Maroon 5 debuts at No. 1 on album chart
By Katie Hasty
NEW YORK (Billboard) - Pop band Maroon 5's first album in four years opened at No. 1 on the U.S. charts Wednesday, while veteran rocker Ozzy Osbourne scored a personal best with his first release in six years.
Maroon 5's "It Won't Be Soon Before Long" sold 429,000 copies in the week ended May 28, according to Nielsen SoundScan data. The group's prior best sales week came in December 2004, when its 2003 debut, "Songs About Jane," sold 138,000.
Maroon 5 currently also rules Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart with "Makes Me Wonder."
The group sold 102,000 copies of its new album digitally, breaking a record set last week when rock band Linkin Park's "Minutes to Midnight" moved 84,000 via that format to debut at No. 1. The latter album fell to No. 2 on the Billboard 200 with 198,000, a hefty 68 percent sales slide.
Osbourne flew in at No. 3 with "Black Rain," which sold 152,000 copies. That's only 1,000 fewer than the opening week for 2001's "Down to Earth," which entered at No. 4. Nearly a quarter of sales for "Black Rain" came from digital retailers, which offered early ticketing to this summer's Ozzfest with pre-orders for the limited edition of the album.
The album also debuted at No. 2 in Norway, Finland and Sweden, at No. 5 in Canada, No. 6 in Japan, No. 8 in Britain and No. 9 in Germany, Osbourne's publicist said.
Hip-hop trio U.S.D.A., Young Jeezy's collaboration with Slick Pulla and Blood Raw, started at No. 4 with "Cold Summer," which sold 95,000 units.
Rock troupe the Used's "Lies for the Liars" bowed at No. 5 with 92,000, a chart high-water mark. The quartet's last effort, 2004's "In Love and Death," opened at No. 6 with 93,000.
Rock band Daughtry's self-titled debut rose four to No. 6 with 74,000, while Michael Buble's "Call Me Irresponsible" fell four to No. 7 with 62,000. Carrie Underwood's "Some Hearts" re-entered the top tier, rising three places to No. 8 in its 80th week on the chart with 51,000 copies.
Avril Lavigne's recent chart-topper "The Best Damn Thing" fell three to No. 9 with 48,000. Ne-Yo's "Because of You" was also down three, to No. 10, with 41,000.
Other debuts included the soundtrack to box office champ "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," at No. 14; Lil Boosie, Webbie & Foxx's "Survival of the Fittest," at No. 17; the Bravery's "The Sun and the Moon," at No. 24; and the Beach Boys compilation "Warmth of the Sun," at No. 40.
Album sales were down 3.2% from last week's total at 8.35 million units, and down 16.7% compared to the same week last year.
Reuters/Billboard
