Billboard 200: 4/9/11: Chris Brown No. 1- 270,000

Third no. 4 album in a row for The Strokes with decent sales too.

Looks like Bowersox will end up with 200k and DeWyze with 150k. Awful sales. Then again, last season didn't feature a 1m selling contestant either, as Lambert is still far from that mark.

Chris Brown Nets First No. 1 Album On Billboard 200
March 30, 2011

By Keith Caulfield, Los Angeles

As predicted, Chris Brown achieves his first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 as "F.A.M.E." bows atop the tally with 270,000 sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

"F.A.M.E." is his fourth top 10 album, following his self-titled debut (No. 2, 2005), "Exclusive" (No. 4, 2007) and "Graffiti" (No. 7, 2009). The start for "F.A.M.E." also marks the singer's second-best sales week -- only the bow for "Exclusive" (with 294,000) was bigger.

Jennifer Hudson's sophomore effort, "I Remember Me," comes in at No. 2 with 165,000, while last week's No. 1, Adele's "21," slips to No. 3 with 96,000 (with a 2% decline). For Hudson, "Me" matches the debut and peak position of her 2008 self-titled bow, which entered at No. 2 with a larger first-week (217,000).

Brown and Hudson are just two of the seven new entries in the top 10 -- the most the region has seen since the Dec. 4, 2010, chart, when eight albums entered the top 10.

The Strokes' "Angles" arrives at No. 4 (89,000), marking their third straight No. 4 set after 2003's "Room on Fire" and 2006's "First Impressions of Earth" both debuted and peaked there as well. Their "This Is It" debut hit No. 33 in 2002.

Kirk Franklin's "Hello Fear" flies in at No. 5 (87,000), his best week since "The Rebirth of Kirk Franklin" debuted at No. 4 with 91,000.

Sony Music claims the entire top five this week, the first time a distributor locked down Nos. 1-5 since the Jan. 15 chart, when Universal Music reigned.

Just outside the top five, at No. 6, the digital-exclusive charity compilation "Songs for Japan" starts at No. 6 (68,000) and Panic at the Disco's "Vices & Virtues" bows at No. 7 (56,000). The final top 10 arrival, Bobby V's "Fly on the Wall," lands at No. 9 with 38,000.

As for the rest of the non-debuting albums in the top 10: Mumford & Sons' "Sigh No More" shuffles 5-8 with 39,000 (down 6%) while Lupe Fiasco's "Lasers" slides 3-10 with 29,000 (down 38%).

Over on the Digital Songs chart, Katy Perry's "E.T." (featuring Kanye West) maintains the No. 1 position, selling 254,000 downloads (down 3%). Coming in at No. 2 is Wiz Khalifa's "No Sleep," barging in with 244,000. The Black Eyed Peas' "Just Can't Get Enough" is stationary at No. 3, though it's up 11% in sales (219,000). Rihanna's "S&M" steps up one rung to No. 4 (166,000; down 2%), Cee Lo Green's "F**k You (Forget You)" rises four to No. 5 (155,000; up 12%), and Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" slips two to No. 6 (146,000; down 20%).

Jennifer Lopez's "On the Floor" is up one to No. 7 (143,000; up 4%), Chris Brown's "Look at Me Now" drops one to No. 8 (143,000; up 1%), and Ke$ha's "Blow" breezes up a slot to No. 9 (126,000; up 3%). Rounding out the top 10 is another debut, this time from Brown, who -- with featured guest star Justin Bieber -- starts at No. 10 with "Next to You" (113,000).

For those wondering if Rebecca Black's "Friday" moment in the sun has passed -- it hasn't. The tune jumps 57-38 on Digital Songs with 50,000 sold (up 35%).

Overall album sales in this past chart week (ending March 27) totaled 6.5 million units, up 13% compared with the sum last week (5.7 million) and up 7% compared with the comparable sales week of 2010 (6 million). Year-to-date album sales stand at 71.2 million, down 5% compared with the same total at this point last year (75.1 million).

