Please Be Patient While These Pages Load

From Billboard

Susan Boyle remains atop the Billboard 200 chart for a third week with “I Dreamed a Dream,” selling 582,000 copies (up 10%), according to Nielsen SoundScan. So far, “I Dreamed a Dream” has sold 1.8 million and is racing after Taylor Swift’s “Fearless,” currently the top selling album of 2009 with 2.7 million.

Along with “Fearless,” Boyle’s “Dream” is just the second album to spend three weeks at No. 1 this year. Swift’s album spent seven weeks at No. 1 in the 2009 calendar year, in addition to three weeks atop the chart in late 2008.

“I Dreamed a Dream” is also just the eighth album to sell at least 500,000 copies in each of its first three weeks of release, since SoundScan began tracking data in 1991. And, it’s the only album by a woman to do so. The last set to charge through 500,000 in each of its first three weeks was 50 Cent’s “Get Rich Or Die Tryin,” in March of 2003.

Andrea Bocelli’s “My Christmas” continues to play runner-up to Boyle’s “Dream,” meanwhile, finding itself stuck at No. 2 for a fifth week (400,000; down 7%).

Holiday season sales: There’s no stopping Susan Boyle

British singing sensation Susan Boyle continues her dominance of the U.S. pop charts, with her orchestral-lite takes on boomer standards hitting a sweet spot with music buyers. In three weeks, her “I Dreamed a Dream” has sold a stunning 1.8 million copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan, surpassing 2009 releases from such mega-stars as Eminem and Green Day, and even overtaking another TV-made phenomena –  the soundtrack to “Hannah Montana: The Movie,” which has sold 1.7 million copies since its release in the spring.

How far can Boyle go? Expect her sales to coast through the holidays. It will be worth watching to see what happens in January, when music sales typically plummet. With comfy-soft renditions of “Daydream Believer,” “Amazing Grace” and more, Boyle’s “I Dreamed a Dream” is clearly built for holiday-timed sales, and it’s taking full advantage.

Her album hit another milestone this week too, racking up an additional 582,000 copies sold. Billboard reports that “I Dreamed a Dream” is the first album by a woman to sell 500,000 copies in each of its first three weeks since SoundScan began tracking data in 1991. If Boyle’s pace stays relatively steady, and with three sales weeks left in 2009, including the two biggest of the year, her album could top 3 million copies sold and quite possibly become the year’s top seller. But one week at a time.