Katy Perry Grabs Number One From Eminem

Katy Perry grabbed hold of the Number One spot on the Billboard 200 as her second album, Teenage Dream, sold 192,000 copies in its debut week. The other big debut arrived at Number Two: American Idol champ Fantasia's third album, Back to Me, sold 117,000 copies. The two pushed Eminem's Recovery to Number Three, the album's lowest position since its release eight weeks ago. (Usher's Versus debuted at Number Four, selling 46,000 copies.)

Perry's chart and sales numbers mark new career highs. But as Entertainment Weekly points out, Teenage Dream's sales were still disappointing, given that her songs "California Gurls" and "Teenage Dream" — this week's Number One digital single — have ruled the singles charts for weeks on end. The disc's Number One debut falls well short of Recovery's (at 741,000 copies) and Drake's Thank Me Later (447,000 copies), according to Nielsen SoundScan. Total album sales were down 12 percent compared to the same week in 2009.

• 
  MUSIC 100 Greatest Debut Albums
• 
  MOVIES 'Great Gatsby' Is a Crushing Disappointment
• 
  TV Why You Should Watch 'Happy Endings'
• 
  POLITICS No Price Big Banks Can't Fix

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 »

Twitter