By Andrea McCallum
SCOTTISH singing sensation Susan Boyle has become more popular than the King of Pop – thanks to her debut album.
The star is on track to take the best-selling album of the year title after beating Michael Jackson in US sales.
SuBo outstripped Jackson’s Number One’s collection – which sold 2.3 million – by thousands.
But now she needs to trump teen country-pop cutie Taylor Swift who has shifted 2.7 million of her album Fearless.
A top US forecaster said: “Susan is on the crest of a phenomenal sweep.
“Her album has been available only weeks and is closing in fast on Taylor’s CD, which has been available all year.
“There is very little doubt that I Dreamed a Dream will end up as 2009’s top-seller.”
The 48-year-old’s CD – entitled I Dreamed a Dream – has racked up six million sales worldwide since it was released in November.
Countries around the globe – including Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland and Japan – saw the Blackburn-based songstress shooting to the top of the charts.
And in the UK more than 130,000 copies were sold on the first day of its release.
The triumph has been named the biggest first-week sales for a debut album in British chart history.
Martin Talbot, from the Official Charts Company, said: “After all of the excitement surrounding her appearance on Britain’s Got Talent, everyone expected her to make a big impact but to arrive with such a bang is exceptional.”
SuBo’s fans in America have still held her album at the number one spot on the Billboard 200 this week.
Los Angeles-based media analyst Mike Raia said: “She’s already cracked America and now she can become one of the highest-paid solo artists on the planet.”
And her success continues to grow into 2010 with an expected invitation from the White House to sing at Michelle Obama’s 46th birthday party.
The US President has hinted at wanting to ask SuBo to perform her Les Miserables signature song at the private bash on January 17.
With more than 300 million internet hits and the prospect of online superstore Amazon sponsoring a US tour – SuBo is ready for the next decade.
But the overnight celebrity recently admitted she is still living on less than £200 a week in an interview.
In the US edition of OK! Magazine she added that she was living a “Cinderella story”.
She said: “I went to LA and there were great crowds waiting for us at the airport.
“I know it’s a cliché but it’s a bit of a Cinderella story.”
