Chart Beat

"Believe" it: Cher has earned her highest-charting solo album ever on the Billboard 200.

Releases from Bruno Mars, Michael Buble and Daft Punk round out the top 5 ahead of the holiday selling season.

While Billboard has yet to announce this week's top 10 albums on the Billboard 200, we're already looking ahead to next week's tally. (This week's top 10 will be released tomorrow, Oct. 2.)

Last year, Chart Beat spotlighted New York-based singer-songwriter Sarah J as she recapped what it's like to audition for NBC's "The Voice." This summer, Sarah undertook a different kind of mission: offering music lessons in the Amazon. Here's her firsthand account of teaching remote villagers the joys of music, as well as what they taught her.

Badfinger's "Baby Blue" is suddenly red hot. The song, which closed the finale of AMC's hit series "Breaking Bad" last night (Sept. 29), has suddenly risen into the top 25 on iTunes' top songs list and is poised for a return to the Billboard charts this week.

Readers check in on how the Hot 100's points system ranks songs, the record run of AWOLNATION's "Sail" and the many animals running rampant in current hits.