Jack White’s ‘Blunderbuss’ Set for No. 1 Debut

Jack White did everything he could to make you pay attention to the fact that he was putting out a solo record, from playing ‘SNL’ to cooking up ever-more-inventive ways of releasing singles from the album. And if what Billboard is hearing from retailers is accurate, all that hard work seems to have paid off with the biggest sales numbers of the week — and his career.

According to projections, White’s ‘Blunderbuss‘ is on track for first-week sales of between 100,000 and 120,000 units — enough to put him ahead of a relatively weak field of new releases from Brad, the Dandy Warhols, Public Image Ltd., and White’s own Raconteurs bandmate Brendan Benson. Still, even if he wasn’t going up against rock’s heaviest hitters, it’s an impressive feat for White, who’s logged seven top 10 albums over the years, but never quite managed to top the album charts.

Until now, the closest White has come to a No. 1 record was the White Stripes‘ 2007 release ‘Icky Thump,’ which made it as high as No. 2 but was kept out of the top spot by Bon Jovi‘s quasi-country experiment, ‘Lost Highway’ (To illustrate how much the music business has shrunk over the years, ‘Thump’ sold more than 230,000 copies in its first week).

“I’ve put off making records under my own name for a long time but these songs feel like they could only be presented under my name,” White mused before its release. “These songs were written from scratch, had nothing to do with anyone or anything else but my own expression, my own colors on my own canvas.” It looks like his approach paid off — not only is it enjoying strong sales, but ‘Blunderbuss’ has also debuted to generally positive reviews — especially in the U.K., where it earned five-star raves from Mojo and The Telegraph.