Congratulations are in order for 16-year-old pop singer Justin Bieber, whose sophomore album My World 2.0 debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart after moving 283,000 copies in its first week! This marks Bieber’s first No. 1 album. His first album My World debuted at No. 6 when it was released last November, and this week, it moved up to No. 5 from No. 10 with 50,000 copies sold.
At 16-years old, Bieber is the youngest solo male artist to reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200 since Aug. 24, 1963, when the then-13-year old Stevie Wonder spent one week at No. 1 with “Little Stevie Wonder/The 12 Year Old Genius.” (Wonder recorded the album when he was 12, but released it after turning 13.) “My World 2.0’s” opening frame is also Bieber’s best sales week, surpassing his previous high, when the first “My World” sold 157,000 copies over Christmas week of 2009.
In other Billboard albums chart news, R&B singer Monica‘s new album Still Standing comes in at No. 2 with 184,000 copies sold.
It’s the singer’s second-highest sales week and charting album, surpassed only by the 186,000 that “After the Storm” earned when it started at No. 1 way back in 2003. Last week Monica claimed her first No. 1 single on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart in almost seven years as “Everything to Me” climbed from No. 3 to No. 1 on the tally. The tune — which samples Deniece Williams’ “Silly,” a No. 11 R&B hit for the singer in 1981 — is Monica’s sixth No. 1 overall on the R&B chart.
BILLBOARD
So a big congratz goes out to both Justin and Monica!
