Music fans mourning the passing of Aaliyah — and those curious about her legacy — will push the late R&B star to the top of next week's Billboard 200 albums chart.
Despite strong debuts from Mary J. Blige and Slipknot, Aaliyah's eponymous album will vault to #1 on the albums chart next week, a month and a half after its initial release. The singer died August 25 in a plane crash that claimed the lives of eight others (see "Aaliyah Killed In Plane Crash").
Sales of Aaliyah jumped from 62,000 copies during the week of her death tto 305,000 copies in the week that followed, bumping the album up from #19. Aaliyah debuted at #2 upon its release in July and dropped as low as #27 two weeks ago.
Renewed interest in the late singer will also push the "Romeo Must Die" soundtrack album (which features several Aaliyah tracks) back onto the chart at #164.
The sales surge also places Aaliyah just ahead of hip-hop diva Mary J. Blige, who will debut at #2 on next week's chart with No More Drama. Blige's fifth studio album sold more than 294,000 copies in its first week in stores.