Comeback Carey

Mariah Carey, enjoying one of the music industry's biggest comebacks, is giving rap star 50 Cent a run for his money in a down-to-the-wire race for best-selling United States album of 2005.

On Christmas Day, 50 Cent was No 1 in the US with 4.8 million copies of sophomore album The Massacre sold since March. Carey was closing rapidly on the rapper with her latest Grammy-nominated collection, The Emancipation of Mimi, achieving sales of 4.6 million since its release in April. At current rates, Carey would overtake 50 Cent by year's end. On the latest sales chart, Mimi ranked No 7 with weekly sales of 191,000 copies, compared with just 21,000 for The Massacre.

This year has seen a startling reversal of Carey's fortunes. In addition to robust album sales, Mimi garnered her eight Grammy Award nominations.

She is now tied with Elvis Presley at No 2 on the all-time Hot 100 list with 17 chart-topping singles.