Alicia Keys Sees Lowest First Week Album Sales With ‘Girl on Fire,’ Still Tops Charts

alicia keys

By: Amanda Anderson-Niles

Alicia Keys is back with new music, and the R&B heavyweight just dropped her fifth studio album Girl on Fire last week. The album drops just a few days after the singer relaunched her drama and alleged homewrecker allegations (courtesy of Mashonda) after giving a candid interview to Jet Magazine in which she spoke on the rumors that she and Swizz began their relationship while he was still married. Keys and Swizz Beatz have denied the allegations completely, and the now married couple claims their relationship began when he and Mashonda were officially separated and the marriage had been over for “some time.” Many have speculated that the homewrecker allegations would hurt Keys’ image, so it’s possible that she decided to respond to the allegations before the release of Girl on Fire just to put the rumors to rest and keep the allegations from negatively impacting her album sales.

Well the numbers are in, and it should come as no surprise that Alicia Keys’ Girl on Fire debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart. However, the album’s first week sales aren’t as impressive as the singer could have hoped. Keys’ first week sales are 181, 038. That means Girl On Fire is Alicia’s lowest first week sales ever in her career.  Her last album The Element of Freedom (2009) may have debuted at number two on the charts, but it sold a whopping 417,000 copies in its first week.

It is imperative to mention that times are different than they were in 2009, however, we do have to take into consideration that it is still possible to sell lots of albums during this time. Taylor Swift sold over a million records in first week sales for her current album Red, and Rihanna sold over 200,000 copies of Unapologetic just a couple of weeks ago in her first week sales.

Despite the not so hot first week sales, Alicia’s album is getting praised and continues to get positive reviews.

In related news, the singer graces the cover of the January issue of Essence Magazine:

alicia keys essence cover

Gorgeous.

8 comments

  1. Alicia’s album sales are low not because of the economy but because people think she’s fake after that whole thing with Mashonda/Swizz. And she shouldn’t have brought it up again right before her album dropped. How does Rihanna sell more than you Alicia? She’s falling off.

  2. This is the first time ever that Rihanna has ever sold more records the first week than Alicia! #ThatRihannaReignWontLetUp!

  3. I don’t think it has to do anything with the economy. Homegirl has been getting dragged by Mashonda and Mashonda’s supported for the last couple of years and it finally stuck this time when she opened up her mouth about it in that Jet Magazine. She should now focus on keeping her mouth shut about it.

  4. Well her first single Girl on Fire was pretty lack luster. She didn’t release a single that could excite people about this album. I think her music is why she isn’t selling that many albums.

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