Prince’s albums and songs have sold over 4 million copies in the U.S. since his death on April 21, according to Nielsen Music.
That sum combines his sales on April 21 (239,000 albums and 1.034 million song downloads), along with initial sales reports for the days of April 22-27 (496,000 albums and 2.24 million songs).
In the tracking week before his death, Prince’s music sold comparably little: just 5,000 albums and 14,000 song downloads in the week ending April 15.
Nielsen Music’s latest sales tracking week ends on April 28, and Billboard is scheduled to report the newest official weekly sales data beginning on Sunday, May 1. The top 10 of the new Billboard 200 albums chart (dated May 14, reflecting data for the week ending April 28) is set to be revealed on May 1. A day later, news about the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart will be announced.
Here’s a rundown of Prince’s top selling albums and songs from April 21-27:
Prince’s Best Selling Albums: April 21-27*
The Very Best of Prince - 291,000
Purple Rain (Soundtrack) - 168,000
The Hits/The B-Sides - 73,000
Ultimate - 41,000
1999 - 38,000
Prince’s Best Selling Songs: April 21-27*
“Purple Rain” - 377,000
“When Doves Cry” - 280,000
“Little Red Corvette” - 227,000
“Let’s Go Crazy” - 215,000
“Kiss” - 210,000
*Sales according to Nielsen Music. For the period of April 22-27, the sales are for initial reports to Nielsen Music. The final, official sales figures for that period - included in Nielsen’s tracking week ending April 28 - are scheduled to be announced following Sunday, May 1.
