USHER TO HIT NO. 1

Usher's "Here I Stand" is slated to hit No. 1 on The Billboard 200 next week.



First-day sales came in at 146,000. That figure is near the 154,000 that Mariah Carey's "E=MC2" began with in April. She finished the week with 463,000.

Usher's last album, 2004's "Confessions," bowed atop The Billboard 200 with 1.1 million sold in its first week and spent nine weeks on top. With 9.54 million sold in the U.S., Usher's "Confessions" is the 21st best-selling album of the Nielsen SoundScan era, which began in 1991.

It's the second biggest seller among male solo singers, behind only Garth Brooks' "Ropin' the Wind," which has shifted 9.6 million.


Perhaps he could have sold more units had fans not been over zealous. Reports are coming in that "Here I Stand" was illegally downloaded more than half a million times before its release.



GV Says: I'm sure the hooplah around his personal life helped sales some too.