Digital track sales this past week totaled 24.8 million downloads, down 1% compared with last week (24.92 million) and up 18% stacked next to the comparable week of 2010 (20.94 million). Year-to-date track sales are at 314.6 million, up 9% compared to the same total at this point last year (289.70 million).

Next week's Billboard 200 competes with the same week in 2010 when: Usher's "Raymond v Raymond" debuted at No. 1 with 329,000 while Bieber's "My World 2.0" fell to No. 2 with 291,000 (actually posting a 3% gain).

www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/charts-articles/chart-alert/chris-brown-nets-first-no-1-album-on-billboard-1005099952.story

I'm very encouraged at the year-to-year gains -- perhaps 2010 will end up being the bottom of the sales slump and we'll start seeing gains again in the coming years.

It's still too early to assume 2010 is the bottom out. We haven't even got to summer yet, which historically have some of the lowest unit sales during the year.

I'm inclined to think that we will continue to see year-to-year increases (or very small decreases) most of the rest of the year. We had an ABNORMALLY light release schedule the first couple months or so of the year so those decreases were obvious but now that the release schedule is back to normal I can see the current trend continuing

It's too early to know what kind of 4th quarter schedule we'll have this year (or even Q3), I think we'll have a better idea by Summer

Carrie Underwood, Play On (2,000, -10%, 1.973 million)
Daughtry, Daughtry (2,000, -8%, 4.793 million)
Jennifer Hudson, Jennifer Hudson (2,000, +49%, 836,000)
Adam Lambert, For Your Entertainment (2,000, -12%, 808,000)
Aerosmith, Greatest Hits 91,000, -3%, 5.289 million)
Glee Cast, Glee: The Music, Vol. 1 (3,000, -15%, 1.151 million)
Aerosmith, Best of Aerosmith: Millennium Collection (2,000, +13%, 230,000)
Aerosmith, Devil's Got a New Disguise (2,000, +22%, 611,000)

content.usatoday.com/communities/idolchatter/post/2011/03/chris-brown-jennifer-hudson-debut-in-the-billboard-200s-two-top-spots/1

Madonna?

yeah she ll get there. an idol performance would help tremendously. she could promote mama's song, to try and help that song's sales.

TOP 25 ALBUMS

1 F.A.M.E. Chris Brown 270,381 / 271,031
2 I REMEMBER ME Jennifer Hudson 164,786 / 165,077
3 21 Adele 95,991 / 847,428
4 ANGLES Strokes 88,570 / 89,205
5 HELLO FEAR Kirk Franklin 87,211 / 78,839
6 SONGS FOR JAPAN Various 67,974 / 67,974
7 VICES & VIRTUES Panic! At The Disco 55,906 / 56,009
8 SIGH NO MORE Mumford & Sons 39,054 / 1,199,880
9 FLY ON THE WALL Bobby V 37,633 / 37,636
10 LASERS Lupe Fiasco 28,929 / 279,885
11 NEVER SAY NEVER - THE REMIXES Justin Bieber 28,824 / 423,065
12 NOW 37 Various 28,448 / 438,901
13 GREATEST HITS…SO FAR P!nk 27,791 / 602,701
14 AWESOME AS F**K Green Day 27,076 / 27,172
15 GLEE: THE MUSIC: SEASON TWO: VOL.5 Glee Cast 25,648 / 158,999
16 LATE NIGHTS AND EARLY MORNINGS Marsha Ambrosius 25,453 / 190,300
17 LOUD Rihanna 25,158 / 1,114,757
18 RETURN OF MR. ZONE 6 Gucci Mane 24,519 / 24,605
19 WHEN YOU'RE THROUGH THINKING SAY YES Yellowcard 23,637 / 23,660
20 PINK FRIDAY Nicki Minaj 22,447 / 1,261,431
21 DOO-WOPS AND HOOLIGANS Bruno Mars 21,894 / 865,569
22 ENDGAME Rise Against 21,491 / 106,522
23 MY WORLD 2.0 Justin Bieber 20,784 / 2,635,571
24 GOODBYE LULLABY Avril Lavigne 20,550 / 139,430
25 TEENAGE DREAM Katy Perry  19,907 / 1,305,229

new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/chart_watch/74346/week-ending-march-27-2011-albums-chris-browns-recovery/

