Follow the Leader: Korn on Top

Thanks to Huntington, Calif.'s Korn, rock makes a comeback on the sales chart this week as the band's latest, Follow the Leader, debuts at No. 1 for week ending August 23. Korn's thrash/funk album sold 268,000 copies, according to SoundScan.

The week's only other top 50 debut belonged to shock rappers the Insane Clown Posse and their two CD-set, Forgotten Freshness Vols. 1 & 2, which came in at No. 46.

Chart watchers have to go all the way back to the week of May 10 to find the last time a rock band had the country's No. 1 album: the Dave Matthews Band's Before These Crowded Streets. Since then, it's been fourteen straight weeks of mostly rap (DMX, Master P, Snoop Dogg, Beastie Boys) and soundtracks (City of Angels, Armageddon) holding down No. 1.

From the top it was Follow the Leader, followed by the Beastie Boys' Hello Nasty (selling 167,000 copies); Snoop Dogg's Da Game is To Be Sold, Not To Be Told (156,000); the soundtrack to Armageddon (154,000); 'N Sync (124,000); the Barenaked Ladies' Stunt (123,000); the soundtrack to Dr. Dolittle (102,000); the soundtrack to How Stella Got Her Groove Back (99,000); and the soundtrack to City of Angels (83,000).

Three albums that enjoyed the week's biggest sales jumps had TV exposure to thank. 'N Sync's primetime performance on last week's Miss Teen USA helped boost the pop act to career-high No. 5. Following country singer Shania Twain's appearance on Today, her album moved from No. 17 to No. 11. And Madonna's Ray of Light climbed from No. 56 to No. 31 thanks to last week's Madonnathon coverage on VH1, which featured a rockumentary on the singer.

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Song Stories

“Oh Sherrie”

Steve Perry | 1984

Steve Perry's girlfriend Sherrie Swafford was actually in the studio when Perry began writing this song--his lone Top Ten hit as a solo act--with two co-writers. The trio began at midnight one night with just "Oh, Sherrie!" and "hold on, hold on." Three hours later, they had a complete song. Swafford, however, had to wait until the next day to hear it. "Sherrie actually got tired and went to bed," Perry said. She also appeared in the video, but their relationship did not hold on for long.

More Song Stories entries »

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