre 6,547 copies sold. Yes, 6547. Tragic.
It’s worth pointing out, though, that the diva hasn’t promoted the project in the UK at all; neither have any of the singles been serviced to TV or radio. What’s more, unless the artist is Sam Smith or Coldplay, British sales have been bizarrely low of late. Peep the sales of rest of the top 20 in comparison:
1. Sam Smith – In The Lonely Hour (101,752)
2. Coldplay – Ghost Stories (75,032)
3. Paolo Nutini – Caustic Love (18,254)
4. Paloma Faith – A Perfect Contradiction (18,158)
5. Michael Jackson – Xscape (17,889)
6. Pharrell Williams – G I R L (11,555)
7. Arctic Monkeys – AM (8,319)
8. Paul Heaton & Jacqui Abbott – What Have We Become (7,416)
9. The Vamps – Meet The Vamps (7,159)
10. London Grammar – If You Wait (7,053)
12. John Legend – Love In The Future (6,801)
13. Black Keys – Turn Blue (6,776)
14. Mariah Carey – Me. I Am Mariah… The Elusive Chanteuse (6,547)
17. Neil Young – A Letter Home (5,280)
18. Oasis – Definitely Maybe (4,905)
19. Paolo Nutini – Sunny Side Up (4,861)
20. Royksopp & Robyn – Do It Again (4,052)
Still, it’s incredibly alarming that on the strength of her name alone ol’ Mimi didn’t sell more. Yes, the numbers of others may be wack, yet when the dust has settled, few will care what figures it took to chart top ten, they’ll simply remember who managed to achieve it. Sadly, for Mariah, it wasn’t to be this go round. A fact rendered more unfortunate due to the album being her best work in years.
At this point, she has no choice but to go back to the drawing board, regroup with her team (or hire a new one), and begin plotting her comeback from this. Because the chance of any label prioritising a project that is performing so dismally pretty much everywhere is slim as the woman on her album covers.