Week Ending March 27, 2011: Albums: Chris Brown's Recovery
Posted Wed Mar 30, 2011 by Paul Grein in Chart Watch

Chris Brown's fourth album, F.A.M.E., enters The Billboard 200 at #1 with first-week sales of 270,000. That's nearly triple the first-week sales of Brown's last album, Graffiti, which debuted and peaked at #7 in December 2009 with first-week sales of 102,000. (That was just 10 months after his assault on then-girlfriend Rihanna.) F.A.M.E. is Brown's first #1 album. His debut album, Chris Brown, debuted and peaked at #2 in December 2005, with first-week sales of 154K. His sophomore album, Exclusive, debuted and peaked at #4 in November 2007 with first-week sales of 294K.

This is the second biggest one-week total of 2011, topped only by Adele's 21, which sold 352K in its opening week. (But Britney Spears' Femme Fatale will probably eclipse Brown's total when it debuts next week. It is expected to start with sales between 275K and 300K).

F.A.M.E stands, gracelessly, for Forgiving All My Enemies. (Brown has also suggested that the title stands for Fans Are My Everything. I guess you can take your pick.) In any event, F.A.M.E. is the third #1 album with an acronym in its title. It follows LL Cool J's G.O.A.T. Featuring James T. Smith The Greatest Of All Time and the Black Eyed Peas' The E.N.D. (which stands for Energy Never Dies).

Note: Several other titles of #1 albums have featured collections of letters, such as TCB by Diana Ross & the Supremes with the Temptations. But unless the letters form a word, they don't constitute an acronym. (See, I did pay attention in eighth grade English.)

Brown lands a #1 album on The Billboard 200 before his ex-girlfriend Rihanna, whose highest-charting album, Good Girl Gone Bad, debuted and peaked at #2 in June 2007. But Rihanna has had more than four times as many #1 singles on the Hot 100 as Brown has (by a margin of nine to two).

Jennifer Hudson's second album, I Remember Me, debuts at #2. Her 2008 debut album, Jennifer Hudson, also opened at #2 (in October 2008, behind T.I.'s Paper Trail). For the record, Hudson is the first performer from Season 3 of American Idol to land two top five albums. Fantasia, who won the competition that year, has had two top 10 albums, but only one of them, last year's Back To Me, made the top five).

Hudson finished in seventh place in Season 3 of Idol, behind not only Fantasia, but also Diana DeGarmo, Jasmine Trias, LaToya London, George Huff and John Stevens, who are known today only by Idol watchers with really good memories. I guess you could say Hudson won in the long run.

Adele's 21 drops from #1 to #3. It holds at #1 in the U.K. for the ninth straight week. It's the first album to log nine or more weeks at #1 in the U.K. since James Blunt's Back To Bedlam, which had 10 weeks on top in 2005-2006. It's the first album to log nine consecutive weeks at #1 there since the Beatles' 1, which had nine straight weeks on top in 2000-2001.

How does Adele stack up against other women? 21 is the first album by a female artist to log nine or more weeks at #1 in the U.K. since Dido's Life For Rent, which had 10 weeks on top in 2003-2004. It's the first album by a female artist to have nine consecutive weeks at #1 there since Madonna's The Immaculate Collection, which had nine straight weeks on top in 1990-1991.

Kirk Franklin's Hello Fear debuts at #5. This is the gospel singer and choir leader's third top 10 album, following The Nu Nation Project (#7 in 1998) and The Rebirth Of Kirk Franklin (#4 in 2002). In addition, Franklin was a mentor to the group God's Property, which had an eponymous album in 1997 that hit #3. (Hello Fear is Franklin's third album in a row with a title that acknowledges life's difficulties. It follows Songs From The Storm, Volume 1 and The Fight Of My Life.)

