Michael Jackson is still King, but Maxwell and Hannah Montana make for a nice royal court.
Despite big bows from the Brooklyn crooner and the Disney queen, the late King of Pop had the top-selling album in the country for the third straight week, as Number Ones moved another 349,000 copies, per Nielsen SoundScan, making for a 1.1 million-copy tally for all his titles. This is Jackson's best week so far, both for an individual title and collectively, thanks largely to last week's memorial service coverage and retailers finally getting completely stocked up.
The music legend, who also had the week's third best-seller in Thriller (264,000 copies), dominated the catalog charts so thoroughly that he set yet another record. This time, Jackson-related titles took up the top 12 spots, a feat never before accomplished. (In previous weeks, he set records by taking 9 of the Top 10 and then the entire Top 10.)
Because they are catalog titles, Jackson's albums are not eligible for the Billboard 200 charts, which gave Maxwell the opportunity to score his second career chart-topper with BLACKsummers'night. The R&B crooner, who previously hit No. 1 eight years ago with Now, sold 316,000 copies of his new disc.
The Hannah Montana 3 soundtrack followed at No. 2, selling 137,00 copies. While prior Hannah Montana discs seemed to top the charts like Groundhog Day, both of her 2009 soundtracks placed in the runner-up spot. Hannah Montana: The Movie did so earlier this year with a similar tally of 139,000 discs.
In other chart action, rockers All Time Low scored an all-time career high at No. 4, shifting 63,000 copies of Nothing Personal.
Thanks to Jackson's sales spike and big releases from Maxwell and Hannah Montana, overall album sales were up 5 percent over last week and nearly equal to the same week last year.
The government thought it was mainly hospital employees it had to worry about when it came to propofol abuse.
Then authorities unearthed Michael Jackson's pharmaceutical treasure trove, which included the potent anesthetic.
The Drug Enforcement Administration is considering including propofol (brand name Diprivan) on the federal list of controlled substances, an idea that has been rolling around for at least two years, but not fast-tracked because civilian abuse of the stuff is so uncommon.
But Diprivan is becoming a household name now that it's been linked to Jackson.
Several bottles of Diprivan, which has to be administered via an IV and pretty much leaves the user in a comatose state, were confiscated from Jackson's Holmby Hills residence.
Source have confirmed to E! News that needle marks were discovered on Jackson's body during his autopsy. Authorities, including the LAPD, DEA and state attorney general's office, are currently investigating how, why, and when the King of Pop obtained the various drugs found in his residence.
The federal controlled substances list comprises five categories, which encompass everything from the hard stuff, like heroin, to the painkiller OxyContin, to codeine, which is used in some cough medicines. Hospitals are supposed to keep track of every bit (of the legal drugs, presumably) that they purchase, prescribe and dispense.
Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration had Diprivan maker Teva Pharmaceutical recall roughly 60,000 units of the drug following an increase in complaints about nasty side-effects.
"There have been adverse events in three states: Florida, Arizona and Missouri," FDA spokeswoman Karen Riley told E! News. "These include fevers and chills." There were no reports of fatalities, or life-threatening conditions.
The bum batches showed signs of a bacteria-produced endotoxin, she said.
We've been told that there's no connection between the recalled lots and the Diprivan found in Jackson's home, and Riley said that the FDA has no broader concerns about its safety, "if used as indicated in the proper facilities."
Denise Bradley, senior director of corporate communications for Teva Pharmaceutical confirmed to E! News that the DEA contacted the company with regard to the origins of the Diprivan found in Jackson's possession.
"The batch that the DEA contacted us about relating to their investigation is not associated with the lot numbers that are being recalled," Bradley said.
Source: eonline
