Adele Holds Number 1 Spot for 18th Week

Soulful singer Adele remained on top of the Billboard album chart with “21,” despite seven new entries vying for No. 1 this week, including stiff competition from country music singer Tim McGraw.

“21,” which has sold more than 6 million copies in the United States since its release in February 2011, notched its 18th week in the top spot of the Billboard 200 chart.

Adele, who has been resting her voice after vocal cord surgery last November, said she will be making her live comeback at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles on February 12.

Country music star McGraw’s 11th studio album, “Emotional Traffic” debuted at No. 2, scoring the singer his 14th top 10 album in the Billboard 200 chart and 13th No. 1 in the Billboard Country Albums chart.

New albums from rock band “Lamb of God,” singer-songwriter Ingrid Michaelson, “American Idol” alumnus Kellie Pickler, Christian music singer Kari Jobe and soul singer Seal dotted the top 10, along with the “2012 Grammy Nominees” and “Kidz Bop 21″ compilation and Drake’s “Take Care.”

“21″ was the only album to cross the 100,000 copies mark, partially driven by a re-issued deluxe edition released last week in Target retail stores.

Beyonce’s Baby Makes Billboard Chart History

Less than one week old, Blue Ivy, the baby daughter of Beyonce and Jay-Z, has become the youngest person ever to be credited on the U.S. Billboard chart.

The sweet infant sounds of Blue Ivy Carter, who entered the world in New York on January 7, are featured on the new single “Glory” released by proud dad Jay-Z on Monday.

The track made its debut on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop songs chart this week at No. 74 — the chart’s highest new entry — with the newborn credited as “featuring B.I.C.”, Billboard said on Wednesday.

Jay-Z, 42, released “Glory” just 48 hours after the birth of the music industry power couple’s first baby.

U2 and Taylor Swift Top-Grossing Tours of 2011

Although U2 may not have released an album in 2011, they still topped the list of the most profitable tours, moving an impressive 2.4 million tickets worldwide and grossing more than $230 million globally.

U2′s North American dates made $156 million, good enough to give them the highest-grossing tour on this continent, too.

Taylor Swift had 2011′s second most-profitable North American tour, as her expansive Speak Now jaunt racked up $97.7 million at the box office. Swift’s country contemporary, Kenny Chesney, came in at #3, bringing in nearly $85 million in ticket sales, followed by Lady Gaga, who, despite wrapping up the North American leg of her Monster Ball tour in April, still managed to bring in $63.7 million at the box office. Bon Jovi rounds out the list’s top five, grossing more than $57 million.

Adele Sells Most Albums Since 2004

Adele’s album “21,” released by independent British label XL Recordings, has sold more than 5 million copies this year, a feat that hasn’t been matched since 2004.

The last time an album topped the year-end chart with more than 5 million copies sold was in 2004, when Usher’s “Confessions” moved 7.9 million.

Indeed, music sales overall are expected to end 2011 up more than 3 percent from last year. Not coincidentally, the last time overall music sales rose by so much was in 2004 as well.

Physical albums still outsell digital albums by a 2:1 margin. But total music sales, which would include digital singles, are now split 50-50 between physical and digital.

To put Adele’s sales figures in context, the more than 3.5 million physical albums she sold this year would have been good enough to take the top spot in each of the last three years without even adding in digital sales. Album sales include LPs, compact discs and digital albums.

Still, Adele’s sales total is less than half of the more than 11 million copies that “No Strings Attached” from N’Sync sold in 2000. That year marked the last time the top spot featured an album that sold in excess of 10 million, underscoring the dramatic impact that legitimate digital distribution channels like Apple’s iTunes and illegal file-sharing sites such as Limewire have had on the music industry.

Adele Makes Billboard History, Top 2011 Artist

British singer Adele made Billboard history on Friday when she became the first female singer to be named top artist, have the top album, “21,” and score the top single, “Rolling in the Deep,” all in one year.

Adele said, “I think one of the things that sets me apart from other artists who have had the same kind of success is that my life isn’t speculated about by the media.”

“I’m incredibly private but I’m also incredibly honest, and I think that creates a kind of ‘meet in the middle’ respectable ground,” said the singer.

Adele, who earned six Grammy nominations last week, was also named top female,.

Michael Buble Holds #1 Spot

Michael Bublé’s holiday album, Christmas, will easily hold on to the #1 slot on the Billboard 200 thanks to sales of just under 480,000, coming to a total of more than 1.5 million.

Black Keys came at #2 and sales of 206,000 for El Camino. Late British R&B singer Amy Winehouse was back in the top 10 thanks to her first posthumous collection, Lioness: Hidden Treasures, which hit #5 on sales of 114,000.

Other top 10 debuts include the latest “Glee” cast album (#9, 58,000) and nü-metal veterans Korn’s dip into the dubstep sound, Path of Totality (#10, 55,000). The rest of the top 10: Adele, 21 (#3, 187,000), Justin Bieber, Under the Mistletoe (#4, 158,000), Andrea Bocelli, Concerto: One Night in Central Park (#6, 79,000), Drake, Take Care (#7, 73,000) and Nickelback’s Here and Now (#8, 66,000).

Michael Buble Reigns on Top of Billboard Charts Again

Michael Bublé’s success with his recently released Christmas album has given him the #1 spot on the Billboard 200 albums chart for a second week thanks to sales of 293,000. During a cycle when most of the top 20 saw steep double-digit sales dips, Bublé’s holiday musical contribution was up 29 percent as it passed the 1 million mark.

