Capping one of pop music's biggest comebacks, Mariah Carey has overtaken rap star 50 Cent in a year-end battle to claim the hottest-selling album of 2005.
Carey's Grammy-nominated The Emancipation of Mimi climbed to the No. 1 spot for the year on U.S. sales of 290,000 copies during the week ending December 25, raising her 37-week total to 4.87 million units, retail tracker Nielsen SoundScan reported on Wednesday.
Assuming Mimi stays the course through the post-Christmas sales rush, Carey would become the first female solo artist to boast the year's top album since Alanis Morissette in 1996 with Jagged Little Pill.
50 Cent slipped to No. 2 for 2005 as his sophomore set The Massacre posted sales of 30,000 copies last week, taking his 43-week tally to 4.83 million units, Nielsen SoundScan said.
The rapper stands little chance of regaining the lead from Carey so long as the final week of the year -- traditionally the busiest in music sales -- brings another six-figure tally for Mimi, as expected.
Carey's Grammy-nominated The Emancipation of Mimi climbed to the No. 1 spot for the year on U.S. sales of 290,000 copies during the week ending December 25, raising her 37-week total to 4.87 million units, retail tracker Nielsen SoundScan reported on Wednesday.
Assuming Mimi stays the course through the post-Christmas sales rush, Carey would become the first female solo artist to boast the year's top album since Alanis Morissette in 1996 with Jagged Little Pill.
50 Cent slipped to No. 2 for 2005 as his sophomore set The Massacre posted sales of 30,000 copies last week, taking his 43-week tally to 4.83 million units, Nielsen SoundScan said.
The rapper stands little chance of regaining the lead from Carey so long as the final week of the year -- traditionally the busiest in music sales -- brings another six-figure tally for Mimi, as expected.
