Release
The Eminem Show was first scheduled for release on June 4, 2002; however, pirated and bootleg copies appeared online on peer-to-peer networks and began surfacing on the streets. Interscope decided to release the album early on May 28 to combat bootlegging. However, many stores in the US began selling it early on Sunday, May 26, and some put the album out as early as Friday. Promotional posters in stores read, "America Couldn't Wait". Due to the premature release by many retailers on a Sunday, the album had only one day of official sales for the chart week and was unavailable in Wal-Mart stores during that period. Despite the confusion over the exact release date, the album still managed to have a very successful debut on the charts. The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 with sales of 284,000 copies. This marked the first time an album had topped the charts with such an abbreviated sales week. The album sold 1,322,000 copies in its first full week of sales. It sold 809,000 copies in its third week and 529,562 copies in its fourth week, to bring its four-week sales total to just under three million copies. The album sold 381,000 copies in its fifth week and topped the Billboard 200 for the fifth consecutive week. The first 2 million copies of the album shipped in the US included a bonus DVD with an exclusive interview and live footage. The Eminem Show was Eminem's first album to include lyrics to all songs inside the CD booklet. It was Eminem's most successful album in terms of charting singles. It spawned two top-ten and four top fifteen singles with "Without Me", "Cleanin' Out My Closet", "Sing For The Moment" and "Superman", which managed to reach the top fifteen without a widely available video counterpart (the video was mostly available on the 8 Mile DVD, rarely being shown on music video channels). In addition, "My Dad's Gone Crazy", "Business", "Hailie's Song", and "White America" were selected airplay singles of the controversial album.
Read more about this topic: The Eminem Show
Famous quotes containing the word release:
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