R&B artist Hikaru Utada's debut album "First Love" has sold a record-breaking 5.24 million copies in the two months since its release, surpassing the 5.11 million CDs sold by rock duo B'z.
The figure, released Tuesday, means the 16-year-old is almost certain to extend sales with Toshiba-EMI Ltd., which has already shipped more than 6 million copies of her album. The sales record will appear on Oricon's music CD sales chart next Monday.
Utada made her professional debut in Japan in December by releasing the hit CD single "Automatic," which has sold more than 2 million copies. Advance orders for her first album then topped the 2 million mark.
Utada has been actively recording since the early 1990s, when her group, Cubic U, released CD singles in the U.S. and Europe.
Born in New York to "enka" (ballad) singer Keiko Fuji and music producer Minoru Utada, the singer has been nurtured with music from childhood. Since making her Japanese debut, her soulful voice has quickly sent her to the top of the charts as an R&B artist.