The solo special album of Kuwata Keisuke of Southern All Stars, "I LOVE YOU �now & forever-" went on shelves on July 18th and sold 432,000 copies in its first week of sales. The album ranked #1 on Oricon's July 30th weekly rankings.

Including this album, Kuwata has topped the weekly ranking the third consecutive time with his solo albums. The first was his best-of album, "TOP OF THE POPS" released in 2002 and the second was his comeback album "MUSICMAN" released last February after his recovery from esophageal cancer. Kuwata also has two other albums that topped the weekly chart, totaling 5 chart toppers for this veteran singer.�For solo artists, "I LOVE YOU �now & forever-" currently holds the record for most copies sold in the first week for 2012, beating out Amuro Namie�s album "Uncontrolled" which sold 292,000 copies in its first week of release.

It was 6 years and 8 months ago when an album from a male solo artist broke the 400,000 copies mark. Ken Hirai's "Ken Hirai 10th Anniversary complete Single Collection �95 � �05 �Uta Baka�" sold 928,000 copies in its first week. For Kuwata, it�s been 9 years and 8 months since his album hit the 400,000 copies mark when "TOP OF THE POPS" sold 961,000 copies in its first week of sales. Not a bad showing for the veteran singer who will be welcoming his 25th debut anniversary soon.

"I LOVE YOU �now & forever" is a complete collection of 30 singles from Kuwata, including his 1987 debut single "Kanashii Kimochi (JUST A MAN IN LOVE)" and his best-selling single to date from 2001, "Shiroi Koibito Tachi". It also includes a remastered version of "Kissin� Christmas (Christmas dakara jyanai)", a collaboration number between Matsutoya Yumi and Kuwata from 26 years ago.

Source + Image: Oricon