Music sales were slow last week. Jack White's debut solo album, Blunderbuss took the top spot with 138,000 copies sold -- that's less than half of what Madonna 's new one, MDNA , shifted its first week on the chart this time last month: 359,000 (although sales subsequently plummeted the following week). Nevertheless, White still has reason to be excited. This is the first time his musical output has ever charted this high -- albums by the White Stripes, the Raconteurs and the Dead Weather peaked no higher than number two.
The Billboard 200 albums chart is greeted by two additional strong debuts this week, which were country singer Lee Brice's Hard 2 Love , landing at number five after selling 46,000, and The Wanted 's self-titled debut, at number seven with 34,000 sold. Hot on White's heels is Adele , whose sophomore album 21 (maybe you've heard of it) climbs one spot to number two this week. Lionel Richie 's surprising hit, Tuskegee, falls to number three after two weeks at the Billboard 200 summit.
The biggest drop, however, was for Jason Mraz 's new album, Love Is A Four Letter Word , which plummeted eight spots to number ten in its second week. Nicki Minaj's Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, meanwhile, and Gotye's Making Mirrors dropped two spots each, to numbers eight and nine, respectively.
As for the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart , Gotye's "Somebody That I Used To Know" featuring Kimbra holds for a third week at the top. Fun.'s "We Are Young" featuring Janelle Monae doesn't move either this week, sitting at number two.
Maroon 5's "Payphone" featuring Wiz Khalifa also remains at number three for a second week. And with that, the top three songs each boast a featured artist and a two-week-plus stay at the top. The Wanted's "Glad You Came" regains its footing, rising one spot to number four, with Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe" following at number five, a new high for Jepsen on the Billboard charts.
The rest of the Hot 100 chart is filled out by the usuals -- Flo Rida's "Wild Ones" featuring Sia at number six, Justin Bieber's "Boyfriend" at number seven, Nicki Minaj's "Starships" at number eight (expect the premiere of the music video for "Starships" to help boost sales for next week's chart), One Direction's "What Makes You Beautiful" at number nine and Kelly Clarkson's "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)" at number ten.
The premiere of Bieber's "Boyfriend" music video later today should boost its sales for next week, while continuing interest in Gotye's "Somebody That I Used To Know" will help the track hold at number one. "Payphone" will fall fast without any additional support from The Voice -- the song was performed on the show two weeks ago -- but "Call Me Maybe" will also rise even higher. On albums, could next week be the week Adele reclaims the top? If Jack White doesn't pick it up, seems very likely.
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