Ludacris tops US albums chart

09:36 | Friday March 19, 2010

Sales of 137,000 gave it a very comfortable victory over Gorillaz’ Plastic Beach, which opens its account at number two, on sales of 112,000. It is the highest chart placing and highest first week sales yet for a Gorillaz album in America, beating Demon Days, which entered at number six on sales of 107,000 copies in 2005.

Three other albums debut inside the Top 10: at number four, Valleys Of Neptune is Jimi Hendrix’s 40th chart album, all but six of which have occurred since his 1970 death. The album, comprising newly uncovered recordings, sold 95,000 copies and is Hendrix’s third top five album since his death; country singer Gary Allan’s Get Off On The Pain provides the 42 year old with ninth chart album, debuting at number five on sales of 65,000; Broken Bells is the new duo comprising Danger Mouse and James Mercer of The Shins, and their self-titled debut enters at number seven after selling 49,000 copies.

With Gorillaz swinging back into chart action, Sade is now the second highest-placed UK act on the list, with Soldier of Love dipping 2-6 on sales of 52,000 copies.

Other UK acts in the top half of the chart, all in decline, are Susan Boyle (18-26), Peter Gabriel (26-68), Corinne Bailey Rae (53-81), Muse (76-85) and Jamie Cullum (42-89).

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 1987 cast recording of The Phantom Of The Opera has sold more than 6.6m copies in America – but follow-up Love Never Dies sold less than 1000th of that tally – around 6,500 copies – to debut at number 82 this week.

There are 14 albums on the Top 200 by UK acts this week, but for the first time in 28 weeks none of them is by The Beatles. The Fab Four maintained an unbroken presence in the chart from the time their remastered catalogue was reissued last September right through to last week. With last survivor Abbey Road slipping off the chart, that run is now over.

On the Hot 100 singles chart, Rihanna racks up her sixth number one, courtesy of Rude Boy.

Although America’s most important singles chart, The Hot 100 - as we often point out - is a composite, combining sales, airplay and streaming. Some think the digital sales track is more important, and on that chart Taio Cruz and Ludacris continue at number one with Break Your Heart, which sold 202,000 copies last week – 32,000 more than Rude Boy - to take its 17 day tally to 505,000.

Break Your Heart raced 53-1 on the Hot 100 last week, but now slips back to number three. UK action further down the chart includes a debut at number 37 for Jay Sean with I Made It - credited to Kevin Rudolf, Birdman, Jay Sean and Lil Wayne it brings his tally of concurrent hit singles to three – and a 92-80 jump for La Roux’s Bullet Proof.