The album, featuring songs performed by the likes of Madonna, Bruce Springsteen and Taylor Swift at last Friday’s nationally televised telethon, sold 171,000 copies, said tracking firm Nielsen SoundScan.The telethon event, which also streamed live online, featured appearances by former President Clinton, Muhammad Ali, Brad Pitt and other stars who encouraged donations for Haiti, hit by a devastating Jan. 12 earthquake.
Since the tracking week runs through Sunday, the “Hope for Haiti Now” numbers represented just two full days of sales. By contrast, Susan Boyle’s former chart-topper “I Dreamed a Dream” held at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart after selling 86,000 copies during the full week.
The two-hour fund-raiser, organized by actor George Clooney and Haitian-born rapper Wyclef Jean, also featured performances by Shakira, Alicia Keys, Stevie Wonder, Jay-Z, Bono, Beyonce, Sting, Justin Timberlake and dozens of other stars.
Watched by a total of 83 million viewers in the United States and millions more online, the event has raised more than $61 million so far, organizers said.
Up to 200,000 people are estimated to have been killed in the Jan. 12 earthquake.
