You can now add twerking to the list of Thanksgiving Day traditions that include overdosing on sweet potato pie, yelling expletives at the Packers and pretending your uncle didn’t just say that.
In addition to avoiding family, shoppers clearly flocked to the malls and online music stores to snatch up new music, helping a raft of stars score triple-digit sales increases while One Direction schooled them all with the fourth-best debut of the year.
Midnight Madness
There was plenty of action all around, but nobody came close to the impressive numbers put up by 1D, whose Midnight Memories topped the Billboard 200 albums chart with sales of 546,000, according to figures provided by Nielsen SoundScan.
It’s their third straight #1 debut, which is a Billboard record for a group, and their strongest first week so far, besting the 540,000 units moved by last year’s Take Me Home. They are also one of only three pop groups to score one-week sales of more than 500,000 in the SoundScan era, joining ‘NSYNC and Backstreet Boys in that small club.
Those healthy numbers put them behind Justin Timberlake’s first 20/20 Experience album (968,000), Eminem’s The Marshall Mathers LP 2 (792,000) and Drake’s Nothing Was the Same (658,000). That also helped them easily take the top spot away from Slim Shady, who scooted back to #1 last week due to Lady Gaga’s ARTPOP debut. While his sales were up 65 percent from the week before, Marshall was back to #2 again with sales of 199,000 as his one-month total topped 1.3 million.
Katy, Gaga, Miley And Justin Turn Black Friday Into Green
With only one other debut in the top 10 — a boxed set from country icon Garth Brooks — the real action came from recent chart toppers who got a second wind from holiday shoppers who snapped their albums up at bargain prices. Katy Perry’s Prism was up six spots to #5 as sales rose 252 percent to 136,000, Gaga’s ARTPOP bounced back from a major second-week slump, climbing one spot to #7 (up 154 percent, 116,000) and Miley Cyrus moved up seven to #9 as Bangerz rose 228 percent (79,000). Justin Timberlake landed just outside the top 10 at #11 with The 20/20 Experience — The Complete Experience, which rocketed up 349 percent as sales leaped to 77,000.
Drake, Imagine Dragons And Ariana Grande Spread Holiday Cheer
In a week when every title in the top 20 was up by at least double digits, they weren’t the only ones who will end up in stockings this year. Drake’s Nothing Was The Same got in on the action (up 143 percent, 74,000), Imagine Dragons bumped 185 percent with Night Visions (65,000), Ariana Grande’s Yours Truly leaped 35 spots (up 418 percent, 37,000) and Robin Thicke’s Blurred Lines had one of the biggest rebounds of all (up 436 percent to 31,000).
Pitbull Snags First #1 Digital Chart Topper
Mr. 305 had plenty to celebrate too, as his collabo with Ke$ha, “Timber,” (237,000) rose to #1 on the Billboard Digital Songs chart, giving him his first topper on that tally. That rush pushed Em’s “The Monster” down to #2 (231,000), while, like several acts, A Great Big World got an American Music Awards boost for “Say Something” (#3, 197,000), as did 1D’s “Story of My Life” (#7, 118,000) and Miley’s “Wrecking Ball” (#9, 99,000).
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