Mariah Carey's fantastic first single off the new R&B oriented Daydream album, Fantasy, has debuted at number one on the official and highly respected US Hot 100 chart, produced by Billboard.

HOBART (26 Sep 1995)- As predicted in last months' Archer Review, Mariah Carey's Fantasy has made a number one debut on the most presigious of US charts, the US Hot 100 Singles chart. It also debuts at number one in the Hot R&B Singles chart.

Around the world the chart performance of Fantasy is equally stunning. The single debuted at number 4 on the UK charts and at number 2 on this week's ARIA chart, and is a certainty for number 1 next week. Additionally, Mariah has debuted at #2 in Israel, #7 in Japan, #10 in Norway and Hong Kong, and at #16 in Sweden.

A remarkable 228941 copies of Fantasy were sold in the US in its first week, and the song has a US audience of 60 million people (according to Broadcast Data Systems). Many stores in the US and Australia are still unable to cope with demand for the double Grammy winner's new remix single, so it looks set to be a worldwide number one in the coming weeks.

The only other track in US chart history to debut at number one is Michael Jackson's latest hit You Are Not Alone, a debut which many dispute was fixed. The dispute as to whether Michael Jackson has a legitimate claim to the highest debut lies in the fact that his single release was delayed for six weeks, and when it finally appeared on shelves, it was sold for only cents per unit!

In any case, Mariah now has the highest US debut of any female artist, a credit which she holds without any dispute. In fact, Mariah succeeded in selling twice as many copies of Fantasy as Jackson did of the underpriced You Are Not Alone, which only sold 120285 copies in its first week.

The previous female record was set by Janet Jackson's latest, Runaway, which debuted at number six (40602 copies) on the week of September 9. Mariah also trumped the number five debut of Michael and Janet Jackson's Scream, launched amid the most vigourous marketing ever undertaken by Sony. Mariah also outclasses the Notorious B.I.G.'s One More Chance (80897 copies).

Given the Fantasy single's incredible success, the Daydream album from which it comes looks set to become the most successful album of all time. Mariah, in just five years, has already sold more than 60 million records worldwide, a third of those in the last 2 years. Her last studio set, Music Box, has sold 24 million copies worldwide, and is still selling strongly. Merry Christmas, her holiday record, sold more than eight million copies in a Yuletide flurry shortly before Christmas last year.

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Articles copyright 1995 Kade "Archer" Hansson; e-mail: archer@kaserver5.org

Last updated: Thursday 21st November 1996