Female idol group AKB48 dominated the top five positions in annual single CD sales rankings in 2011 compiled by Oricon Inc., the first time a single artist or group has done so since the chart started in 1968.
The announcement was made Dec. 18 with the release of the Oricon annual CD sales. Oricon Inc. is a leading Japanese music research company.
The ubiquitous all-girl group’s 22nd single “Flying Get” grabbed first place at 1.587 million copies. AKB48's 21st single, “Everyday, Katyusha,” ranked second at 1.5868 million copies, and “Kaze wa fuiteiru” came in third with 1.419 million, followed by “Uekara Mariko” at 1.199 million and “Sakura no ki ni naro” at 1.079 million.
Past record holders include the female duo Pink Lady, who dominated the top three positions, along with male idol groups Hikaru Genji and Arashi.
The 1.079 million copies recorded by “Sakura no ki ni naro” came to far above the 626,000 copies by the sixth-ranked “Lotus” by Arashi. The total annual single sales of 7.346 million copies by AKB48 also broke the record, which had previously been set by the rock band Mr. Children at 6.63 million copies in 1995.
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