Fans were quick to scoop up Whitney Houston’s music in the wake of her sudden death last Saturday.
Several albums and songs by the late singer are entering the Billboard charts due to dramatic sales in the week ending Sunday, reflecting just one day of purchases after her death, the trade magazine reported.
Houston’s “Greatest Hits” collection re-enters the Billboard 200 album chart at No. 6 after selling 64,000 copies in the U.S. last week, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
“Greatest Hits” posted a 10,419% sales increase from the week before, in which just under 1,000 units moved.
Five of Houston’s other albums are on the Billboard 200: “Whitney Houston” (No. 72 with 8,000; up 3,901%); “The Bodyguard” soundtrack (No. 80 with 8,000; up 5,213%); her final studio album “I Look To You” (No. 118 with 5,000; up 3,901%); 1987’s “Whitney” (No. 122 with 5,000; up 2,274%); and “The Preacher’s Wife” soundtrack (No. 183 with 4,000; up 3,913%).
There were more Houston albums purchased last week (101,000 — up 5,994% from 2,000 the week before) than in 2011 and 2012 (until her death) combined.
The vast majority of those albums were digital downloads, which is understandable since it’s unlikely that many physical CDs would have been available at brick-and-mortar retailers.
As far as songs, Houston sold 887,000 digital downloads last week, up from 15,000 the week prior (a 5,730% gain). The biggest seller was her cover of Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You,” which sold 195,000 downloads (up 6,724%) to debut on the Digital Songs chart at No. 3.
Seven other Houston songs have entered that chart: “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)” at No. 25 (74,000; up 8,769%); “Greatest Love Of All” at No. 32 (60,000; up 7,270%); “How Will I Know” at No. 46 (43,000; up 5,767%); “I Have Nothing” at No. 53 (38,000; up 5,179%); “Saving All My Love For You” at No. 65 (33,000; up 6,423%); “One Moment In Time” at No. 74 (30,000; up 6,206%); and “The Star Spangled Banner” at No. 75 (29,000; up 8,278%).
Next week’s chart, which covers the week ending Feb. 19, should be even more reflective of sales following Houston’s passing.