With some former top 10 dwellers falling out of the upper echelon (Coldplay, Daughtry), a flood of Christmas albums creeps up the ranks, including “America’s Got Talent” winner Jackie Evancho’s Heavenly Christmas (up 17 spots to #15, 37,000), Bocelli’s My Christmas (up 33 to #17, 35,000) and perennial faves Mannheim Steamroller’s Christmas Symphony (up 51 to #17, 35,00).

Bublé keeps his winning streak going on the iTunes albums chart, holding on to the #1 spot, with Drake, Adele, Rihanna, Coldplay and Bieber right behind. Rounding out the top 10 are Nickelback, the Killers’ (RED) Christmas charity EP, She & Him’s A Very She & Him Christmas and the “Glee” cast’s Glee: The Music, the Christmas Album, Vol. 2.

Bublé may lose his spot for a bit next week when he faces competition from the Black Keys’ El Camino, as well as new albums from the Roots, Robin Thicke, T-Pain and a posthumous collection from Amy Winehouse .

Katy Perry Rules The Charts…Again.

The big chart story this week is rapper Mac Miller, whose independent debut Blue Slide Park sold 144,000 copies and hit Number One on the Billboard album charts. But we’re more intrigued by the latest single action from Katy Perry – last Friday, she put out the video for “The One That Got Away,” the sixth single from Teenage Dream, and it’s killer. Perry, in old-lady makeup, sits on her bed staring into space as she flashes back to the “younger” Perry in a goofy romance with actor Diego Luna. The whole thing ends tragically with the perfect closing: Johnny Cash singing “You Are My Sunshine” from his 2003 album Unearthed III: Redemption Songs. Anyway, the video premiered on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and has since hit more than 12.4 million views. What’s extraordinary is that even before that, radio was picking it up, boosting the single 38 spots up the Ultimate Chart, from 63 to 25. Look for this one to have serious longevity, given Perry’s hit history this year and the video boost.

Justin Bieber. His Under the Mistletoe dropped from Number One to Number Six this week, shedding 54 percent (97,000 total this week). On the flip side, Michael Bublé’s Christmas surged from Number Eight to Number Two, selling 123,000 copies and gaining 38 percent in sales. Bublé is clearly on the verge of dominating Christmas season. Lucky for him, holiday albums are traditional sales phenomena, as opposed to downloads – Bublé is just Number Seven on this week’s iTunes chart, and Bieber didn’t place at all. Why? Our guess is that most people still have CD players in their living rooms, where they decorate trees and such, and probably haven’t gotten around to syncing old-school hi-fis with iTunes and Spotify. Thus, holiday music is somewhat invulnerable to music piracy, which is why record companies love to release as much of it as possible during this time of year. As to why Bublé and not Bieber? No idea.

And finally, a word about a$$es. Detroit rapper Big Sean’s “Dance (A$$)” is one of the most hilariously, gloriously cynical videos we’ve seen in a long time – it’s all bling, booze and scantily clad ladies, plus the word “ass” repeated like a mantra and superimposed in various languages. The remix video contains a lengthy cameo from Nicki Minaj, who gamely shakes her own you-know-what (squeezed into Union Jack shorts, among other things) and actually elevates the video for a few seconds with her bug-eyed power-rapping. It’s up to 10.5 million views on YouTube and Ultimate Chart ranks it Number 14, up from Number 29 the previous week. We don’t expect it to hit bottom (sorry) soon.

Adele’s “21″ regains top spot on Billboard chart

British singer Adele regained the top spot on the Billboard Top 200 album chart on Wednesday, marking her 13th week at No. 1 with “21″ and making it the first album since the “Titanic” film soundtrack to claim as many weeks atop the chart.

“21″ sold 106,000 copies to pass the 4 million sales mark last week, according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan. It is the biggest selling album of 2011 so far, with Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” far behind with 1.9 million sales.

The singer plans to follow-up “21″ with a live CD and DVD release on November 29 that taped from a performance at London’s Royal Albert Hall, according to a posting on her website.

Adele’s return to the top spot prevented Christian rock group Casting Crowns from earning their first No. 1 with “Come to the Well,” which sold 99,000 copies in its first week of release and came second on the album charts.

“American Idol” winner Scotty McCreery’s former No. 1 album “Clear As Day” rose from fourth to third place, while last week’s chart-toppers, Gothic rockers Evanescence fell to fifth with their latest self-titled album.

The top 10 albums for the week also include Tony Bennett’s “Duets II” at No. 5, Lil Wayne’s “Tha Carter IV” at No. 6, R&B singer Joe at No. 8 with ‘The Good, The Bad, The Sexy,” and Lauren Alaina’s “Wildflower” in tenth place.

Next week’s album charts are expected to be shaken up with new releases from Kelly Clarkson, Michael Buble and Coldplay,

Scotty McCreery in best “Idol” album debut in 8 years

“American Idol” champion Scotty McCreery became the most successful winner in eight years on Wednesday when his debut country album went straight to the top of the Billboard charts.

McCreery, who turned 18 years-old this week, was also the youngest male artist to see a debut release open in the No.1 spot, and “Clear As Day” notched the highest first week album sales of any solo country artist this year, Billboard said.

McCreery took the “American Idol” crown in an all-country music finale of the TV singing contest in May. “Clear As Day” , released on a Universal Music Group label, sold 197,000 copies in the first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan figures.

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