Taylor Hicks
Cue the wooo! Taylor Hicks' shtick is playing big with music fans.
Capping an epic month in which he won American Idol, got a record deal, shot a Ford commercial and was named People's Hottest Bachelor, the silver-haired crooning sensation is now king of the charts, with his first single, "Do I Make You Proud," topping pretty much every pop ranking in sight.
The tune, performed on the May 24 Idol finale and released last week backed by his rendition of the Doobie Brothers' "Takin' It to the Streets," opened at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, the Billboard Pop 100 and the Billboard Single Sales chart, moving more than 190,000 copies for the week ended Sunday.
"I've been a hard working musician for the past ten years trying to become the best singer and harmonica player I could be and I'm thrilled that I can now focus entirely on my music," says Hicks. "Having a number one single is only the beginning."
The single, whose sales benefit the American Red Cross, will appear on debut album, set for release in the fall. Hicks is slated to perform the tune on Thursday's Tonight Show with Jay Leno and during his headlining stint as part of the American Idols Live! tour, which kicks of July 5 in Manchester, New Hampshire.
Compared to the other Idol stars, Hicks' first-week sales are on the lowish side.
He ranks behind the first singles from Clay Aiken (393,000 copies of "Bridge Over Troubled Waters/This Is the Night" in 2003), Ruben Studdard (286,000 copies of "Superstar/Flying Without Wings" in 2003, the same week as Aiken) and Kelly Clarkson (263,000 copies of "Before Your Love"/"A Moment Like This" in 2002), but ahead of Fantasia (142,000 copies of "I Believe"/"Chain of Fools" in 2004) and last year's champ Carrie Underwood (130,000 copies of "Inside Your Heaven").
Of course, Idol standards are downright lofty compared with other musicians. Singles chart runner-up Nelly Furtado sold just 6,000 copies of "Promiscuous." In fact, only one other artist sold more copies of any kind of recorded music last week: Busta Rhymes, who notched his first number one album with The Big Bang moving 209,000, per Nielsen SoundScan.
After going solo in '96, Rhymes released six studio albums in seven years, but it's been four years since his last release, 2002's It Ain't Safe No More. Still, that didn't keep his long-awaited return, The Big Bang, from making a big splash.
Its chart-topping showing was 42 places ahead of the disappointing It Ain't Safe No More.
Rhymes released his early albums on Elektra and his last two on J Records before signing with Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment for The Big Bang. The new disc--featuring production by DJ Green Lantern, Scott Storch and of course Dr. Dre--is also the first with a shorn Rhymes. After inking with Dre, the rapper cut his hair last November for the first time since signing his first record deal (with Leaders of the New School) back in '89.
The Big Bang benefits from heavy radio and video play for the Daft Punk-sampled "Touch It" remix, an all-star affair whose guest list included Mary J. Blige, Missy Elliott, DMX, Lloyd Banks, Papoose and Rah Digga. (The "Touch It" video shoot was marred by tragedy, however, when a heated exchange between guests resulted in the shooting death of the rapper's friend and bodyguard Israel Ramirez.)
The only other Top 10 debut on the Billboard 200 album chart came courtesy of Three Days Grace. The rockers' sophomore album, One X, sold 78,000 to open at number five.
As for last week's best seller, AFI's Decemberunderground tumbled down to three, behind the Dixie Chicks, who held steady at number two with Taking the Long Way. The rest of the Top 10 featured familiar faces: the High School Musical soundtrack at four, the Cars soundtrack at six, the Red Hot Chili Peppers' Stadium Arcadium at seven, Rascal Flatts' Me & My Gang at eight, Yung Joc's New Joc City at nine and Ice Cube's Laugh Now, Cry Later in the 10 spot.
Billy Joel landed the next best bow as the double-disc 12 Gardens Live sold 44,000 copies at 14. Trent Willmon's Little More Livin' and Sonic Youth's Rather Ripped followed at 70 and 71, respectively, each selling just under 16,000 copies (only six copies separated the two discs on the charts).
More than 10 million albums were sold last week, down 13 percent from the same period last year. Overall, year-to-date sales are down about 4 percent from 2005.
Here's a recap of the Top 10 albums for the week ended Sunday:
1. The Big Bang, Busta Rhymes
2. Taking the Long Way, Dixie Chicks
3. Decemberunderground, AFI
4. High School Musical soundtrack, various
5. One X, Three Days Grace
6. Cars soundtrack, various
7. Stadium Arcadium, Red Hot Chili Peppers
8. Me & My Gang, Rascal Flatts
9. New Joc City, Yung Joc
10. Laugh Now, Cry Later, Ice Cube
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