US Chart Goss

Prince scores highest new entry on US Chart

03 August 2007 - 15:24:26

Source: MW

Prince (pictured) snares the highest of 20 debuts on a busy week on the US album chart, as Now! 25 remains at number one, writes Alan Jones.

Sales of Now! 25 dipped 33% on its second week in the shops, but sales of 149,000 ensure it remains top of the stack. The new runner-up is the soundtrack to Hairspray, which jumps from number four. The album has increased sales in each of its three weeks on the list, and sold 101,000 copies last week.

Meanwhile, Prince secures the 34th chart album of his career, debuting at number three with Planet Earth. The album, which controversially made its world debut as a free insert in The Mail On Sunday here, sold 96,000 copies – considerably less than the first week tally of his last album 3121, which debuted at number one on sales of 183,000 last year.

Sum 41 secure the only other Top 10 debut this week, entering at number seven with Underclass Hero, on sales of 45,000. That’s a higher placing but lon ower sales than its immediate predecessor, Chuck, which debuted at number 10 on sales of 66,000 in 2004.

Meanwhile, 45 year old country vet Billy Ray Cyrus is back is back in the Top 20 for the first time in 14 years, debuting at number 20 with Home At Last. Sales of 28,000 last week ensured that Cyrus’ album would join his daughter Destiny’s Hannah Montana 2/Meet Miley Cyrus set in the upper echelon. Destiny - now known as Miley after her Hannah Montana TV series alter ego - and Billy are only the second father/daughter pair to have simultaneous albums on the Top 20, emulating the Sinatras, Frank and Nancy, who shared Top 20 chart space in 1966.

Some Hearts by Carrie Underwood moves 30-28 on its 89th week in the chart, on sales of 21,000 – but that’s enough to lift its overall sales to an impressive 5,813,400, making it the biggest selling album to date by an American Idol contestant. Former champ Kelly Clarkson’s Breakaway has sold 5,813,200. There’s more bad news for Clarkson as her current, controversial album dips 11-15 on sales of 31,000, taking its overall tally to 536,000.

Amy Winehouse remains well out in front of the rest of the Brit pack, although her Back To Black album dips 8-9 on sales of 40,000. The only other Brits in the Top 50 are Sting and Andy Summers of The Police, whose self-titled hits album reverses 36-37, and Paul McCartney, whose Memory Almost Full declines 34-43.

On the Hot 100 singles chart, 17 year old Sean Kingston does something that Ben E. King, John Lennon, Maurice (Earth Wind & Fire) White couldn’t do – top the charts with Stand By Me. Well, kinda…Kingston’s novelty hit Beautiful Girls is heavily based on Stand By Me, and rockets 23-1 this week, as pent-up demand from weeks on airplay was realised in a rush of 260,000 downloads on the track’s first week of availability.