New Chesney CD sets personal best
Debut at No. 1 with more than half-million sold
LOS ANGELES, California (Billboard) -- Country star Kenny Chesney's new album "When the Sun Goes Down" has become the first blockbuster release of the year, opening atop the U.S. pop charts with sales of 550,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan data issued Wednesday.
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The tally marks a career best for Chesney, whose previous album, 2002's "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problem," opened at No. 1 with 235,000 copies, and has sold 3.1 million copies to date. After 94 weeks, "No Shoes" currently ranks at No. 81.
(The data cover the week ended February 8, the day of the Grammys. Next week's data will show the impact of the event on sales.)
Entering at No. 2 was rock act Incubus' "A Crow Left of the Murder" (Epic), with 332,000 copies. The group's 2001 album, "Morning View," also debuted No. 2, with 266,000 copies, and has moved 2.1 million to date.
Harry Connick Jr. scored the best debut of his career with "Only You." The Columbia set arrived at No. 5 on sales of 140,000 copies. His previous chart peak came in December when "Harry for the Holidays" reached No. 12.
Among other notable debuts was the Interscope soundtrack to box office champ "Barbershop 2: Back in Business" -- featuring selections from Mary J. Blige, Sleepy Brown, G-Unit and Mya -- at No. 18. Also new was the sophomore effort from pop act Five For Fighting, "The Battle for Everything" (Aware/Columbia, No. 20) and Lostprophets' "Start Something" (Epic, No. 33).
Last week's chart topper, Twista's "Kamikaze, fell to No. 3 on a 44 percent sales slide to 174,000 copies. In two weeks, the Atlantic album has sold 486,000 copies.
Following his February 1 appearance at the Super Bowl, Josh Groban saw his latest Reprise album, "Closer," return to the top 10. The former chart-topper rebounded eight places to No. 4 on a 209 percent burst in sales of 172,000 copies. In its 13 weeks on the chart, the album has sold 2.3 million copies.
Despite rising sales of albums by OutKast, Evanescence, Sheryl Crow and Toby Keith, each slid down the rankings. OutKast's album of the year Grammy-winner "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below" (Arista) fell four places to No. 6, followed by best new artist Grammy-winner Evanescence's "Fallen" (Wind-Up), down three places, Crow's "The Very Best of Sheryl Crow" (A&M), down five, and Keith's "Shock'n Y'all" (DreamWorks/Interscope), down two.
Rounding out the top 10 was Ruben Studdard's J Records debut, "Soulful," down five places to No. 10.
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