Josh Groban is thanking Oprah Winfrey this week for an early Christmas present. Oprah Claus has helped propel Josh Groban’s Noel CD into the top position on Billboard, bolting past Alicia Keys while elbowing out Jordin Sparks along the way.

Because of a recent appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show, Josh was able to leverage the Oprah factor to encouraged over 400,000 music lovers last week to buy copies of his Christmas album. Alicia Keys sales fell about 50,000 short of the skyrocketing Groban because there was no Oh! in her corner.

The Oprah influence also helped caffeinate Groban’s album from last year Awake a full 46 spots in the rankings. Yesterday Oprah Winfrey announced that she is hitting the campaign trail with Barack Obama to help the fellow Chicagoan get the Democratic nod.

Based on past performance, one can easily expect the Barack Obama Christmas CD complete with the song “I Saw Hillary Kissing Santa Claus” to surpass sales of Groban’s Noel. No matter what happens, though, you can expect that Groban will be sending Oprah a fruitcake the size of Montana this year as a thank you for the pungent publicity.

Filed under: Artists