Album Chart: Grammy sweep lifts Norah Jones back to top
Norah Jones’ recent slew of Grammy wins caused droves of record buyers to pick up her debut album, “Come Away With Me,” propelling the release back to the top of the album chart.
Norah Jones’ recent slew of Grammy wins caused droves of record buyers to pick up her debut album, “Come Away With Me,” propelling the release back to the top of the album chart.
“Come Away With Me"--which was crowned Album of the Year at the Feb. 23 Grammy ceremony--sold about 621,000 copies in the week following the awards, according to industry sources. That figure is up from a pre-Grammy week that saw the set move about 144,000 copies.
Rapper 50 Cent’s “Get Rich or Die Tryin’” manages to stay put at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart for the second consecutive week thanks to sales of about 423,000 copies, a drop of about 100,000 over its previous week’s tally. R. Kelly’s “Chocolate Factory"--sales of which dropped more than 50 percent to about 238,000 copies--follows at No. 3, down from its No. 1 debut of last week.
Despite a nice post-Grammy sales bump for its award-winning album “Home"--about 202,000, roughly 80,000 more than the previous week--the Dixie Chicks don’t gain any ground, and remain locked at No. 4.
The only newcomer to bust into the Top 10 is the debut from rapper Freeway, whose “Philadelphia Freeway” enters the chart at No. 5 after logging first-week sales of about 132,000 copies.
Meanwhile, also basking in the post-Grammy glow is the “Grammy Nominees 2003” compilation set, which is up four spots to No. 6 on the strength of single-week sales that jumped from about 64,000 copies pre-Grammys to about 113,000.
Kid Rock’s “Cocky” didn’t see much benefit from his Grammy performance with one-time squeeze Sheryl Crow; the set dips two spots to No. 7 despite a modest sales bump of about 5,000 copies, totaling about 106,000.
Singer-songwriter John Mayer, on the other hand, wins more than just a Grammy. The singer-songwriter’s Grammy win and award-show performance of his hit single “Your Body Is a Wonderland” launched his major-label debut “Room for Squares” from No. 17 to No. 8. Sales of the album--which leapt from No. 32 to No. 17 the previous week--more than doubled following the Grammys, up from about 45,000 copies to about 97,000 copies.
Avril Lavigne, who got shut out at the Grammy’s despite five nominations, gets squeezed out of the No. 7 spot to wind up at No. 9, though her debut set “Let Go” did see an increase in sales thanks to her performance at the ceremony.
Closing out the Top 10 is the “Cradle 2 the Grave” soundtrack, which slips four places to No. 10.
Outside the Top 10, Grammy winners and performers taking a ride up the chart include Eminem’s “The Eminem Show,” up six spots to No. 12; Coldplay’s “A Rush of Blood to the Head,” up nine spots to No. 13; Nelly’s “Nellyville” up three spots to No. 18; Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band’s “The Rising,” up a whopping 82 places to No. 27; Foo Fighters’ “One by One,” up an impressive 40 slots to No. 47; Vanessa Carlton’s “Be Not Nobody” up 33 places to No. 66; and No Doubt’s “Rock Steady,” up 38 slots to No. 68.
Debuting further down the chart are B.G.’s “Livin’ Legend” at No. 21; the “Smallville” soundtrack at No. 31; Dirty’s “Keep It Pimp & Gangsta” at No. 63; American Hi-Fi’s “The Art of Losing” at No. 80; and Lyle Lovett’s “Smile” at No. 106.
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