More Michael Jackson albums sell in the week since his death than for 6 months prior

Michael Jackson album sales explode since death

LOS ANGELES — Michael Jackson’s album sales have exploded — three of his albums are in the top three spots and 2.3 million tracks have been downloaded in the United States since his death, Nielsen SoundScan said Wednesday.

Album sales for the week through Sunday hit 422,000 in the U.S., up from 10,000 a week earlier. The week’s tally was greater than all the Jackson albums sold from the start of the year to June 21.

The top three albums were “Number Ones,” ”Essential Michael Jackson,” and “Thriller.” The Black Eyed Peas’ latest CD came in fourth.

The 2.3 million digital downloads for the week was a record-breaking rise from the 37,300 the previous week. No single artist has sold more than a million digital tracks in a week since Nielsen began counting in July 2004.

When adding in all Jackson 5 songs as well as sales in Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, digital downloads for the week hit 3.3 million, up from 52,000 the previous week, SoundScan said.