Caleb Johnson’s “Testify” Official Sales 11K, #24 on Billboard 200

Billboard didn’t bother to include chart and sales numbers for Caleb Johnson’s album, Testify, in it’s weekly chart watch column. Not a surprise, considering sales predictions were dismal for the American Idol winner’s debut.

Lucky for us, the chart watcher at Yahoo music, revealed the official sales figures in a column devoted to the fall of the Idol franchise as a viable album-selling force.

According to Yahoo, Testify sold 11K copies and will land at #24 on the Billboard 200. It’s the lowest sales AND chart debut of any American Idol winner. The chart low was previously held by season 9 winner, Lee DeWyze, whose Live it Up, entered and peaked at #19.

Caleb’s official soundscan numbers are at the high end of Hits original 9-11K prediction, and higher than yesterday’s 10K number, but it’s not anything to celebrate, really. (With the numbers rounded off, the difference could be only a couple hundred copies.)

Once again, here’s the chart of all the American Idol winners and their debuts. The column points out that season 2 winner, Ruben Studdard, had the highest debut at 417K with his album, Soulful. But the runner-up that year, Clay Aiken, sold 613K of his debut, Measure of a Man. Clay remains the sales champ of post-Idol album debuts.

Kelly Clarkson – Thankful – April 15 2003 –  #1 – 297K
Ruben Studdard – Soulful – December 3 2003 – #1 – 417K
Fantasia Barrino – Free Yourself – November 23 2004 – #8 – 240K
Carrie Underwood – Some Hearts – November 15 2005 – #2 – 315K
Taylor Hicks – Taylor Hicks – December 12 2006 – #2 – 298K
Jordin Sparks – Jordin Sparks – November 20 2007 – #10 – 119K
David Cook – David Cook – November 18 2008 – #3 – 280K
Kris Allen – Kris Allen – November 17 2009 – #11 – 80K
Lee DeWyze – Live it Up – November 16 2010 – #19 – 39K
Scotty McCreery – Clear as Day – October 4 2011 – #1 – 197K
Phillip Phillips – TWFTSOTM – November 19 2012- #4 – 169K
Candice Glover – Music Speaks – February 18 2014 – #14 – 19K

About mj santilli 34830 Articles
Founder and editor of mjsbigblog.com, home of the awesomest fan community on the net. I love cheesy singing shows of all kinds, whether reality or scripted. I adore American Idol, but also love The Voice, Glee, X Factor and more!