Merry DMX-mas! Defying a music industry tradition, the rap superstar released...And Then There Was X a scant four days before Christmas, creating stunningly jolly first-week sales of 698,000 copies. Celine Dion wasn't far behind with 640,000 sold, and the No. 3 Backstreet Boys filled 562,000 holiday stockings. There was also peace on earth and goodwill toward Kenny G, whose Faith showed up on the R&B/hip-hop top 10 as well as on the pop chart. Finally, in a resurrection more apropos of Easter, a ''new'' Tupac album debuted at No. 7 with 408,000 copies moved. Hallelujah!
POP ALBUMS
LAST WEEK WEEKS ON CHART
1 -- DMX 1 ...And Then There Was X, Def Jam 2 1 CELINE DION 6 All the Way...A Decade of Song, Epic/550 3 2 BACKSTREET BOYS 32 Millennium, Jive 4 5 SANTANA 28 Supernatural, Arista 5 4 CHRISTINA AGUILERA 18 Christina Aguilera, RCA 6 3 BRITNEY SPEARS 50 ...Baby One More Time, Jive 7 -- 2PAC + OUTLAWZ 1 Still I Rise, Interscope 8 6 KENNY G 6 Faith, Arista 9 8 MARIAH CAREY 8 Rainbow, Columbia 10 7 SHANIA TWAIN 112 Come On Over, Mercury Nashville
R&B/HIP-HOP ALBUMS
1 75 DMX 2 ...And Then There Was X, Def Jam 2 -- 2PAC + OUTLAWZ 1 Still I Rise, Interscope 3 1 JUVENILE 60 400 Degreez, Cash Money/Universal 4 2 THE NOTORIOUS B.I.G. 4 Born Again, Bad Boy/Arista 5 3 DR. DRE 6 Dr. Dre 2001, Interscope 6 4 KENNY G 6 Faith, Arista 7 5 SISQO 4 Unleash the Dragon, Dragon/Def Soul 8 -- GOODIE MOBB 1 World Party, La Face/Arista 9 7 MARIAH CAREY 8 Rainbow, Columbia 10 14 DESTINY'S CHILD 1/222 The Writing's on the Wall, Columbia
CONCERTS
# OF TICKET SHOWS SALES
1 1 RICKY MARTIN $910,445 Cleveland 2 1 BILLY JOEL $706,320 St. Louis 3 1 JIMMY BUFFETT & THE CORAL REEFER BAND $598,010 Orlando, Fla. 4 1 BACKSTREET BOYS $587,286 Orlando, Fla. 5 1 RICKY MARTIN $586,775 Cincinnati 6 1 ZZ TOP/LYNYRD SKYNYRD $579,290 Dallas 7 1 BETTE MIDLER $577,871 Vancouver, B.C. 8 1 NEIL DIAMOND $557,466 Houston 9 1 SANTANA $546,812 Guadalajara, Mexico 10 1 NEIL DIAMOND $537,680 Rochester, N.Y. (C)1999 BPI COMMUNICATIONS INC./SOUNDSCAN INC. USED WITH PERMISSION FROM BILLBOARD, JANUARY 8, 1999
(C)1999 BPI COMMUNICATIONS INC./SOUNDSCAN INC. USED WITH PERMISSION FROM AMUSEMENT BUSINESS, DECEMBER 28, 1999.
