LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Country singer Luke Bryan scored his first No.1 on the Billboard 200 album charts, while the late Jimi Hendrix scored his highest-charting release in 44 years with a posthumous album of studio recordings, “People, Hell and Angels.”
Bryan’s compilation album “Spring Break…Here to Party,” sold 150,000 copies in its first week, according to data from Nielsen SoundScan on Wednesday, marking the best sales week yet for the 36 year-old singer.
Bryan, who is currently on a tour of the United States, won nine American Country Awards in December and will host the Academy of Country Music Awards in April.
Hendrix, who died at the age of 27 in 1970, debuted in the No.2 spot after his album of 12 previously unreleased studio recordings sold 72,000 copies in its first week of release.
The fabled rock guitarist and singer last charted this high in 1968 when “Electric Ladyland” spent two weeks at No.1 on the Billboard 200.
The remainder of the Billboard 200 Top 10 was filled out with familiar pop and rock figures, including Bruno Mars at No.3 with “Unorthodox Jukebox”; British folk rock band Mumford & Sons slipping to No.4 with “Babel”; and the debut album “The Heist” from rappers Macklemore & Ryan Lewis at No.5.
On the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, which now includes YouTube streaming data, viral sensation “Harlem Shake” from Baauer kept the top spot for the fourth consecutive week, with Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ single “Thrift Shop” at No.2.
“Thrift Shop” was also the best-selling digital song for the 9th straight week, with 360,000 downloads.
For the year to date, U.S. album sales were down 8 percent compared to the same point in 2012, at 55.8 million units.