Songs For Japan, a 38-song collection which was created to raise money for disaster relief in Japan, enters The Billboard 200 at #6. It's the sixth charity album to crack the top 10, following George Harrison and Friends' The Concert For Bangla Desh (#2 in 1972), We Are The World (#1 in 1985), A Very Special Christmas 2 (#7 in 1992), God Bless America (#1 in 2001) and Hope For Haiti Now (#1 in 2010). (We Are The World raised money for the USA for Africa organization. The A Very Special Christmas franchise aided the Special Olympics. God Bless America raised money for the Twin Towers Fund in the wake of 9/11.

Songs For Japan is digital-only at this point. It will be released as a two- CD set in early April.

Songs For Japan sold 68,000 copies in its first three days. Hope For Haiti Now, which was boosted by a live MTV telethon, sold 171,000 digital copies in its first two days. Hope For Haiti Now has sold a total of 371,000 digital copies. The album was never released on CD, so we'll never know how many more copies it might have sold to a (mostly older) audience that wanted it on CD or not at all.

Artists, record companies, music publishers and iTunes have all agreed to donate all proceeds from Songs For Japan to the Japanese Red Cross Society.

Billboard's Silvio Pietroluongo crunched the numbers. The 38 tracks on Song For Japan include 21 songs that made the Hot 100, 16 that made the top 40, nine that made the top 10 and five that reached #1. Those five are Beyonce's "Irreplaceable," "Love The Way You Lie" by Eminem featuring Rihanna, Katy Perry's "Firework," Rihanna's "Only Girl (In The World)" and Lady Gaga's current chart-topper, "Born This Way."

"E.T." by Katy Perry featuring Kanye West tops Hot Digital Songs for the third straight week. Will this be the week it finally moves up to #1 on the Hot 100 (which also factors in radio airplay)? Or will Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" hold on for a seventh straight week? You'll find out later today when we post Chart Watch: Songs.

Here's the low-down on this week's top 10 albums.



1. Chris Brown, F.A.M.E., 270,000. This new entry is Brown's fourth top 10 album; his first to reach #1. Seven songs from the album are listed on Hot Digital Songs, topped by "Look At Me Now" (featuring Lil Wayne & Busta Rhymes), which dips from #7 to #8.

2. Jennifer Hudson, I Remember Me, 165,000. This new entry is Hudson's second album in a row to debut at #2. "Where You At" enters Hot Digital Songs at #77.

3. Adele, 21, 96,000. The former #1 album drops from #1 to #3 in its fifth week. It has been in the top five the entire time. Three songs from the album are listed on Hot Digital Songs, topped by "Rolling In The Deep," which jumps from #19 to #11.

4. The Strokes, Angles, 89,000. This new entry is the band's third album in a row to debut at #4, following 2003's Room On Fire and 2006's First Impressions Of Earth. Those earlier albums both peaked at #4.

5. Kirk Franklin, Hello Fear, 87,000. This new entry is Franklin's third top 10 album, following The Nu Nation Project (#7 in 1998) and The Rebirth Of Kirk Franklin (#4 in 2002).

6. Various Artists, Songs For Japan, 68,000. This new entry is only available digitally at this point. It's #1 on Hot Digital Albums, edging out F.A.M.E., which sold 64,000 digital copies.

7. Panic! At The Disco, Vices & Virtues, 56,000. This new entry is the group's second top 10 album, following Pretty.Odd., which debuted and peaked at #2 in 2008. "The Ballad Of Mona Lisa" re-enters Hot Digital Songs at #142.

8. Mumford & Sons, Sigh No More, 39,000. The album drops from #5 to #8 in its 53rd week. This is its 12th week in the top 10. Two songs from the album are listed on Hot Digital Songs. "The Cave" jumps from #54 to #49. "Little Lion Man" jumps from #69 to #65.

