Kenny Chesney easily grabs his sixth No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart, as “Hemingway’s Whiskey” bows atop the list with 183,000 sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The singer’s last studio effort, 2008’s “Lucky Old Sun,” also entered at No. 1, but with a slightly lower number: 176,000.
Among country acts, Chesney is now in second place for the most No. 1s on the big chart: only Garth Brooks, with eight, has more.
Dating back to 2002’s “No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems,” Chesney has notched nine top 10 albums on the Billboard 200, and in that span, only one charting set missed the region (the 2003 holiday release “All I Want For Christmas Is a Really Good Tan”).
Last week’s No. 1, Zac Brown Band’s “You Get What You Give,” falls to No. 3 with 70,000 (down 54%).
Lil Wayne’s “I Am Not a Human Being” takes a digital-only bow at No. 2 with 110,000, marking the jailed rapper’s eighth top 10 album. It follows the No. 2 debut and peak earlier this year of his “Rebirth,” which landed with 176,000 back in February. “I Am Not a Human Being” was initially intended as a digital-exclusive release, however, the CD version (with three additional tracks) will street on Oct. 12.
“Being” is just the second set to to reach the top two rungs on the chart solely off the strength of digital downloads. In January, the charity compilation “Hope For Haiti” spent two weeks in the top two — including one week at No. 1. (“Haiti” was never issued in a physical configuration.)
Gucci Mane earns his second top 10 album, as “The Appeal: Georgia’s Most Wanted” bows at No. 4 with 60,000. He notched his first top 10 with last year’s “The State Vs. Radric Davis” when it debuted and peaked at No. 10 with 90,000.
Rock icon Eric Clapton claims his lucky 13th top 10 set, with the simply-titled “Clapton” bowing at No. 6 with 47,000. He last visited the region with 2004’s “Me and Mr. Johnson” at No. 6. Clapton has now racked up top 10s in five consecutive decades, stretching back to 1972’s No. 6 hit “History of Eric Clapton.”
Eminem’s “Recovery” rises one spot to No. 5 (59,000; down 10%), Trey Songz’s “Passion, Pain and Pleasure” holds at No. 7 (42,000; down 36%), Linkin Park’s “A Thousand Suns” falls three to No. 8 (42,000; down 40%), Maroon 5’s “Hands All Over” descends seven spots to No. 9 (41,000; down 71%) and Selena Gomez and the Scene’s “A Year Without Rain” drops six to No. 10 (38,000; down 42%).
Over on the Digital Songs chart, Far*East Movement moves into No. 1 spot for the first time with “Like a G6,” selling 216,000 downloads (up 20%). Last week’s topper, Bruno Mars’ “Just the Way You Are,” slips to No. 2 with 178,000 (down 6%). Making their top 10 debuts this week are the Glee Cast’s take on Britney Spears’ “Toxic” (No. 9 with 109,000) and Lil Wayne’s “Gonorrhea” (featuring Drake) (No. 10 with 107,000).
Overall album sales in this past chart week (ending Oct. 3) totaled 5.31 million units, up 6% compared to the sum last week (5.03 million) and down 23% compared to the comparable sales week of 2009 (6.88 million). Year to date album sales stand at 221.07 million, down 13% compared to the same total at this point last year (254.92 million).
Digital track sales this past week totaled 19.44 million downloads, up 1% compared to last week (19.18 million) and up less than 1% stacked next to the comparable week of 2009 (19.41 million). Year to date track sales are at 860.36 million, down 1% compared to the same total at this point last year (866.30 million).
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news