Sales of Whitney Houston’s comeback album I Look To You boomeranged by 77%—to 156,000 copies—after her two-part interview on last week’s Oprah, which was full of juicy details about her drug use and marriage to Bobby Brown and lots of great opportunities to make amazing animated GIFs. The album’s sold 548,000 copies in its three weeks on shelves, which is not a shabby number for this age in which the Adult Contemporary charts that Whitney tailored her product to are almost as impenetrable as the nation’s mass consciousness about the fact that, yes, there is still new music being released these days, and some of it’s even for sale. After the jump, Whitney’s performance of the album’s Diane Warren-penned redemption song “I Didn’t Know My Own Strength.”
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Whitney Houston – I Didn’t Know My Own Strength Live On Oprah [YouTube]
Very good numbers for Whitney, particularly in this climate.
Always thought the Oprah bounce was a bit of a myth – certainly hasn’t helped Mariah’s Foreigner cover which the hype would suggest might explode on downloads post-Oprah yet limps onto the digital chart at #51 with 27k sold in first week of release.
It also helps that Whitney’s performance on Oprah was one of her best-sounding in years.
Too true. Think it’s also clear that there’s a huge amount of goodwill for Whitney and her comeback. Absence, heart, fonder etc
@dusty vinyl: Not to mention the fact that Whitney’s particular kind of “redemption” story is catnip to Oprah’s audience.
Hell, it’s catnip to every audience. I remember so many commenters on here dissing Whitney’s chance for a comeback, and I said back then that she was going to surprise everyone. Looks like I was right.
@dusty vinyl: I think the Oprah effect is being negated by the Nick Cannon effect for Mariah…
Happy for her.
@dusty vinyl:
Agreed that Whitney’s numbers in this climate are seriously impressive. Clearly the public has picked up on the “story” as well as the music, which is fine. Good for her.
The Oprah bounce is real, I think, but it depends on the act (or product) in question. Leona Lewis got a real bounce from her last year, but then the story for “Bleeding Love” in the weeks thereafter was all about radio and sales, which were very real. In other words, Oprah gave a leg up to an act/song that was poised to be big but was helped by that breakthrough moment. Same goes for Whitney in this case — different situation, sure (not an ingenue like Lewis), but the matchup of audience/story/recording is right in O’s wheelhouse, kinda like Celine Dion 5–10 years ago.
Oprah also gave a big boost to Josh Groban’s “Noel”