Mister D: I once wrote in to Keith about Bette, now Gabriel has:
Keith,
I am thrilled to see how well Bette Midler’s new album debuted on The Billboard 200 chart. I was wondering if you can provide information as to how many copies she sold and how that compares to her previous releases. Also, I would like to hear your opinion as to what you attribute the success of this project.
Thanks,
Gabriel
Hi Gabriel,
“Bette Midler Sings the Rosemary Clooney Songbook” debuted at No. 14 on The Billboard 200 last week. It sold 71,000 copies in its first week in U.S. stores, according to Nielsen SoundScan. That’s Midler’s biggest one-week sales total in the SoundScan era (1991 through the present).
Here are her other SoundScan-era albums and their sales totals:
“For the Boys” soundtrack (1991, 98,000 units
“Experience the Divine” (1993, 1.9 million)
“Gypsy” TV soundtrack (1993, 111,000)
“Bette of Roses” (1995, 670,000)
“Bathhouse Betty” (1998, 496,000 units)
“Bette” (2000, 226,000)
I’d imagine that the “Songbook” album did well in its first week due to Midler’s numerous media appearances. She was on NBC’s “Today” show twice during the week, including once performing with the album’s producer, Barry Manilow.
