50 Cent's Valentine Chart Treat

It appears 50 Cent discs outsold flowers this past Valentine's Day.

Most people expected 50 Cent's debut to open huge, but few imagined the type of record-setting follow-up Get Rich Or Die Tryin' would enjoy in its second week. After opening with 872,000 copies sold, Get Rich finished the week ended Sunday by selling another 822,000 copies, according to SoundScan data.

To put that in perspective, the combined sales of the next six best-selling albums couldn't have toppled 50 Cent from the chart's top spot.

But the impressive numbers don't stop there. While 50 Cent's open set the record for the best ever sales by a debut major label artist, he now owns the best second week sales for any artist not named Eminem (who actually co-released 50 Cent on his Shady Records).

In fact, take Eminem out of the picture, and 50 Cent's second week bests the opening bows for all other rappers, including Nelly, Jay-Z, DMX, and P. Diddy. Still, the most impressive fact is that Get Rich's 1.69 million two-week chart tally actually bests the Eminem Show's 1.58 million first two week chart sales, though 50 Cent's disc did have a few more days in stores.

In short, the Eminem camp is just printing money.

The Eminem-50 Cent sales machine aside, country music's George Strait lassoed the week's top debut at seven with For the Last Time: Live From the Astrodome, which sold nearly 101,000 copies. After recording 29 albums in the past 22 years, this is Strait's first live concert album.

Overall, the week reflected a sales spike as a nation of romantics added music to the Valentine's power combo of flowers and chocolate. The Dixie Chicks held their nest at number two as Home sold 170,000 copies for the week, up 56,000 copies, while their just released An Evening with the Dixie Chicks DVD sold 47,000 copies to open atop the video/DVD music charts. Norah Jones' Come Away With Me jumped 40,000 copies to 140,000 at number three, and the Chicago soundtrack, jumping one spot to number five, moved an additional 39,000 copies for an 118,000-copy week.

Though arguably less traditional Valentine's fare, Kid Rock's Cocky also jumped an additional 25,000 copies to 129,000 at four. The male crooners with the biggest bumps, however, belonged to Rod Stewart and Josh Groban. Stewart's sappy It Had To Be You: The Great American Songbook rocketed 16 spots to number ten with double sales, while Groban's self-titled album just barely missed the Top 10 at 11, jumping 19 spots in its 62nd week.

The rest of the Top 10, all ladies, included Avril Lavigne's Let Go at six, Jennifer Lopez' This Is Me?Then at eight, and Shania Twain's Up! at nine.

Elsewhere, the charts are packed with new debuts taking advantage of Valentine's and the long President's day weekend. Country music's Vince Gill debuted at 14 with his latest, Next Big Thing, just beating out the Grammy Nominees 2003 compilation at 16 and John Mayer's Any Given Thursday (Live) at 17. Yanni's Ethnicity followed at 27, while Kenny Lattimore & Chante Moore's Things That Lovers Do opened at 31.

We're a Happy Family, the star-studded tribute album to the Ramones, opened at 43 selling 37,000 copies, more than the Ramones themselves ever sold in a single week. Still, the Ramones are a true American classic as evidenced by the album's list of contributors: U2, Marilyn Manson, Eddie Vedder, KISS, Garbage, Rob Zombie, Green Day, Offspring, Rancid, Metallica, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Other notable debuts included Intocable's La Historia at 60, Rush's Spirit of Radio: Greatest Hits (1974-1987) at 62, Hall & Oates' cupid-pandering Do It For Love at 77, Essential Ozzy Osbourne at 81, and the one album no one should have given for Valentine's--Rodney Carrington's Nut Sack--opened at 82.

To recap, the Top 10 albums were as follows:

1. Get Rich or Die Tryin', 50 Cent
2. Home, Dixie Chicks
3. Come Away With Me, Norah Jones
4. Cocky, Kid Rock
5. Chicago, various
6. Let Go, Avril Lavigne
7. For the Last Time, George Strait
8. This Is Me?Then, Jennifer Lopez
9. Up!, Shania Twain
10. It Had To Be You - The Great American Songbook, Rod Stewart