Faith Hill Tops Chart
Faith Hill is on top of the nation’s album chart this week with Fireflies. The country star’s seventh studio effort moved 329,000 copies in its debut week, according to Nielsen SoundScan, almost twice the number of any other release. Fireflies is Hill’s third consecutive Number One, matching the total of her husband, Tim McGraw.
Coming in second is the nineteenth installment of the Now That’s What I Call Music! hits compilation series — this one featuring artists such as Gwen Stefani, Destiny’s Child and Coldplay — which sold 177,000 copies to land at Number Two, down one after two consecutive weeks at the top. The eighth installment of the kids’ hits compilation series Kidz Bop, featuring singalong covers of tunes by some of Now!‘s roster, also did well, moving 67,000 CDs to open at Number Six.
Still at Number Three (99,000) this week is Mariah Carey, whose singles-driven The Emancipation of Mimi will not go quietly. Down two to Number Four is Atlanta rapper Young Jeezy, whose major-label debut, Let’s Get It: Thug Motivation 101, opened at Number Two last week. This week he sold half as much, with 85,000 units moved. Rounding out the Top Five is Jay-Z protege Teairra Mari, whose self-titled debut sold 69,000, making the Detroit R&B newcomer a contender.
In its eighth week out, Coldplay’s X&Y continues to do steady business, slipping just one place to Number Seven (65,000). The same for Los Angeles hip-hop act Black Eyed Peas, whose Monkey Business also dropped one spot, to Eight (61,000). Demon Days, from Blur frontman Damon Albarn’s hip-hop/dub animated concept band Gorillaz, is still doing surprisingly well, down two spots but holding onto the Top Ten at Number Ten (53,000). And American Idol Kelly Clarkson returned to the Top Ten, with Breakaway climbing two spots to Number Nine (60,000).
R&B star R. Kelly’s latest, former Number One TP.3 Reloaded, kept slipping this week, falling five spots to Number Fourteen (46,000). But that’s nothing: After debuting last week at Number Five, singer-songwriter Jason Mraz’s third studio effort, Mr. A-Z, plummeted to Number Twenty-Four (36,000). And veteran crooner Babyface’s first album in four years, Grown and Sexy also took the plunge, from Number Ten down to Thirty-Four (29,000).
Next week, former chart-topping metal vets Staind plot their return with Chapter V. And Motley Crue drummer turned reality TV star Tommy Lee sees if third time’s the charm, with his new solo effort, Tommyland: The Ride.
This week’s Top Ten: Faith Hill’s Fireflies; Now That’s What I Call Music! 19; Mariah Carey’s The Emancipation of Mimi; Young Jeezy’s Let’s Get It: Thug Motivation 101; Teairra Mari’s Roc-A-Fella Presents Teairra Mari; Kidz Bop’s Kidz Bop 8; Coldplay’s X&Y; Black Eyed Peas’ Monkey Business; Kelly Clarkson’s Breakaway; Gorillaz’s Demon Days.