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Business

Keith Urban Soars To No. 1 On Billboard 200

By Keith Caulfield
4/8/2009
By Keith Caulfield
4/8/2009
Keith Urban Releases Live Tracks, Interviews on 'iTunes Originals'

Keith Urban Releases Live Tracks, Interviews on 'iTunes Originals'

Keith Urban celebrates his first No. 1 on the Billboard 200 as his Capitol Nashville set "Defying Gravity" arrives with 171,000. The country star had previously gone as high as No. 3 twice, with "Be Here" in 2004 and "Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Thing" in 2006. On Top Country Albums, "Gravity" is his third chart-topper.

Meanwhile, Prince's Target-exclusive "LotusFlow3r" (NPG) album arrives close behind at No. 2 with 168,000, giving the artist his 14th top 10 set. The triple-disc indie effort carries an economical $11.98 price tag and includes an album from Prince protege Bria Valente. Prince's 2003 set "Musicology" started at No. 3 with 191,000; 2006's "3121" began at No. 1 with 183,000 and 2007's "Planet Earth" entered at No. 3 with 96,000.

Diana Krall returns with "Quiet Nights" (Verve), entering the Billboard 200 at a career-high No. 3 while garnering her ninth No. 1 on Top Jazz Albums (104,000). It's also her best debut sales week since "The Girl In the Other Room" entered with 144,000 in 2004. Since then, she's peaked at No. 17 on the Billboard 200 with the seasonal set "Christmas Songs" in 2005, the studio album "From This Moment On" (No. 7 in 2006) and the hits package "The Very Best of Diana Krall" (No. 19 in 2007).

Artists Mentioned

Diana Krall

Flo Rida

Keith Urban

Lady Gaga

Prince

Taylor Swift

UGK nets its second top 10 album as "UGK 4 Life" (UGK/Jive) bows at No. 6 with 77,000. It's the first release from the hip-hop duo since one-half of the pair, Pimp C, died in late 2007. The act's last album, the double-disc "Underground Kingz," bowed at No. 1 a few months earlier in 2007 with 160,000.

While he may have the year's top selling digital song with "Right Round" (2.4 million sold and counting), Flo Rida's sophomore album, "R.O.O.T.S." (Poe Boy/Atlantic), starts with a much smaller number -- 55,000 -- at No. 8 on the Billboard 200. "Right Round," the lead single from "R.O.O.T.S.," topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for six weeks and holds for a second week at No. 1 on the Mainstream Top 40 radio airplay chart. Flo Rida's first album, "Mail On Sunday," started at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 with 86,000 on the chart dated April 5, 2008.

Last week's No. 1, the "Now 30" compilation (UMe), slips to No. 4 with 87,000 (down 40%), the "Hannah Montana: the Movie" soundtrack (Walt Disney) slides from No. 2 to No. 5 with 87,000 (down 38%), the "Twilight" soundtrack (Summit/Chop Shop/Atlantic) moves down four notches to No. 7 with 73,000 (down 28%), Lady GaGa's "The Fame" (Streamline/KonLive/Cherrytree/Interscope) shifts 51,000 with a 13% gain but moves down two slots to No. 9 while Taylor Swift's "Fearless" (Big Machine) rounds out the top 10 at No. 10, up two slots (42,000; up 5%).

Overall album sales in this past chart week (ending April 5) totaled 7.11 million units, up 5% compared to the sum last week (6.77 million) and down 11% compared to the same sales week of 2008 (7.99 million). Year to date album sales stand at 97.5 million, down 13.3% compared to the same total at this point last year (112.5 million).

By Keith Caulfield
4/8/2009

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