* “Blunderbuss” reaches Billboard top spot in 1st week
* Lee Brice, Kip Moore, The Wanted new entries on chart
* Gotye regains No. 1 among digital singles
By Piya Sinha-Roy
LOS ANGELES, May 2 (Reuters) – Jack White scored his first
No. 1 album ever on Wednesday as his debut solo “Blunderbuss”
topped the Billboard 200, while the record also reigned over
music charts in the United Kingdom, Canada and Switzerland in
its initial week.
“Blunderbuss,” which sold 138,000 copies according to
Nielsen SoundScan, notched seven top ten albums with his former
band The White Stripes and side projects the Dead Weather and
The Raconteurs.
The 36-year-old singer recorded “Blunderbuss” in Nashville,
Tennessee with a distinctive throwback sound to the early days
of southern rock ‘n’ roll that had critics buzzing ahead of its
release last week.
Soul singer Adele’s Grammy-winning album “21” showed no
sign of slowing down as it climbed back to No. 2 after 62 weeks
on the chart, with total U.S. sales topping 8.9 million copies.
Last week’s chart-topper, Lionel Richie’s “Tuskegee,” dropped to
No. 3 with sales of 78,000 units.
British boy band One Direction climbed to No. 4 with their
“Up All Night,” but they faced stiff competition from rival U.K.
boy band The Wanted, who entered at No. 7 with their debut
self-titled U.S. EP selling 34,000 copies.
Country music star Lee Brice debuted at No. 5 with his
second album “Hard 2 Love” selling 46,000 copies, while fellow
country musician Kip Moore entered at No. 6 with his first CD,
“Up All Night,” selling 37,000 copies.
Australian singer Gotye regained the top position on the
Digital Songs chart with heartbreak single “Somebody That I Used
to Know” featuring Kimbra.
Last week’s chart-toppers Maroon 5 slipped to No. 2 with
their single “Payphone,” while newcomer Canadian singer Carly
Rae Jepsen scored a new high at No. 3 with her pop-driven single
“Call Me Maybe.”
(Reporting By Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)
