France Album Sales: Mariah Carey
Butterfly (1997) Era
Selling all together nearly 2 million albums in 1994-1996 years, Mariah Carey was a true big act in France. From 1997 and Butterfly era yet, the pop star with her pure image started to switch her gears to R&B music and a hottest visual content of her covers and videos.
This transition wasn’t that well received in France. Both first singles Honey (#39) and Butterfly (#43) bombed on singles chart, never taking over on radio either. As a result, the album debuted at #6 and lasted only two weeks inside the Top 10, nowhere near the 60 weeks of her previous two albums combined.
Surprisingly, the only single that ended up being successful in France was the fifth and very last one, My All. This #6 song revived an album that dropped out of the Top 75 for over four months, up to #37 on a 3-months additional run.
While nothing record breaking, this last whisper enabled Butterfly to cross the 200,000 units barrier one year after its release. More than that, My All success gave Mariah Carey a positive feel among the general public, perfectly paving the way to her 1998 first career spanning compilation, #1’s. A non-mover at #3 each of the seven last weeks of the year, this consistency highlighted two things. One that the top two, similar packages from U2 and George Michael, were selling huge amounts. Two that Mariah Carey itself was easily eclipsing the rest of the competition, despite more such packages from Dire Straits and Phil Collins.
Prince Of Egypt soundtrack hit When You Believe, a duet with Whitney Houston, was huge during 1998 Christmas period and in early 1999, hitting #5. I Still Believe was big at radio too a few months later. Both songs gave the compilation incredible consistency, climbing all the way to 640,000 sales by the end of 1999.
Top 3 Most Streamed Tracks on Spotify
- My All – 11,003,000
- Honey – 9,843,000
- Breakdown – 4,473,000