Taylor Swift, Susan Boyle lead U.S. album chart
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Taylor Swift's "Speak Now" ruled the Christmas week album chart in the United States, giving the pop-country starlet a fourth nonconsecutive week at the top.
According to Nielsen SoundScan data released Wednesday, "Speak Now" sold 276,000 copies during the week ended December 26. Susan Boyle's "The Gift" held at No. 2 with 240,000 copies, and the "Glee" Christmas album rose two to No. 3 with 160,000.
Jackie Evancho's "O Holy Night" was steady at No. 4 (151,000), and Michael Jackson's "Michael" dropped two to No. 5 in its second week (150,000).
The week's highest new entry came from Jamie Foxx's "Best Night Of My Life," which partied it up at No. 6 with 144,000. It's Foxx's third straight set to see a late December release, following 2008's "Intuition," which debuted at No. 3 with 265,000; and 2005's "Unpredictable," which came in at No. 2 with 598,000 and hit No. 1 the following week.
Eminem's "Recovery" soared 15 places to No. 7 with 137,000 copies, boosted by sale pricing in the iTunes Store. Nicki Minaj's "Pink Friday" was steady at No. 8 with 133,000 copies.
Keyshia Cole's "Calling All Hearts" started at No. 9 with 128,000. Her last album, "A Different Me," launched at No. 2 with 322,000 copies in December 2008.
Rihanna's "Loud" climbed one to No. 10 with 111,000. Keri Hilson's second album, "No Boys Allowed," debuted at No. 11 with 102,000. Her first release, "In a Perfect World," debuted and peaked at No. 4 in 2009 with 94,000.
After Hilson, you have to scroll down all the way to No. 119 to find the next highest debut: Duran Duran's iTunes-exclusive set "All You Need Is Now," which sold 14,000 copies. The British pop band's previous album, "Red Carpet Massacre," debuted at No. 36 with 29,000 copies in November 2007.
Overall album sales totaled 15.08 million units, up 21% compared to the previous week, but down 12% compared to the comparable sales week of 2009. Year to date album sales stand at 319.01 million, down 13% compared to the same total at this point last year.
