I Refuse - Commercial Performance

Commercial Performance

The album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, selling 187,000 copies in the week of August 4, 2001. Although it was the highest sales week of Aaliyah's career, it initially sold slower than her previous album One in a Million. Blackground and Virgin, which had invested heavily in the album's performance, wanted a single with a high chart placement to help increase the album's sales. "We Need a Resolution" had been released as the lead single on April 13, but underperformed on radio and only reached number 59 on the Billboard Hot 100. In August, Aaliyah shot a music video for "More Than a Woman" in Los Angeles and then travelled to the Bahamas to shoot a video for "Rock the Boat". However, after its completion, she and several members of her crew returning to the United States were killed in a plane crash on August 25. Blackground executives were uncertain when they would release the album's next single and video.

The album's sales skyrocketed after Aaliyah's death. At the time of her death, its sales had been diminishing since the album's release in July, and stood at over 447,000 copies sold. News of her death was reported on the last day of Nielsen SoundScan's sales tracking week, during which Aaliyah sold 62,000 copies, a 41.5% increase from its past week's sales. The following week, it sold 305,500 copies and ascended from number 19 to number one on the Billboard 200. It was the album's highest sales week, and marked the first time a recording artist climbed to number one posthumously since John Lennon had in 1980 with his album Double Fantasy. It was also Aaliyah's only album to top any of Billboard's charts. The album had sold over one million copies by September 19. By February 25, 2002, it had sold 2.06 million copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Aaliyah ultimately spent 188 weeks on the Billboard 200.

After ending their deal with Virgin in November 2001, Blackground wanted to send the video for "More Than a Woman" to domestic outlets, but it required both labels to work together. Blackground subsequently moved to Universal Records, and the video was first aired in Europe. In the United Kingdom, "More Than a Woman" was released as a single on January 7, 2002, and entered the UK Singles Chart at number one, while Aaliyah re-entered the UK Albums Chart at number 65; it had originally entered the chart at number 25 on July 28, 2001. Two weeks after the single reached number one, the album jumped 17 spots to number five on January 27, 2002. It ultimately charted for 31 weeks in the UK. In France, Aaliyah peaked at number nine and charted for 33 weeks. It also reached number nine in both Germany and the Netherlands, where it charted for 41 and 46 weeks, respectively. As of December 2009, the album has sold 2.6 million copies.