A Billboard Debut #1 We Overlooked

During the week of the debut of On My Way Here, there was so much excitement going on. Spamalot had just ended; CD Release parties all over the country had been planned and were being attended by fans; Everyone was buying their CD's and listening to them over and over again. Keeping up with all the fan comments, reviews, and appearances kept everyone busy.

The next week we were checking on chart numbers from Hits Daily Double and Billboard. But there is one number that was overlooked, at least by some. Probably not everyone, but definitely by some. And that is another #1 for Clay reported at Billboard by Fred Bronson. Read on for what Fred has to say:

177 AND COUNTING: It might not be long before the Davids -- Archuleta and Cook -- have their own No. 1s on the Billboard charts, adding to the grand total of "American Idol" No. 1s racked up since 2002. But even without their contributions, the total increases by one this week, as Clay Aiken's "On My Way Here" (19/RCA) debuts at No. 1 on Top Internet Albums. That is the 177th No. 1 for the "Idol" franchise, counting all national, domestic charts compiled by the Billboard Information Group.

How I overlooked this I'll never know. But this is an amazing number for Clay to debut at the #1 spot on Top Internet Albums.

Here's another accomplishment that Clay took a part in. Check this out in that same Fred Bronson article:

ALL BY MYSELF: Take a careful look at the top 10 albums on The Billboard 200. Notice anything? No? All right, here are the 10 artists in this week's top 10: Neil Diamond, Toby Keith, Madonna, Clay Aiken, Mariah Carey, Leona Lewis, Gavin DeGraw, Josh Groban, Dierks Bentley and Luis Miguel.

How about now?

Sharp-eyed Chart Beat readers will have noticed that every album in the top 10 is by a solo artist. There are no groups, soundtracks or multi-artist collections.

How rare is it for the top 10 albums to be by 10 different solo artists? So unique that our chart department hasn't been able to find any other album chart like this one yet, and they've already checked back to 1963.

Clay and the fans can feel extra good about these two accomplishment made during OMWH's debut week. If you already knew about this, well, enjoy reliving this recent memory. If you didn't, then this is something to smile big about until we hear from Clay again.