9. Bobby V, Fly On The Wall, 38,000. This new entry is the R&B artist's fourth top 10 album. His first two were under his full stage name, Bobby Valentino.

10. Lupe Fiasco, Lasers, 29,000. The former #1 album drops from #3 to #10 in its third week. "The Show Goes On" holds at #23 on Hot Digital Songs.



Seven albums drop out of the top 10 this week. Rise Against's Endgame dives from #2 to #22, Glee: The Music, Season Two: Volume 5 drops from #4 to #15, Justin Bieber's Never Say Never: The Remixes drops from #6 to #11, Avril Lavigne's Goodbye Lullaby drops from #7 to #24, Now 37 drops from #8 to #12, Travis Barker's Give The Drummer Some plummets from #9 to #56 and Marsha Ambrosius' Late Nights & Early Mornings drops from #10 to #16.

Green Day's CD/DVD combo Awesome As F**k debuts at #14. It's the group's second major live album, following 2005's Bullet In A Bible. (I think these guys like to come up with provocative titles.)

Artists have only been able to use "the F word" in album titles in recent years. Back when we all had more tender sensibilities, say the 1990s, artists had to make at least token efforts to disguise what they were doing. Van Halen's For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge topped The Billboard 200 for three weeks in 1991. Eazy-E's Str8 Off Tha Streetz Of Muthaphukkin' Compton topped the R&B Albums chart in 1996. (Now, that title almost seems quaint.)

Gucci Mane's The Return Of Mr. Zone 6 bows at #18. It's the rapper's third top 20 album...Yellowcard's When You're Through Thinking, Say Yes opens at #19. It's the band's third top 20 album...Duran Duran's All You Need Is Now re-enters the chart at #29. The album debuted at #119 in December strictly on digital sales.

The Sucker Punch soundtrack debuts at #31. It's the week's #1 soundtrack to a theatrically-released movie. The movie was #2 at the box-office over the weekend. The soundtrack features two tracks by the movie's star, Emily Browning and one each by Queen and Bjork. (The top soundtrack overall for the third straight week is Glee: The Music, Season Two: Volume 5, which drops from #4 to #15.)

Ke$ha's remix album I Am The Dance Commander bows at #36.

Jason Aldean's My Kinda Party logs its third week at #1 on Top Country Albums. It's the first album by a male solo artist to top the country chart this long since George Strait's Troubadour three years ago. On the Billboard 200, Party drops from #18 to #26.

Adele's 19 tops the Catalog Albums chart for the sixth straight week. It drops from #40 to #48 on The Billboard 200.

Adam Lambert's Glam Nation Live enters Top Music Videos at #1. The DVD sold nearly 17K copies this week, the largest weekly total for a music video since Beyonce's I Am...World Tour sold 24K in the week that included Christmas.

Arcade Fire's The Suburbs drops from #74 to #86 in the wake of winning the Juno Award as Canada's Album of the Year. The album had previously won the Grammy for Album of the Year and the Brit Award as Britain's International Album of the Year. The Suburbs is the first album to win both the Grammy and the Juno as Album of the Year since Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill. For all the acclaim, The Suburbs has sold only 585K copies (in the U.S.) in 34 weeks.

Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules was #1 at the box-office over the weekend. Theodore Shapiro composed the score to the album's soundtrack.

Coming Attractions: As noted above, Britney Spears' Femme Fatale is expected to debut at #1 next week. No surprise there, but I am surprised that Wiz Khalifa's Rolling Papers is slated to debut with sales in the 190K-215K range. Three other albums seem headed for top 10 debuts: Radiohead's The King Of Limbs, Snoop Dogg's Doggumentary and Mary Mary's Something Big. Also due: Sum 41's Screaming Bloody Murder, E-40's Revenue Retrievin' Graveyard Shift, Boney James' Contact.

Kirk Franklin has number 3 album with God's Property so he has four Top 10 albums.

i came in here to see how Avril was doing....wow...i had NO IDEA it was that poorly.
Glad to see Adele is doing very well.