He’s back with a sexy vengeance.Justin Timberlake’s self-imposed exile from the recording studio was obviously a smart move as his new album has been named the best-seller in the US so far this year.
The 32-year-old hitmaker’s third solo LP, The 20/20 Experience – his first in seven years – has sold a staggering 968,000 copies in its first week of release.The last record to match that incredible feat was Taylor Swift’s album Red album, which came out in October 2012.Despite sales being short of the one million forecast, the figure is still impressive for a male solo artist, Billboard is reporting.The best debut in recent history being Lil Wayne, whose Tha Carter III clocked 1.01 million during its first week of release in 2008.Keith Caulfield of US chart company Billboard weighed in on the pop cultural trend.
‘When you have arguably the biggest male pop star take a vacation for several years, there’s a lot of demand for new music, and that demand never went away,’ he said.In the last 20 years, only 18 albums have generated sales greater than 900,000 in the first week.The two highest-selling records were by boy band ‘N Sync, of which Justin is a former member.However, Keith added: ‘There has to be hope that other artists can rack up these kind of superstar sales.
‘You have to have across-the-board saturation visibility, where you’re a pop culture phenomenon that people of all ages like. An obvious possibility is Adele.’The Suit & Tie singer is riding the wave of success.Justin was the man of the evening at his album’s release party Monday night.The singer arrived for his big bash at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles looking debonair in a black tuxedo featuring satin lapels, as well as a checked black and white shirt, black tie and two-toned monochrome dress shoes.Last week it was also revealed that Justin is in talks to host The 2014 Oscars after impressing the show’s producers with another successful stint as host of comedy sketch program Saturday Night Live.It seems everything Justin touches these days turns to gold. – DailyMail
