US Chart Goss

Prince debuts at number one on Billboard chart

Source: Music Week

Prince's first album for Universal, 3121, turns back the clock and earns the enigmatic singer his first number one album in America for more than 16 years, writes Alan Jones.

His fourth number one album, following Purple Rain (1984), Around The World In A Day (1985) and the Batman soundtrack (1989), it sold 183,436 copies last week to earn him the first number one debut of his career.

Prince's arrival at the summit means that the soundtrack to Disney's TV movie High School Musical loses pole position for the second time in its career, even though its sales rise for the 10th week in a row. It slips to number two, with sales up a further 7% to a new peak of 151,750, taking its cume to 963,556.

The only other album to sell more than 100,000 copies last week, James Blunt's Back To Bedlam, also slips a notch, falling 2-3 with sales off 12% at 111,342, increasing its overall sales tally to 1,248,590.

Aside from Prince, there are also Top 20 debuts from rapper B.G.'s The Heart Of Tha Streetz Volume 2 (I Am What I Am) at number six (62,346 sales), eclectic singer/songwriter Ben Harper's Both Sides Of The Gun (number seven, 59,318), 17 year old New York singer/songwriter Teddy Geiger's Underage Thinking (number eight, 56,463), and 67 year old country veteran and restaurant mogul Kenny Rogers' highest charting album for 23 years, Water & Bridges (number 14, 44,339).

Of 17 debuts in the Top 200, none are by British acts.

Among UK acts in the top half of the chart, none improves their standing with Blunt's decline being mirrored by David Gilmour (16-38), Natasha Bedingfield (40-42), Arctic Monkeys (42-52), KT Tunstall (46-53), Van Morrison (43-59) and Gorillaz (63-74). Only Coldplay hold their position, remaining at number 93, while Natasha Bedingfield's Unwritten album at least manages a 3% increase in sales to 22,300 even as it slips.

On the Hot 100 singles chart, Canadian singer/songwriter Daniel Powter's Bad Day moves into pole position, helped enormously by its weekly exposure on American Idol, where it is played over highlights from the eliminated hopeful's performances.

Powter's single continues to chalk up impressive download tallies; it attracted a further 115,298 customers last week to take its cume to 466,634. You're Beautiful by James Blunt continues at number four on the Hot 100, and it also continues to be a strong performer on the download chart, where it is number two with 68,643 purchases last week bringing its cume to 1,186,798. Natasha Bedingfield's Unwritten remains at number six on the Hot 100, while falling 3-4 on downloads (63,582 in the week, 743,469 cume).

Elsewhere in the Hot 100, Sting & Sheryl Crow's Always On Your Side slips 74-79; KT Tunstall's Black Horse & The Cherry Tree improves 85-83; James Blunt's Goodbye My Lover slides 71-87; Coldplay's Talk pulses 99-96., completing the British contingent.