Kenny Chesney scores his fifth No. 1 on The Billboard 200 and eighth Top Country Albums as “Lucky Old Sun” (BNA) moves 176,000 copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan. However, this marks the lowest sales debut for one of his studio album since “Everywhere We Go” bowed with 30,000 at No. 51 in 1999.
Chesney ends T.I.’s two-week reign atop the The Billboard 200, as his Grand Hustle/Atlantic album “Paper Trail” falls 1-2 with 132,000, a 26% sales decline.
Singer/songwriter Ray LaMontagne easily scores his best charting and sales week yet as his third album “Gossip in the Grain” (RCA) bows at No. 3 with 60,000. His 2006 set, “Till The Sun Turns Black,” opened at No. 28 with 28,000, while his 2004 debut, “Trouble,” moved 3,000 units in its first week, peaking at No. 189.
Metallica’s Warner Bros. album “Death Magnetic” slips 2-4 with 51,000 (-23%), as Jennifer Hudson’s self-titled Arista debut falls 4-5 with 46,000 (-27%). In its 54th week on the chart, Kid Rock’s “Rock N Roll Jesus” (Top Dog/Atlantic) moves 45,000 on a 6% slip but ascends 7-6.
Keane’s third Interscope album, “Perfect Symmetry” climbs on board at No. 7 with 43,000. The British rock band’s last offering, 2006’s “Under the Iron Sea,” entered at No. 4 with 75,000. Ne-Yo’s “Year of the Gentleman” (Def Jam) holds tight at No. 8 despite a 14% slip in sales to 40,000.
Country/rock vet Lucinda Williams’ “Little Honey” (Lost Highway) starts at No. 9 with 35,000. Her 2007 album, “West,” began at No. 14, but sold more in its first week, raking in 57,000. James Taylor’s “Covers” (Starcon/Hear Music) rounds out the top tier, keeping the No. 10 spot warm for a second week with 31,000 (-28%).
Entering at No. 13, Billy Currington’s third studio set, “Little Bit of Everything” (Mercury), sold 25,000 and earns the country singer his second best charting effort. His prior album, “Doin’ Somethin’ Right,” peaked at No. 11 on The Billboard 200 in 2005.
Other debuts this week include indie singer/songwriter Ingrid Michaelson’s “Be OK” (Cabin 24) at No. 35 with 15,000 and cellist Yo-Yo Ma’s “Yo-Yo Ma & Friends: Songs of Joy & Peace” (Sony Classical) at No. 41 with 12,000.
At 6.53 million units, sales this week are up 1.8% from last week’s sum and down 17.6% from the same week last year.
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