‘Mimi,’ from Carey, tops sales for ’05

FANS of Mariah Carey and Jamie Foxx had lots to cheer Wednesday as Carey officially captured the 2005 album sales crown and Foxx topped the first pop album chart of the new year.

After trailing 50 Cent’s “The Massacre” for most of the year, Carey’s comeback CD, “The Emancipation of Mimi,” closed the year with a flourish.

“Mimi” went into the final week of the year with a slight 32,000-copy lead over “Massacre,” but the Carey album sold 102,000 copies last week to give it a 2005 total of 4.97 million. “Massacre” sold 18,000 copies for a 2005 finish of 4.85 million, reports Nielsen SoundScan.

Still, it was an impressive figure for the New York rapper, whose previous album, “Get Rich or Die Tryin’,” sold 6.5 million copies in 2003, making it the biggest seller of that year. The top album of 2004 was Usher’s “Confessions,” which sold nearly 8 million copies.

Carey and 50 Cent were trailed on the list of 2005’s top sellers by Kelly Clarkson (3.5 million), Green Day (3.4 million), Black Eyed Peas (3 million), Coldplay (2.6 million) and Rascal Flatts (2.5 million).

Foxx’s album, “Unpredictable,” took over the No. 1 spot on the chart in its second week, after selling 200,000 copies. The album had sold 598,000 copies its first week in stores to enter the sales chart at No. 2, behind Mary J. Blige’s “The Breakthrough,” which sold 727,000 copies the same week.

But last week Blige’s sales fell to 193,000 copies, slipping to No. 2 on the new chart.

Eminem’s “Curtain Call” greatest hits package is No. 3 this week after selling 186,000 copies last week.