Fan Fare
Entertainment behind the scenes
Shakira’s new album ‘She Wolf’ lacks bite
Unless your name is Taylor Swift or Michael Jackson, it’s been yet another tough year for pop stars. New discs from the likes of U2, Mariah Carey, Tim McGraw, Bon Jovi, 50 Cent and Norah Jones have sharply underperformed. Overall U.S. album sales in 2009 are on track to slide for the eighth time in nine years.
Shakira is the latest addition to the casualty list. The Colombian sex symbol‘s electronica-fueled new album looks to be her weakest performer in almost 10 years. “She Wolf,” Shakira’s third English-language recording, currently stands at No. 43 on the Billboard 200, two weeks after debuting at No. 15 with puny sales of 89,000 units. Sales to date stand at 158,000 — equivalent to what current Billboard 200 champ Susan Boyle’s debut album sold in its first 1.5 days, last month.
Shakira’s label is not too worried. “After a four year hiatus, Shakira came back with a great album and we are very happy with its progress, this project was never about the first month for us,” said a spokeswoman for Epic Records.
Shakira’s previous English-language disc, “Oral Fixation Vol. 2,” debuted at No. 5 with 128,000 copies in December 2005, six months after the Spanish-language “Fijacion Oral Vol. 1″ entered at No. 4 with 157,000. Her debut English-language outing, “Laundry Service,” opened at No. 3 with 202,000 copies in November 2001. Before that, her best performer was the 2000 “MTV Unplugged set,” which reached No. 124. Shakira’s career sales stand at about 50 million units worldwide.
New albums top U.S. pop charts with puny sales
What a difference two years makes in the ailing music industry.
Country star Reba McEntire scored her second No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart Wednesday after selling 96,000 copies of “Keep On Loving You.” In September 2007, she hit No. 1 with the star-studded “Reba Duets” set. Its first-week tally: 301,000 copies. If the new album had come out then, its sales would have been good enough only for No. 7.
Last week’s chart-topper, fellow country icon George Strait, is also suffering lower sales, but not quite as bad. “Twang,” the fifth No. 1 of his career, debuted with 155,000 units last week, 16 months after “Troubadour” debuted at No. 1 with 166,000 and almost three years after “It Just Comes Natural” launched at No. 3 with 232,000.
