US Chart Goss

LeToya leads bounce back on US chart

Source: Music week

Bouncing back from the 12-year low of almost 9m they plummeted to a fortnight ago, US album sales improved by 2.5% last week, writes Alan Jones.

The top four albums all sold more than 100,000 last week, whereas only one (Now 22) did the previous week. Former Destiny’s Child member LeToya’s self-titled debut album sold 164,802 copies to take pole position; Now! 22 sold 150,803 copies while slipping to number two; Pharrell Williams’ first solo set, In My Mind, found 141,815 buyers to debut at number three; and veteran rocker Tom Petty, now 55 years old, secured the highest new entry of his 14 album career, debuting at number four with Highway Companion on sales of 112,439.

LeToya left Destiny’s Child in 2000, apparently ousted for daring to express dissatisfaction with manager Mathew Knowles - Beyonce’s dad - and initially had a very strained relationship with her former bandmates, although she runs a boutique in Houston called Lady Elle, which stocks Beyonce’s House Of Dereon clothing,and the two are now reconciled. LeToya’s surprisingly robust sales last week were helped by the success of her debut solo single, the ballad Torn, which recently reached number 31 on the Hot 100; a slew of TV appearances in support of the album; and discount pricing. Beyonce’s second solo album B’day is released next month, and should surpass LeToya’s first week sales - her debut solo album Dangerously In Love opened with sales of more than 317,000 in 2003.

Returning to the Top 200, last week’s runner-up, Sacred by Los Lonely Boys, slumps to number 17, its sales off 50% at 33,408. Country star Rodney Atkins also suffers a 50% diminution in sales of If You’re Going Through Hell, which plunges 3-22 as a result.

Remaining the top UK act on the chart, Corinne Bailey Rae has been number 20 for the last three weeks with her eponymous debut album but it improves a notch to number 19 this week, even though its sales are off 6% week-on-week to 28,444.

KT Tunstall also rallies, moving 44-36 with Eye To The Telescope, with sales up 10% to 20,839. Tunstall’s first hit single Black Horse And The Cherry Tree drifts 26-29 on the Hot 100 but follow-up Suddenly I See jumps 90-74. The gap between the two singles is also closing on the download chart, where Black Horse And The Cherry Tree dips 24-28 with 23,634 sales, while Suddenly I See jumps 63-52 on sales of 15,062.

Nelly Furtado and Timbaland’s Promiscuous is number one on the Hot 100 for the sixth week but Gnarls Barkley’s Crazy - number two for the last four weeks - retains its bullet and is getting closer all the time. Whether or not it can catch Promiscuous before itself being overhauled by the chasing pack is questionable - there are two fast rising new arrivals in the Top 5 this week, with Beyonce and Jay-Z’s Deja Vu jumping 32-4, while Black Eyed Peas’ Fergie rockets 84-5 with her solo debut, London Bridge.

The entire Top 10 is made up of urban titles - the highest ranked pop title is Jessica Simpson’s A Public Affair, which leaps 30-14, giving Jessica back the initiative over sister Ashlee, whose own new single Invisible debuted at number 26 last week, and now improves to number 21.