Lil Wayne’s album, “Tha Carter III,” has had runaway first week sales, not equaled since 2005, as Billboard reports. It’s an especially remarkable achievement for Lil Wayne, whose album was extensively leaked before its release.

With “Tha Carter III,” Lil Wayne becomes the first artist since 50 Cent in 2005 to sell more than 1 million copies of an album in a single week, according to chart reports that will be issued tomorrow morning (June 18) by Nielsen SoundScan.

In its first week on the market, “Tha Carter III” (Cash Money/Universal) sells just over 1 million units. The last album to top that milestone was 50 Cent’s “The Massacre” in March 2005.

No album in 2006 sold as many as 800,000 copies in a single frame, and the largest sales week since “The Massacre” belonged to Kanye West’s “Graduation,” which netted an opener of 957,000 copies last year when it hit stores on Sept. 11.

Source: Lil Wayne Cracks 1 Million With ‘Tha Carter III’

See related post:

• Lil Wayne’s “Tha Carter III” Tops Charts, May Be No. 1 Selling Album of the Year

UPDATE - Lil Wayne thanks fans in this video blog entry, June 17, 2008

Lil Wayne’s ‘Tha Carter III’ First Week Sales More Than 1 Million