Lil Wayne's "Tha Carter III" Goes Platinum After One Week

In an age where albums struggle to sell a million copies in their lifespan, Lil Wayne's much-anticipated and ultra-hyped Tha Carter III has gone platinum in one week of release, becoming the first album since 2005 to top a million units in its debut week. 50 Cent's The Massacre was the last album to do so back in March 2005. In 2006, no album sold more than 800,000 in a week, and only Kanye West's Graduation managed to crack 900,000 last year. Tha Carter III fared much better than its predecessor, as the Tha Carter II only sold 238,000 units in its opening week in 2005. To thank the fans and pretty much everybody else who helped TC3's rise to the top, Weezy posted a hilarious "Thank You" video where the rapper equates his success to the book drives he used to have in school. Watch the video above. Check back later today for more from this week's charts, and click below for more on how Lil Wayne parlayed a deluge of mixtapes into superstardom.

• How Lil Wayne Became a Superstar

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  MUSIC 100 Greatest Debut Albums
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  MOVIES 'Great Gatsby' Is a Crushing Disappointment
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  TV Why You Should Watch 'Happy Endings'
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  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 »

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