Jackson Tops Music Charts, This Week

By Stephen M. Silverman

11/08/2001 at 12:54 PM EST

Michael Jackson has proved the skeptics wrong . . . but for how long? Jackson's first album of original music in six years, "Invincible," sold 366,272 units in the week ended Nov. 4, the first week of its release, topping all other U.S. albums, according to Soundscan, which tracks music retail figures. Music industry insiders, however, predict that he will soon surrender the No. 1 spot to pop teen queen Britney Spears, whose new album, "Britney," hit stores last Tuesday. Still, Jackson was back in fighting form in New York on Wednesday, when, decked out in a shiny royal blue jumpsuit (with matching finger-less gloves), he made an unprecedented in-store appearance at the Times Square Virgin Megastore, where he signed copies of the album. While press was banned from inside the store, hundreds of people rushed to get a glimpse of the star and MTV's "TRL" host Carson Daly, who briefly interviewed Jackson and congratulated him on having the nation's best-selling disc. Scandals have sullied the Jackson name in the years since his truly invincible album, the 1982 "Thriller," the biggest selling album in history with sales of more than 40 million units worldwide. (According to the Record Industry Association of America, "Thriller" is the second best-selling album of all time in the U.S., at 26 million in sales, right behind the 27 million for "Eagles: Their Greatest Hits.") Jackson's last album, "HIStory," a double CD with hits and new songs, sold 391,000 units its first week in 1995 and ended up selling a meager 2.1 million copies. The record for first week sales is 2.4 million units, set last year by 'N Sync.