Sara Bareilles beats out Eminem for her first Billboard 200 No. 1 album

Sara Bareilles

Sara Bareilles beat out chart champion Eminem for the top spot in The Billboard 200 this week. “Kaleidoscope Heart” debuts with 90,000 albums sold; her first set, “Little Voice,” peaked at No. 7 when it came out in 2008.

While it’s always great to see new artists cap the historic chart, the biz shouldn’t celebrate too hard: last week’s frame marked yet another record low for album sales, with only 4.83 million units – the smalles figure since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking data in 1991.

Anyway, Eminem’s “Recovery” climbs a spot No. 3 to No. 2 with 81,000, a 12% decrease in sales from the week before. The “Now 35” hits compilation flips-flops with him, sliding No. 2 to No. 3 (63,000, -40%). Katy Perry’s “American Dream” sits tight at No. 4 (59,000, -33%) while last week’s No. 1, Disturbed’s “Asylum,” descends to No. 5 (57,000, -68%).

Stone Sour’s “Audio Secrecy” bows at No. 6 with 46,000, trumped by the act’s last “Come What(ever) May” (2006), which started at No. 4 with 81,000.

Interpol’s self-titled Matatdor album debuts at No. 7 with 38,000, making it the rock troupe’s second top 10 set. 2007’s “Our Love to Admire” bowed at No. 4 with 73,000.

Justin Bieber’s “My World 2.0” keeps the No. 8 spot warm despite a 14% gain with 35,000.

Anberlin’s new “Dark Is the Way, Light Is a Place” has a No. 9 start with 31,000. It’s the band’s first top 10 album.

The soundtrack to “Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam” slips No. 9 to No. 10, also with 31,000 and up 11%.

 

Katie Hasty
Managing Editor

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After five years as a columnist and editor at Billboard, Katie Hasty joined HitFix in 2009 for music and film reporting out of New York. The Midwest native has worked as a writer, music promoter and in A&R since 1999 and performs with her band Numbers And Letters.