Justin Timberlake Smashes Career Best With 20/20 Experience Chart Debut

How good a sales week did Justin Timberlake have with his comeback album, The 20/20 Experience?


The #1 debut
 debut of the singer's third effort not only smashed the competition with sales of 968,000, it nearly equaled the combined first-week figures of both of his previous solo discs.

Though Experience fell just short of hitting the one million mark,
 according to figures provided by Nielsen SoundScan, it ranks as the year's best-seller to date. It also easily blew past the first-week figures for 2002's Justified, which entered the charts at #2 with 439,000, as well as 2006's FutureSex/LoveSounds, which hit #1 with 684,000.

JT can now claim the 19th biggest debut since SoundScan began tracking sales data in 1991, falling well shy of the all-time record set by his former band, 'NSYNC, whose No Strings Attached moved an untouchable 2.42 million in April 2000. He did, however, break into the top three all-time biggest weeks for a solo male (non-rapping) singer, coming in behind Usher's Confessions (1.10 million) and Garth Brooks' Double Live (1.09 million).

According to his label, he also set a few other records, including: fastest-selling album in iTunes history worldwide (89 countries) and the best-selling male artist at Target since 2002 and one of the top three at the retailer — which is carrying a special, bargain-priced edition of the album — in the past decade.

The only other notable debut in the top 10 was country newcomer Kacey Musgraves, who was well behind at #2 with Same Trailer, Different Park (43,000).

It's too early to tell how JT will hold up next week, but it's likely he'll have to take a backseat to Lil Wayne's I Am a Human Being II,
 which will debut on the charts alongside the latest from Blake Shelton, the Strokes Alan Jackson, One Republic and will.i.am.

Billboard 200 charts:
1) Justin Timberlake, The 20/20 Experience (968,000)
2) Kacey Musgraves, Same Trailer, Different Park (43,000)
3) Bruno Mars, Unorthodox Jukebox (41,000)
4) Luke Bryan, Spring Break ... Here to Party (38,000)
5) Pink, The Truth About Love (36,000)
6) Imagine Dragons, Night Visions (29,000)
7) Bon Jovi, What About Now (29,000)
8) Original Soundtrack, "Les Miserables" (28,000)
9) Mumford & Sons, Babel (27,000)
10) Rihanna, Unapologetic (26,000)

While JT's "Suit & Tie" still couldn't hit the top spot on the Billboard Digital Songs chart, there was a shakeup at the top, where Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' "Thrift Shop" (234,000) finally gave up the #1 slot after 11 weeks. The Seattle duo gave up the spot to Pink's "Just Give Me a Reason" (241,000).

The rest of the top 10 was mostly static, except for "#THATPOWER,"
 the hook-up between will.i.am and Justin Bieber, which debuted at 9 on sales of 108,000.

Billboard Digital Songs Chart:

1) Pink, "Just Give Me a Reason" (241,000)
2) Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, "Thrift Shop" (234,000)
3) Rihanna, "Stay" (222,000)
4) Bruno Mars, "When I Was Your Man" (216,000)
5) Pitbull, "Feel This Moment" (138,000)
6) Baauer, "Harlem Shake" (114,000)
7) Drake, "Started From the Bottom" (110,000)
8) Imagine Dragons, "Radioactive" (108,000)
9) will.i.am, "#THATPOWER" (108,000)
10) Justin Timberlake, "Suit & Tie" (101,000)